Did I just fix my front end sway bar?
After doing work on the overcab noise makers, we were surprised to hear what sounded like a jostled stack of lumber. I thought it was from overhead, but Martha thought it was from below. I found a s...
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What a Sway Bar (sometimes called Stabilizer Bar) does is try to keep the vehicle from leaning in a turn, from wind gusts, passing trucks, etc. It's a Torsion Spring. Meaning that by resisting twisting, it tries to shift some of the downward force from the side leaning "down" to the side that would lean "up." The leverage for this Down/Up occurs at the End Links. Those Center Bushings give the End Links a support to work from. You can't pull a nail with your claw hammer unless the hammer head has a surface to bear on. Those center bushings are that surface.
All the Center Bushing does is allow a little rotation of the Bar as the front of the coach rises and falls. Replacement Center Bushings are often split, so the Bracket comes off, Old Bushing Removed, New Bushing spread Open, fit around Bar, Closed and Held with Bracket.
The magic is in the End Links! That's where the twist resistance of the Bar gets to try and make the two Lower Control Arms (that carry the weight of the coach onto the front wheels) move in unison when the coach tries to lean.
Those end links have transferred enough force to the center bushings to crush them. So even though it "needs center bushings" I suggest you replace the end links or the end link bushings too.
When the vehicle is LEVEL, there is NO weight on the Sway Bar. By Level I mean side to side. So if you can get at the parts by sliding under on your back, or by driving BOTH front wheels up onto equal blocks, or by jacking and putting the same stands under BOTH chassis rails, still no pressure on the end links. All you have to handle is part of the weight of the bar itself. Change one Center Bushing at a time and you won't even have to handle that.
The best Sway Bar Bushings (Center or End Link) are the Polyurethane ones, not plain rubber. They'll feel hard, about like a plastic screwdriver handle, and may or may not be black. The less movement in end links, the less give in center links, the greater the control the sway bar can provide.
You're correct the photo I linked is NOT your chassis. I'll see what I can find. It's a "3500" chassis, correct?
All the Center Bushing does is allow a little rotation of the Bar as the front of the coach rises and falls. Replacement Center Bushings are often split, so the Bracket comes off, Old Bushing Removed, New Bushing spread Open, fit around Bar, Closed and Held with Bracket.
The magic is in the End Links! That's where the twist resistance of the Bar gets to try and make the two Lower Control Arms (that carry the weight of the coach onto the front wheels) move in unison when the coach tries to lean.
Those end links have transferred enough force to the center bushings to crush them. So even though it "needs center bushings" I suggest you replace the end links or the end link bushings too.
When the vehicle is LEVEL, there is NO weight on the Sway Bar. By Level I mean side to side. So if you can get at the parts by sliding under on your back, or by driving BOTH front wheels up onto equal blocks, or by jacking and putting the same stands under BOTH chassis rails, still no pressure on the end links. All you have to handle is part of the weight of the bar itself. Change one Center Bushing at a time and you won't even have to handle that.
The best Sway Bar Bushings (Center or End Link) are the Polyurethane ones, not plain rubber. They'll feel hard, about like a plastic screwdriver handle, and may or may not be black. The less movement in end links, the less give in center links, the greater the control the sway bar can provide.
You're correct the photo I linked is NOT your chassis. I'll see what I can find. It's a "3500" chassis, correct?
