good to hear.

 

OK, I did this on Sunday.
Autozone had them, but the guy kept trying to look it up under the car, when I told him to just look up the part number, he found it "In the performance area".
I jacked the car up on each side - I had to jack it up quite high to be able to get under there and have room to move.
The top passenger side bolt was a bear to get off, all told it took almost 30 minutes to get under there and get everything off. The bolts were cheap and even with box wrenches it was easy to round them. I used an old scissors jack on the suspension member close to where the bolt is to adjust it up and free things up. Once I got both loosened it became easier to move the sway bar and get the old ones out, but the rubber "stuck" a bit.
Right at 30K miles, my old rubber bushings were way flattened and dead!
I squirted some spray-on white lithium grease to the parts, and assembled. I got both threaded in and then alternated tightening so as to make sure things seated well. I torqued the locking nut to 12# (Good compression on the bushings but not too much,) then put a second locking nut on and keeping the torqued one still with a wrench tightened the lower one on quite tight.
I also put on a rear TRD Swaybar, and my ride is VASTLY improved. Stock springs, stock struts, sensamatics in back. I suspect that the ride improvement is the bushings, it was getting kinda bad. It feels quite nice now!
This is a must do mod, dirt cheap, mildly challenging at most, and worth it in every way!

 

I read not to use the Lithium grease as it "absorbs" water. It will wear away easily and can eat up the bushings. I used wheel bearing grease which was petroleum based (which is manufactuer recommended). I have also used this:

http://coolcatcorp.com/Merchant2/mer...Category_Code=

 

sounds like a great upgrade for cheap right up my alley like everyone money is tight with me so i like the low buck stuff

 

For those interested , Auto Zone has the complete end link , an exact replacement ( except the rubber bushings have been replace with impregnated poly)

Duralast part # 18336

might save some a little time , they look like stock parts.

 

I had my alignment guy do the endlinks today. He did it pretty quick. I may do the bar bushings. Stock front bar is 25mm? I just want to doublecheck the size.

 

I cut the spacers in half before I got them installed.

I may double up on the nut.

 

you don't need a double nut, just buy a locking washer nut for the bottom. Grade 8!

 

did this saturday, as well as changed out my rear shocks to the monroe 5987s. i can take those big freeway connector ramps at 10 more mphs without feeling like im bout to drift out.

 

Just did mine last weekend.

A couple things that came to mind:

1) While I am jacking up the car in the factory marked place behind the front wheel well, where is the next best place to put your jack stand? I ended putting my jack stands a little to the front of the factory-marked spot, and it marred up the metal a little.

I reversed the position (jack closer to wheel well, jack stand further in / behind the factory-marked spot) and it wants to crinkled up the metal even more! Needless to say I stopped and reversed it back right away.

2) The control arm is weight LOADED! If you took the wheel off, make sure you jack up the suspension arm a little before loosening the factory bushings. Otherwise bolts will go flying.

3) Jacking up the suspension arm will also give you room to install the bolt from the top down.

4) Afterthought: What's the best place it jack up the front wheel suspension? If any? Given it's only to compress the springs a little and not to support the full curb weight, but I just want to be sure.

 

I’ve never jacked up the car using the OEM jack and “rail” points to do maintenance or service and only once to do a road side flat/spare change. The combination of the two is barely “minimum acceptable”. Between scratching up the parts most susceptible to rust and the wobbling danger, I’d advise against it.

To jack up a car I use either a hydraulic or heavy duty scissor jack on the sub-frame. Usual safety precautions apply. What I do differently is to drive onto a couple of short 2x6’s to lift the car up an inch and a half to make it easier to slide the jack under and to be able to see all the parts. I also place the jack onto a roughed-up 2x12. When jacking, as soon as I have wheel lift-off I just slide out the 2x6’s and have all the clearance I need with out additional jacking. Also, if some thing is going wrong or I have to lower quickly I only have to slide the 2x6’s back under.

Jack stands get placed on either side of the sub frame; again on roughed up 2x12’s.

I also frequently jack or jack-stand the control arms depending on what I am doing.

 

Sub frame - you mean the two points they show you in the scion service manual?

point one is underneath the engine, slightly off centred. I don't see any clear marking when I was under the car tho.

point two is underneath the cargo area in the back, where a metal protrution sticks out underneath the "trunk" about a feet behind the rear bumper.


Are those the points you're talking about?


So putting weight on the control arm is ok? yay.

 

Just replaced my worn out factory pos bushings a couple days ago. Car rides so much better too. Got the polyurethanes from Autozone, and the 3/8 x 4" bolts and nylock nuts from Home Depot. About $17 bucks. It took me about an hour and a half to replace, only because I did one side at a time, removed the front wheel, and had to loosen the bolts holding the sway bar to the frame in order to get enough clearance to remove and install the bolt and the bushings.

 

just wait till you replace the sway bar bushings the hard way

 

wait, is there tension on the sway bar when the car is on the ground?
I don't think so, but...

 

OK this is how i did mine:

Bolt, Washer, Bushing, Control arm, Bushing, washer, washer, bushing, stabilizer bar, bushing, washer, nylon nut.

Im concern about the Washer to Washer part? Do You think it will create the tok/squeak sound? I was also concern about the clearance between the axle and the bolt head. how many mm/inches is the clearance between the both?

 

I replaced mine yesterday. Bolt, washer, bushing,control arm, bushing, washer, washer, bushing, stabilizer bar, bushing, washer, nut. I've got an 06 and found it very easy. Left the wheels on and had the car on ramps. I undid the stock ends on both sides and the stabilizer bar moves easily enough to get room to get the goodies on. I came in from the top (stabilizer bar first) and have about half an inch of bare thread protruding now. I'm thinking of cutting the excess off with the Dremel.

As for clearance with the axle, other than some compression, shouldn't the axle, control arm, and stabilizer bar all move as a unit and maintain steady separation?

Cheers,
MD

 

One final note on the bushing install. I read through all the previous posts and decided this last weekend to replace two original retainers on the underside of the control arm. It took about 15 minutes. So the sequence of parts from the top (I had no trouble dropping the bolt in from the top with both sides of the stabilizer bar loose) is: Bolt, washer, bushing, stabilizer bar, bushing, washer, washer, bushing, control arm, retainer, bushing, washer, nut.

Nice and easy,

Cheers,

MD

 

Guys, help me out,don't really feel like reading 17 pages. Are you guys just replacing front sway bar bushings ? do I need to order just one set for the front ? What about the back, nowhere I could find anything about the back ? There's no bushings there ? or they don't need to b replaced ? I wanna also install new rear sway bar.

 

theres no sway bar in the back... and to get to the bushings that help hold the front sway bar is a pita to get to...

their talking about the end links a simple 10 minute job to swap out