What exactly does the sway bar do. My car is making the chang chang sound from beneath. A few have mention the lack of sway bar bushings are the reason. What are they? Where exactly are they? (I've seen diagrams, but with no context) Can I fix this without a lift. All insight is helpful

thanks

 

It's more correct to call it an 'anti-roll' bar. It gives the car roll-stiffness. Technically, 'sway' is a completely different type of motion from roll.

Think of it as a spring that acts on the DIFFERENCE between right & left wheel positions. Without it, the car will lean more when turning.

When the car leans towards the outside of a turn, the outside suspension compresses while the inside suspension extends. The 'sway' bar resists that.

 

Easier to see it on the rear, but the idea is the same on both axles.

Sway bar is #8, it's held in place by brackets (#10) with rubber bushings (#14). Left by itself, it would be able to pivot freely up & down.



The end links (#9) are attached to each wheel. Notice how eachendof the sway baracts like a lever. When you go over a flat bump, both sides move up & down in unison, and the sway bar doesn't do much.

When the car wants to lean in a corner, those links pull up on one side & down on the other. That twists the middle of the sway bar, & the bar resists this like a torsionspring.

 

Great Reply. I think I have the concept of the sway bar now. As for replacing the bushings. Is that something I can do without a lift. Without air compression tools?

 

you can do it with a socket set... if you need extra clearance just use your spare tire jack.... look up energy suspension bushings (polyeurethane) and see if they are the same price or perhaps even a little cheaper than stock, they work better....

 

will do, thanks

 

Probably NOT a good idea to get underneath the car with that jack!!!

The bushings can usually be removed easily, but I can't say the wrench positions are easy or hard on any random year...

 

How bout on the ramps?

 

i just did mine in my driveway. the air tools certainly helped, but could have done it w/out them. the cost to replace both sides was ~$35 using TRW parts w/ standard rubber bushings. took me ~30 minutes.

do yourself a favor & buy a haynes manual for your car. they go into pretty good detail on how to R&R most of this kind of stuff; & they do it from a novice point of view. it's certainly helped me!

 

Ramps are good. Make sure they're straight, not ready to topple, before getting underneath. I usually grab the bumper & shake as hard as I can. If it's gonna fall off the jack or ramp, I want that to happen without me underneath.