I took my stock swaybar off a couple of weeks ago when I installed some subframe spacers. The bushings were shot and one of the endlinks was bent so I got a new set of Energy Suspension D-bracket bushings and they came with some new swaybar endlink bushings. I was initially just going to upgrade to a bigger set of swaybars but since my front swaybar was incomplete(missing an endlink) and the rear had bad bushings and endlinks, I decided to just buy some new bushings and try the stock bars out at a couple of autocrosses and see how I like them at their full potential before deciding if I needed something better at my current skill level.

Tools needed-Jackstands JackSocket wrench15mm socket14mm wrenchSocket extensionTorque wrenchHere's the Energy Suspension bushing set, the new endlink with bushings and the old endlink.Note the bent endlinkFirst thing you need to do is lube the swaybar and the D-bracket bushings up with the provided grease and slide them onto the swaybar...YOU DAMN PERVERT!!!Here's the new swaybar D-bracket bushing with the old bracket bushing. It was pretty soft compared to the new one.Here's my stock swaybar(15mm yeah it's tiny). When I took it off it was all gunked up with grime so I cleaned it and gave it a fresh coat of black along with my D-brackets. They weren't bent so I re-used them.

First thing you do is of course jack up the car and place your jackstands under it.Take the swaybar and slide it under the back of the car over the exhaust and just under the rear of the differential. From there you take the swaybar and slide it forward to where the mounting points are.Next, take the D-bracket and place it on the bushing...don't bolt them in yet but go ahead and slide them left or right to line them up with the mounting points.Now you put the endlinks together in this order...washer-bushing-swaybar-bushing-washer-separator-washer-bushing-lower control arm-bushing-washer-top nut. It's like making a samich!Next you tighten the link up with the 15mm socket for the top nut and use the 14mm wrench to keep it from spinning on the bottom. Torque the links to 78-104ft. lbs.Finished. Repeat on the other side.Now you can tighten the D-bracket bolts down and torque them to 32-41ft. lbs.Torque wrenchDone!

Modified by positronone at 6:41 PM 1/4/2007
Modified by positronone at 6:50 AM 1/6/2007

nice write up

I installed the same bushings on my car. I ended up snapping the right d-bracket, which made one LOUD noise. I thought someone threw something at my car. Anyway, a simple re-weld and repaint solved the problem. I also reinforced the other d-brackets, by welding a bead at the 90 degree angles, just to be safe.

in my experience, it's been a good practice to (with the car on jack stands and supported as well as possible), place a jack under one wheel and raise the wheel with the jack till it is at normal ride position

this puts a ton of stress on the bar and linkage, compressing (as well as possible) the bushings and brackets. i then get back under the car and check the nuts on the links again to make sure there is no slop...but call me paranoid

(if you choose to do that, be very careful and work slowly and carefully, make sure you have no less than 2 jack stands under the rear subframe and the front wheels blocked with bricks or something to make sure it can't roll. but again, its only for those that are paranoid about suspension slop)

Nice write up. I keep meaning to do this but I've been putting it off until I get new sway bars. It's been a few years now...

shovelman wrote:in my experience, it's been a good practice to (with the car on jack stands and supported as well as possible), place a jack under one wheel and raise the wheel with the jack till it is at normal ride position

this puts a ton of stress on the bar and linkage, compressing (as well as possible) the bushings and brackets. i then get back under the car and check the nuts on the links again to make sure there is no slop...but call me paranoid

(if you choose to do that, be very careful and work slowly and carefully, make sure you have no less than 2 jack stands under the rear subframe and the front wheels blocked with bricks or something to make sure it can't roll. but again, its only for those that are paranoid about suspension slop)

That's a good idea, I'm gonna check that next time I'm back there.

Were new D-brackets included with the bushings?

Torque for endlinks is wrong.

It's inch lbs i.e. 9-12 Nm