sway bar bushing popped out - help

[jomalkay]

need a McGiver moment, replaced front suspension, finally got the sway bar (upgraded to 22 mm) started in the bushing. Did not notice bushing had started to unseat, put the car down off the jack stands was in progress of lowering and saw the a-arm bushing about 3?4 the way pushed out. Really do not wish to tear it all back apart, the sway bar is a real B.. as we all know. did grease up the bar and bushing ID, purposely let the soap dry from installing in a-arm so this would not happen. Any slick ideas?
Thanks.

[DRACO A5OG]

Oops, I did the same thing.

Would like an easier way then disconnecting the A-arm from the ball joint.

[boyt911sc]

Apply some lubricant and push the rubber bushing in. It should slide back in with minimal effort applied. Keep us posted.

Tony

[DRACO A5OG]

Tried that too.

[jomalkay]

tried to re-lube with grease and push back in, to no avail. Will try some silicon sprat on the outside of bush. Other idea was to put a 24mm deep socket over the bushing and use an air hammer, been resisting that route, did not want to risk chipping up the new powder coated a-arms, air hammers can tend to have a mind of their own. Thanks for the feedback.

[kerthunk]

I would try the deep socket along with a c-clamp. The clamp will give you a lot more control over the process in case things shift.

[jomalkay]

Have a few more ideas, will post what worked, I'll not be defeated! Thought i had easy solution with a tie rod ball joint removal tool, of course the v groove is just under 22 mm, would have worked great if i had kept the stock bar, go figure.

[Superman]

Silicon is the lube to use. Silicon grease, if you have it. If you don't, do yourself a favor and find a tube of Dow Corning 111 or 112.

I believe the bushings for larger sway bars are larger. I am using Carrera sways, and those bushings are not the same size as SC ones.

[70S Targa Guy]

I was in a pinch and could not find any Dow 111 at any of the local places so I went to Home Depot and got this which will work fine for this application. Cheap also!
DANCO 0.5 oz. Silicone Faucet Grease - 88693 at The Home Depot

[IROC]

I had the same problem. Sometimes placing a jack under the a-arm and raising it up takes some of the load off of the bushing and makes it easier to push it back in. That worked for me, anyway. Once it was in, I put a hose clamp onto the end of the sway bar to keep the bushing from moving. It looked crappy, but it worked great.

[rnln]

I have never seen this but if you can push it in without taking things apart, then use soap. Soap will make it slipery when wet but it'll be sticky when it's dry, to help the bushing stay after it dries.

[TR]

jack the car right up again and relaese the tension. Force the rubber back using your biggest screw driver. Spray WD 40 only on the stabilizer bar itsself. wait for penetration. Then progressively lower. Try not to lube the outside of the rubber bush. Job Done.

[jomalkay]

I never knew rubber can have so much friction! 93 degree heat, after 2 hours had the bush 90% in (still cannot figure what in gods name is keeping it from going in completely). I tried everything! Though was when lowered it may "relax" into place, bolted up the bushing on the back of the bar and as soon as i go to tighten the bracket, bingo front bush starts to push out again, had hose clamp, c-clamps still to no avail. Just before reaching boiling point i decided to call it a day and realizing something else must be going on. After looking and thinking, I think the opposite side of the bar may be pushed in too far (i pushed in farther than normal to assist in getting the bar in place during assembly) and i think this is causing some type of weird binding effect. I have no measurement of how far the bar should seat into the bushing so cannot confirm. Really crazy, took me a few hours to install the whole suspension / steering rack, and I've been screwing with this deal for 4-5 hours now! I am thinking to take apart the left side suspension and start from scratch.

[DRACO A5OG]

Same boat here. I just may have to pull the trigger and disconnect the A-Arm as well per Wayne's 101 Book. Oh well.

During my attempt, damn BFS ripped the bushing. Doh!

[jomalkay]

finally! Started over, took the sway bar out, dropped one arm and what i deem is the most important, use the correct grease, i used plumbers silicon grease (thank you for the hint), i could easily move the bar in and out of the bushing by hand. I had previously used an "o-ring" grease, figured it would be correct for rubber parts. When i took everything apart it was like there was no grease at all, my best guess is it was all either pushed out or somehow absorbed. Long story short, correct grease would have made this an hour job. Feeling pretty stupid, but its all back together and i can go on to the rear suspension.

[DRACO A5OG]

Oh Damn!. Good Job. I guess I will need to do the same :-(

Dropped? DId you disconnect the Ball Joint only or the whole A-ARM?

Jim

[jomalkay]

keep the ball joint connected, this way you can manuver the a-arm in any direction to line up the sway bar.

[NOLAsc]

I, for one, am looking forward to the solution. Front sway bar bushings are near the the top of my project list along with tie-rod ends (or turbo tie rods).

Good luck, and thanks for posting!

Shawn

[jomalkay]

Shawn / Jim,
1) One side arm fully attached the other side attached by ball joint only
2) I was able to press in bushings into a-arms without any soap lube, if difficult, lube the outside only with soapy water. Let dry.
3) Generously lube both a-arm bushings with SILICON grease
4) Push sway bar into bushing on the a-arm side thae is fully attached, can go about 1 inch past normal location of the bar
5)Do not attach any of the bushings / brackets at the back side of the sway bar yet
6)Manuver the loose a-arm to slide over the sway bar (with plenty of grease). You can get a lot of multi-directional freedom to aligh things up. (It would help to have another set of hands keeping the other side in the bush, but i was able to manage it solo.
7) Once thebar is in both bushings, make sure to get it to general location (about 1 1/4" past the bushings) and manuver the loose a-arm back into the mount points.
8) Bolt the arm up and torque down.
9) mount the other two bushings that attach to the aluminum cross menber - take your time and tighten each side slowly, a back and forth deal. Keep checking the front bushings to make sure all is good.
All in all, this took me about an hour, no to low frustration.
Hope this helps.