Sway bar/roll bar bushing removal & install

[eldusto84]

Does anyone have a how-to guide for replacing the front sway bar bushings? It looks simple but I'm not sure how I can pull the end of the bar out of the LCA. The exploded diagram in the manual only shows one bushing on the bar but it definitely looks like there's two.

Any help, including photos, would be appreciated!

[Mark D]

Sorry these are kinda blurry.

You should be able to pull the sway bar thru the LCA bushings after you remove the two nuts on each end of the swaybar, and after removing the four bolts attaching the upper bushings to the frame crumple tube. There are two bushing halves in each LCA. Mine were stuck in there pretty good but you can eventually pull them out with a little wiggling.

Take care to note the order of the washers also as there are different sizes.

In the pics below I've reassmbled the bushings, washers and nuts in the correct order on each end of the swaybar. When you actually disassemble this from the lower control arms the bushing halves come out separately from the LCA.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18946&d=1368048093
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18945&d=1368048088
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18944&d=1368048082
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18943&d=1368048077
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=18942&d=1368048073

[Rich]

The exploded diagram in the manual only shows one bushing on the bar but it definitely looks like there's two.


Confirming the bushing count as reported already here. Check the parts list on this diagram - it shows 4 bushings are used. Item #32.

http://store.delorean.com/c-296-5-1-0-front-suspension.aspx

Yes, the diagram just shows one being there on the right side.

And a reassembly hint if you were not already planning it. Be sure to apply some silicone grease (not silicone spray) to the inside of the 2 front bushings before bolting up to the frame so as to prevent front-end creaking noises from at least those components.

[Jonathan]

Reviving an old thread to ask a related question.

I'm replacing my sway bar bushings, both the ones in the middle attached to the bottom side of the front frame extension and the donut ones in the LCAs.

The instructions I got with the kit (from Toby/DMC at the time) mention having the full weight of the car on the front suspension, i.e. wheels are not hanging but instead are resting on ramps or a lift presumably. I looked at the original safety recall bulletins regarding the front suspension, and it mentions raising the car to do sway bar work while having the front suspension at "full travel" which I understand to mean as wheels hanging (well, removed actually).

I don't have a lift at home, only ramps and jack stands. I don't need a ton of room under the car to do this as it's more in front of the car than directly under it, although to better access the nuts on the backside of the LCAs, it would be much easier for me to do so with the wheels off, i.e. front suspension hanging.

Is there a preferred way to do this or some consequences one way or the other? I saw a comment about preloading the suspension if you do things with it hanging in the air. Thanks.

[Josh]

I have done it on wheel stands and jack stands. Keeping the weight on the wheels would be ideal, but not the end of the world.

Whenever doing suspension work with the suspension unloaded I set the car down afterwards and loosen and retorque things just so the bushings are sitting at a neutral stat at ride height. You can not do this all the time but when you can you should.

[Bitsyncmaster]

With the original bushings the center is "glued" to the bracket it is made in so your do try to lock things down without any twisting loads on the bushing. With poly bushings the center collar is floating so locking it down unloaded is OK.

[eight8toy]

Jack stands too here. Installed DPI coilovers/LCAs with new bushings several months ago. Tightened everything while it was up on stands, then lowered and drove car around for a while and when I went back to replace my front rotors tried to tighten up those bushings again (didn't need much though).

Make sure to mark which side the sway bar ends go to passenger/driver to save you some time trying to figure out how to put the sway bar back on! Seems easy but I had to flip it over a few times to confirm...

[FABombjoy]

BTDT. Definitely easier with the weight on the wheels. That puts the bar in a neutral position and will come off and go back on easily.

If you remove parts with the wheels hanging the bar will be bent down and slightly inward and you may need a jack to assist with putting the bar back into position. You'll have to bend/preload it to put it back in to place.

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the replies.

I have it up right now with the front on ramps (wheels still on) and the rear on jack stands (just to have the car level while I work). It's safe and sturdy as it is.

