Anti-Sway Bar - replace?

[robmorais]

Two weeks ago my lower ball joint blew as i turned a corner... the wheel basically just came off... they put a new ball joints on both sides and the car was driving well. Then a few days ago i heard a bad metal noise and the steering was all messed up. The steering wheel was totally out of alignment. I took a look and found that the Anti-sway bar was loose at the same end that blew the ball joint. Can i just replace the rubber or should the entire bar be replaced? It does not seem to be damaged in any way. BUT as you turn the wheel it slides out of the end of the rubber bushing and hits the control arm.

I have read other posts on here that talk about drilling the bolts off but not sure why? It looks like all I have to do is work the bolts from the 4 clamps free and swap the parts. What am i missing?? HELP....

Also - does the performance thicker sway bar make any difference?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks
Rob

[narfire]

Sounds like the rubber is pooched. The bar is likely just fine, but the rubber mounts have let go and need to be replaced. Any of the vendors sell the rubber bushings.
The nuts on the studs can be corroded on. Be carefull in backing them off, Try and tighten just a tad and that sometimes breaks the corrosion before backing them off, as well a liberal dose of penitrating fluid.
I upgraded to a larger bar, but also went to Koni shocks and have after market springs, 15 inch wheels. Handles great but all relative as to how much you want to spend I suppose.
Chris

[azruss]

If your steering is all screwed up, then you have more problems than just an antisway bar bracket. look at your lower A-arm on the damaged side to see if it is bolted up properly to the cross-member. Remove the sway bar and lay it on a flat surface to see if it has a twist to it. can have a small twist (1/4" or less). the bar is spring steel, so should be difficult to bend. Doubt if a wheel coming off the bottom ball joint would cause damage if it didnt eat the lower A-arm.
Many like the firmness of going to a 1" sway bar. It will cause the car to plow worse than it already does. it is also very hard on the bracket bolt downs. If you want to help your handling, add a rear bar.

[maytag]

I agree with Azruss here: if your steering is all screwed up, as you say, then you've got another problem. the sway bar has no steering function.

[vandor]

Make sure that the crossmember is securely attached to the car.

[So Cal Mark]

the sway bar won't move, but the lower arms can with bad bushings or loose mounting bolts

[robmorais]

Thanks everyone. I am new to this... so what exactly is an A Arm? Is that the thing that the Ball Joints bolt on to? Pardon the ignorance... Thanks.

[4uall]

this may help

The control arms are what holds your wheels and tires to the frame of your car and allows the wheels to go up and down when hitting bumps while staying straight and perpendicular to the road.



http://www.300cforums.com/forums/attach ... ay-bar.jpg

http://www.autoricambi.us/cgi/commerce.cgi

[maytag]

Thanks everyone. I am new to this... so what exactly is an A Arm? Is that the thing that the Ball Joints bolt on to? Pardon the ignorance... Thanks.

you have an upper and a lower A-Arm, and the wheel hub/spindle attaches between them with ball-joints.

What Mark has accurately suggested is that the bushings at the -inside- of the A-arms (where they attach to the car) can be worn. This will have your steering all screwed-up.

[DocGraphics]

Here's a pic of my A-arms after replacement



You can see all the lower one from the pivot bolt on the body end to the ball joint on the tire end & half of the top one, the inner pivot bolt is similar to the lower.
They move in unison up & down (pivoting at body end) keeping the spindle (between the ball joints) and the tire in proper vertical orientation at all suspension heights, & keep the tires in alignment (caster & camber).
All the pivot points & ball joint must work right & align properly together or the suspension & steering would handle badly.

You can also see the end of the sway bar hooked to the lower arm.

[basarabam]

Something to mention that might have gone un-noticed. When I pulled my spindle off the drivers side to replace my ball joint last night I found that the lower A-Arm was cracked on the back side of where the ball joint is bolted to. It would have been almost impossible to see without the spindle off.

I would look at that also. There is very little material in that area and if it is cracked from wear or rust it could allow the wheel to not pivot correctly on the ball joint.