Did I just fix my front end sway bar?

j-d wrote:
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?

This is an excellent description of what a sway bay does, and how it is supposed to function. I was going to try and write something similar but I probably wouldn't have done as good a job. Thanks!

Interesting stuff, guys - all this from a bar that isn't rigidly connected to anything.

j-d, I will reread your description a few more times to get the picture. It is an '05 3500 chassis.

a Chevy with front end problems!!!!

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?

No...the inner tube is not a good substitution. Normally, the bushings are split at the thinnest part (hidden by the sway bar). You take the clamp off and remove the old bushing from around the bar. The split in the new bushing allows you to spread it open and place it around the bar. Replace the clamp and you are done. Make sure you check the links that attach each end of the bar to the lower A-arm of the suspension. If the bushings are bad, they should be replaced. If the link is extremely rusted or damaged, it, too, should be replaced. Normally you buy the links in a set with 2 links and all bushings, washers and nuts to replace both sides.

I am indebted to you guys for your replies of advice on sch a very detailed thing I, and maybe others, was completely oblivious.

My bushing is like that in j-d's photo (thanks for the extra effort of a pic), but my 2005 chevy express 6L V8 (see sig) only has 2 bushings and I do not see the pic as being mine.

But, what - and how much - movement are these bushings designed to allow? Horizontal slide, vertical vibratory relief?

Based on noise attention by us, our bushing has been MIA for at least 2 trips (under 40 mi on flat city bumpy streets)

Martha said the other bushing is really cracking up, so two new ones are looking real. Do they clamp on, or would I need to completely disconnect sway bar and slide new bushings from the ends (yuk)?

Is my rubber inner tube a reasonable fix??

The exact way it looks will depend on the vehicle. You can buy bushing kits for the center (which is pictured here) and for the ends (where the bar links to the suspension). Sounds like yours lost the rubber material and then pounded the bracket till it came off. Not uncommon. A friend with a small Class A had the same thing happen.

List your chassis Make, Year, Model and I can probably find an online seller of the bushings. Would also need to know Diameter of the Bar where it passes through the Bushings.

burlmart wrote:
Is this big curved bar the anti sway bar?? What does it do, exactly. Seems to almost be designed to "float", to act non-rigidly.

An Anti Sway Bar reduces body roll on turns and in emergency maneuvers. If the bushings (what you are calling shims) are bad - they are rubber and they will dry rot - they should be replaced.

-Michael

That (shim) is a sway bar bushing and yes you should replace both bushings if one is missing and the other is brittle.