Sway bar bushings. Who would have thought...

[lsbit]

Well, I finished installing new sway bar bushings. My originals didn't look bad, and I thought I might be wasting my time, but some Ford techs swore this was a common problem, so I tried it. Sure enough...it looks like my clunking is gone. You can't tell if yours are bad by looking at them.

I wouldn't suggest this repair at home unless you have a lot of patience or a lift. That passenger side was very hard to get to, and I damaged a bracket that some hoses and a valve are mounted to. I got that ^%!@(* out of my way when I needed to though. I would disconnect the sway bar to see if the clunking goes away first, before I would do this task. The $10.00 bushings seem like a no-brainer shotgun job, but the labor says otherwise.

 

[Chris_n_FL]

LS sway bar bushings....10.00
A set of Jack stands.....50.00
The feeling of doing the job yourself and saving a couple hudred bucks....priceless.

 

[l-m tech]

Well, I finished installing new sway bar bushings. My originals didn't look bad, and I thought I might be wasting my time, but some Ford techs swore this was a common problem, so I tried it. Sure enough...it looks like my clunking is gone. You can't tell if yours are bad by looking at them.

I wouldn't suggest this repair at home unless you have a lot of patience or a lift. That passenger side was very hard to get to, and I damaged a bracket that some hoses and a valve are mounted to. I got that ^%!@(* out of my way when I needed to though. I would disconnect the sway bar to see if the clunking goes away first, before I would do this task. The $10.00 bushings seem like a no-brainer shotgun job, but the labor says otherwise.

glad to hear you got it fixed.you are right about the bushings looking ok.they even seem to fit weel. the left is somewhat easy, but still havnt found a way to do the right side in under 20 min. with a lift and air tools.just noeasy way around it. :Beer

 

[luckieleo]

Well, I finished installing new sway bar bushings. My originals didn't look bad, and I thought I might be wasting my time, but some Ford techs swore this was a common problem, so I tried it. Sure enough...it looks like my clunking is gone. You can't tell if yours are bad by looking at them.

I wouldn't suggest this repair at home unless you have a lot of patience or a lift. That passenger side was very hard to get to, and I damaged a bracket that some hoses and a valve are mounted to. I got that ^%!@(* out of my way when I needed to though. I would disconnect the sway bar to see if the clunking goes away first, before I would do this task. The $10.00 bushings seem like a no-brainer shotgun job, but the labor says otherwise.

congrats on the fix!! i need to take care of the clunking... its pretty annoying. must be a great feeling! no pics? how bout a quick how-to?

so do you have a lot of patience or you have a lift??? how long did it take?

 

[luckieleo]

http://www.parts.com/schematics/images/mechanical/FIP040.gif

which one is it... theres 2 that are "bushings"
is it#9 or #11 that you replaced...???

 

[l-m tech]

11

 

[luckieleo]

11

how do you get those things off?!! it does look like a pain. those diagrams look simple, but if i looked under that car, i wouldnt know where to start...

we dont have a lift... we have a couple of jacks & a garage, but no lift....
would it really be that crazy difficult with 2 people working on it??

or would it be more worth it to buy the parts, and take it to a regular run-of-the-mill mechanic who can put it on a lift & get it done??

cuz thats gonna need doing, as soon as i do the vcgaskets and coil packs.

 

[l-m tech]

the driver side is a breeze but the pass. side is a bit?h. you can take the air filter box out to get at the top bolt witch helps but i cant figure out a easy way to do the pass. side. you just have to have patience.

 

[luckieleo]

the driver side is a breeze but the pass. side is a bit?h. you can take the air filter box out to get at the top bolt witch helps but i cant figure out a easy way to do the pass. side. you just have to have patience.

hmm... i wish i had some of that stuff... whats it called--Patience??? yeah, i dont think i have much of that. my dad does though!

hopefully lsbit comes back with a little how to & some helpful pointers for someone who has never done this job before & doesnt know where to start.. :feedback

 

[eL eS]

lsbit is pretty industrious but if the techs have not reduced the job to a few simple steps you might want to start baking brownies for dad unless he is doing some low carb junk in that case dads often fall prey to daughters in need and you might be able to get away with pouting it works on me and my daughter is only two.

 

[l-m tech]

lsbit is pretty industrious but if the techs have not reduced the job to a few simple steps you might want to start baking brownies for dad unless he is doing some low carb junk in that case dads often fall prey to daughters in need and you might be able to get away with pouting it works on me and my daughter is only two.

yup im in the same boat,there names are gimme 1,and gimme 2. if i could get an ls in for a while and things are slow,ill see if i could pay closer attension and try to come up with a few steps that might help the average joe do the repair and save 80 to 150 $ IN LABOR COST. BUT YOU still need patience :Beer

 

[luckieleo]

lsbit is pretty industrious but if the techs have not reduced the job to a few simple steps you might want to start baking brownies for dad unless he is doing some low carb junk in that case dads often fall prey to daughters in need and you might be able to get away with pouting it works on me and my daughter is only two.

:invasion: LOL!!! yeah, i should order the parts, and start the brownies!!!

when i say my dad helps me, i dont just stand there watching him like an idiot, i DO actually do work. and have him point out why he's doing things, what this is called, what that is called... i help, while being a nuisance & asking a million questions!!
no, he usually checks it out, figures out what we need to do, tells me what to do & what tools to use & i DO the actual work. unless of course it requires his strength.... :embarrased:

he is working on an addition to the house that will need to be painted soon, so i dont want to mention needing his help with this job till after he helps me with the valve cover gaskets. THEN a little while later when thats forgotten, i will order the parts, and say "hey will you help me with this... i already ordered the parts.?" and if he asks me to paint for him i will!