I generally jack the car up and then set it down onto the ramps, never usually drive them up on to the ramps. Bad experience doing this with no helper/assistant and would rather avoid a repeat. I have the angled end of the ramp out the front of the front tires and so there is more room to get at those double nuts on the end of the sway bar from behind.

This was my main concern when asking. Most fasteners on my car have had a healthy dose of rust on them and so any time I go to do something on the car for the first time, it's usually quite the shit-show. I noticed that someone painted over much of the front suspension components with a black paint, which would be fine for the arms and whatnot, but they covered those nuts too. So I figure I'll be fighting some rust that's keeping them tight as well as a layer of paint.

The more access and leverage the better I've found with this, especially being able to keep the wrench or socket straight on to the nut you're trying to free. Ideally, it'd be on a lift and I can stand tall and use all my weight behind it, but it'll likely have to come off lying on the floor swearing and cursing as I go. Time to get the DeLora-sweara-saurus down off the bookshelf.

[dn010]

The PITA part comes in if one of the nuts welded under the radiator support bracket on the frame extension strip out or crack free, so you might use some PB Blaster or similar with the red straw to get in there and soak the components overnight. Otherwise, removing the bar is quite easy and fast. If you're going from the stock rubber to poly, I had an issue where the front bushings allowed too much side to side ARB movement and in that case a washer to take up the gap was needed. Hopefully this doesn't happen for you.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?16399

[Jonathan]

Good call on the PB Blaster. I did have the four bolts out years ago to install the front end recall reinforcing plates. Haven't touched them in years, but they should be reasonably simple to remove again. We did that, come to think of it, with the car sitting on level ground in the parking lot of a tech day. That was soon after I got the car. Or soon after I got it driveable. Not the same day unfortunately. About two years apart.

I got this particular kit: http://www.delorean-parts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=K1006DP-C

So, yes, the poly bushings. I'll have to read up and get familiar on what might be changing as it is going in. I plan on cleaning up and painting the sway bar itself once I have it out, so I won't get it all done in one afternoon.

[Jonathan]

Well, that job is done. Just took the car out for a 35 mile drive and things were good. No squeaks or noises either.

Some of the job was simple enough and other aspects were a little bit of a pain in the rump.

I got it all off the car fairly easily. Nothing snapped or got cross-threaded. I did decide to do the work with the wheels off the car and the weight on the frame instead of the wheels. The metal collars inside the old donut bushings did stay on the bar, but those came off pretty easily after loosening them up. Covered the threaded ends and bare tips of the bar with tape and then painted the bar with a rustoleum black.

The reinstall wasn't quite as easy. The donut bushings are quite the snug fit into the LCAs. Instructions suggested using a rubber mallet to bang them in and that's what I did. Together with a metal punch that was flat on the end touching the rubber and no sharp sides (I used the socket extension from a 1/2" wrench set and it worked really well). The inside collars lined up well on the new donut bushings and the bar went in fairly easily. Using a small bit of anti-seize was important. So too was needing to preload the bar so to speak as you kind of need to bend it in slightly to get both ends into the holes.

Got that done and then moved on to the brackets in the middle of the bar. The bar had sat down around 4" or so (due to the weight not being on the wheels presumably) and I used my jack with a piece of wood on it to gently push up the bar into position to let me get the brackets installed. There is mention of how difficult getting the poly middle bushings onto the bar can be, but I didn't find it that hard. I put them on with the bar in my lap earlier so I could have a better grip on it all.

Those nice, new, shiny brackets for the new shaped bushings weren't ideal. The holes in them for the brackets bolts were not quite wide enough for the bolts I was using. Like they went in, but you almost had to thread them in and then they didn't move freely at all. These bolts came with my front end recall kit years ago and maybe the threads are just slightly wider. Anyway, I finally got it all lined up and into the holes. The pain came from trying to balance it all against gravity, trying to see if the holes are lined up, pushing on the bar, fighting the bracket holes being a bit too small and not trying to cross-thread anything. Not to mention it is grossly hot here right now and humid and my garage was no nice to be in like that.

It's all in and torqued and seems fine though so mission accomplished.

Here's a couple pics to go with the ones above. Including one of the donut assembly as it looks on the bar beforehand.

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