Front swaybar bushings and end links

Topic: Front swaybar bushings and end links (Read 1687 times) previous topic - next topic

Front swaybar bushings and end links

November 08, 2005, 03:06:07 PM

Hey guys since I put the Bird away for the winter I'm going to take care of a few age realted problems. One of them being the nasty cracked rubber front swaybar bushings and endlink bushings. I'm going to replace them with urathane bushings and my question is what brand do you guys recomend? If anyone has/had experiences with particular brand of bushings/endlinks let me know. I don't want to buy something and find out that it's junk:mad: .

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #1 – November 08, 2005, 05:02:41 PM

mm swaybar bushings are awesome... actually they are made by another company. i forget who. energy suspension endlinks worked well on my car as well. if i had the dough i would prolly by only mm products as they have excellent quality standards. just my 2 cents.

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #2 – November 08, 2005, 05:04:58 PM

Thanks! By the way pardon my stupidity but is mm maximum motor sports?

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #3 – November 08, 2005, 05:05:49 PM

yep. :)

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #4 – November 08, 2005, 05:30:37 PM

Check out Prothane suspension component's. I've have significantly better luck with them over the Energy Suspension branded products.

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #5 – November 08, 2005, 10:02:48 PM

Quote from: nirvanagod

Check out Prothane suspension component's. I've have significantly better luck with them over the Energy Suspension branded products.

That's what MM sells!!! Thanks. :)

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #6 – November 09, 2005, 12:33:12 AM

Just an FYI- back when I bought poly swaybar bushings for my TC from MM, I noticed that they also listed endlinks for stock height Thunderbirds so I went ahead and ordered a set, figuring that would take the guesswork out of getting the right set. I got these endlinks and went to put them on, and the bolts were so short that I barely had enough sticking out of the bottom to thread the nut on to, and had to tighten it down more than you're really supposed to just to get the nut on far enough that I didn't feel it would work itself loose.

Just a word of caution!

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #7 – November 09, 2005, 12:50:00 PM

Hmm does anyone know the diameter of a stock V8 front swaybar for an 88 LX? The bushings come in a couple of different diameters and i don't want to get one that's too big. Also what end link set should I get if the stock height ones are too short?

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #8 – November 09, 2005, 07:24:11 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302

Hmm does anyone know the diameter of a stock V8 front swaybar for an 88 LX? The bushings come in a couple of different diameters and i don't want to get one that's too big. Also what end link set should I get if the stock height ones are too short?

Reasonably sure the stock bar diameter is 1 1/8". If you go for the Prothane branded ones be aware that they will need to shimmed in between the upper braket and the bushing.

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #9 – November 09, 2005, 11:43:48 PM

I used prothane bushings and never had to shim mine.

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #10 – November 10, 2005, 05:27:32 PM

Where would I shim the bushing? Between the bushing and the frame rail?

Front swaybar bushings and end links

Reply #11 – November 10, 2005, 06:32:01 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302

Where would I shim the bushing? Between the bushing and the frame rail?

The bracket is two piece, the bushing goes in between, so where you "may" need to put a shim is between the top of the bushing and the bottom of the upper bracket. Again I can't gaurentee that you will have to do this, but I did with mine (using a prothane part). Also note that you will want to go with a thicker shim than just what will fit in there. It will need to be enough that it compresses tightly enough that it won't slip out under normal or extreme driving conditions. Trust me, it's a scary enough sound at even just 25mph to hear something fall off and bounce around under your car. I'm sure it would be worse and cause a heck of a lot of damage at highway speeds.