 

[lsbit]

Hello all,

There does not seem to be an easy way to get to the right one and you could damage one of the hoses, bracket or that valve if you pry the wrong way. This is why I don't highly recommend this one at home.

The left one is easy. Take the airbox out and use a long extension with a swivel for the top bolt and the bottom one isn't too bad either, with a 1/4" ratchet and a 13mm socket.

On the right one, you can get to the back bolt with just a small ratchet also, but that front one is buried by some hoses and a control valve attached to a bracket. The trick is removing the correct two bolts that hold the bracket in place. They have 10mm heads on them and one of them is not too easy to get to. Even when you do get them out, you have to do a lot of persuading to get that bracket far enough out of the way so you can get a socket on that bolt. The method I finally came up with to get that bracket out of my way was a piece of string! I tied it to one of the holes and the other end of the string to a frame hole!!! Sounds funny, but I didn't have an extra pair of hands (like they would fit anyway) and it actually worked for me. I used a 1/4" drive ratchet (again) with a very short extension, to get to that sucker. I have pretty long fingers and they aren't fat, but forget getting a good handle on this bolt, or getting in that area to do much. This is where patience and a few breaks might help. Getting leverage to get that bolt loose can be tough. I put a 14mm socket on an extension and put that socket over the ratchet handle. This acts like a mini breaker bar. You won't get more than 1 click of movement at a time this way though as there is not much free space anywhere, but once it is loose, you won't need the breaker. Once you get that old one off, you think you are home free...but, when I went to put the new one on, it was tight. I had to free up the sway bar by removing one of the end link nuts and pushed the sway bar forward while installing the bolts. You have to be careful that you are installing the bolts straight as they will cross thread easily.

Luckieleo, you really can't see these things from under the car without removing the bottom splash guards. Once you get the two side guards off, you can see them. When laying under the car for a long period of time, I lose track of where I am looking sometimes, but if you follow the sway bar from the end link forward, you will finally spot them. Start with the left one so you understand how they come apart so you would have to fiddle with that learning curve on the right side. I just used ramps to get the front end up on this job. No lift.

Sorry...I didn't take pictures of this one!!

 

[luckieleo]

Hello all,

There does not seem to be an easy way to get to the right one and you could damage one of the hoses, bracket or that valve if you pry the wrong way. This is why I don't highly recommend this one at home.

The left one is easy. Take the airbox out and use a long extension with a swivel for the top bolt and the bottom one isn't too bad either, with a 1/4" ratchet and a 13mm socket.

On the right one, you can get to the back bolt with just a small ratchet also, but that front one is buried by some hoses and a control valve attached to a bracket. The trick is removing the correct two bolts that hold the bracket in place. They have 10mm heads on them and one of them is not too easy to get to. Even when you do get them out, you have to do a lot of persuading to get that bracket far enough out of the way so you can get a socket on that bolt. The method I finally came up with to get that bracket out of my way was a piece of string! I tied it to one of the holes and the other end of the string to a frame hole!!! Sounds funny, but I didn't have an extra pair of hands (like they would fit anyway) and it actually worked for me. I used a 1/4" drive ratchet (again) with a very short extension, to get to that sucker. I have pretty long fingers and they aren't fat, but forget getting a good handle on this bolt, or getting in that area to do much. This is where patience and a few breaks might help. Getting leverage to get that bolt loose can be tough. I put a 14mm socket on an extension and put that socket over the ratchet handle. This acts like a mini breaker bar. You won't get more than 1 click of movement at a time this way though as there is not much free space anywhere, but once it is loose, you won't need the breaker. Once you get that old one off, you think you are home free...but, when I went to put the new one on, it was tight. I had to free up the sway bar by removing one of the end link nuts and pushed the sway bar forward while installing the bolts. You have to be careful that you are installing the bolts straight as they will cross thread easily.

Luckieleo, you really can't see these things from under the car without removing the bottom splash guards. Once you get the two side guards off, you can see them. When laying under the car for a long period of time, I lose track of where I am looking sometimes, but if you follow the sway bar from the end link forward, you will finally spot them. Start with the left one so you understand how they come apart so you would have to fiddle with that learning curve on the right side. I just used ramps to get the front end up on this job. No lift.

Sorry...I didn't take pictures of this one!!

thanks for the tips!
It will be a while before i get working on this one, but i have printed this out & put it in my handmade manual. i'm sure with your hints & my dads mechanic skills/tools & my hands to get into hard to reach places, it can be done. :Beer

i went out & bought a 3-hole punch, a 3-ring binder w/folders & some dividers. everytime i see some good how-to's on whatever, i put it all together in easy read step-by-step format, print it out, hole punch & put it in my book. i also bought some cheapo ford tech cd manual thats hard to search & uses big mechanic words that i have no clue what they mean! but i've found some stuff in there & printed that out too & added it to the book. i printed out like every diagram/illustration that fordpartsnetwork.com has to offer. :L

 

[lsbit]

i went out & bought a 3-hole punch, a 3-ring binder w/folders & some dividers. everytime i see some good how-to's on whatever, i put it all together in easy read step-by-step format, print it out, hole punch & put it in my book. i also bought some cheapo ford tech cd manual thats hard to search & uses big mechanic words that i have no clue what they mean! but i've found some stuff in there & printed that out too & added it to the book. i printed out like every diagram/illustration that fordpartsnetwork.com has to offer. :L

Good idea. I have a bunch of receipts and info that I need to put in a folder for my LS. I wish I would have done more of that with my Mustang too. I have a lot of pictures and a spreadsheet of parts purchased on the good old hard drive, but having a nice paper folder would sure help!