Sway Bar Bushing Lube

[AZAmmochief]

I am looking for an acceptable lubricant for the bushings to help quite the squeaks. I understand petroleum based lubes can deteriorate the OEM rubber. Just checking around for do it yourself ideas?

[mike-s]

What works great is to wrap several layers of PTFE (teflon) plumbing tape around the sway bar before you put the bushing on.

[23hotrodr]

The best lube I have found for sway bar bushings is Energy Suspension lube. It is available at Amazon; Summit Racing Equipment, etc. It is extremely sticky and very slick when installed. It is made for this purpose.

[stevenal]

The lube that came with both my Roadmaster and Helwig bars was the stickiest, gooiest stuff I ever experienced. Good to know it won't wash away easily. Perhaps an anti sway bar manufacturer could help.

[enblethen]

The urethane bushings last a very long time compared to the OEM rubber ones.
However, they need to be removed and coated with proper lubricant. This should be looked at every couple of years.
I used this the last time.
Brake lube
I say removed as you can get the lubricant across the full face of the bushing. You can also apply a thicker coating.

[ScottG]

Dave H M wrote:
I am wondering if it should be squeaking if all is well.

The new harder bushings tend to squeak more than the old rubber ones did. They get lubed when installed but many of them dont have zerks for re-greasing. So it's not unusual for them to get noisy as the lubricant washes away or gets contaminated with dirt.
When I have installed new sway bars, they all came with a heavy silicone grease.

[Dave_H_M]

I am wondering if it should be squeaking if all is well.

[AZAmmochief]

Sorry for the confusion. Yes this is for my F-53 Class A, and maybe the correct name is Anti-Sway Bars, front and rear. These are the round OEM components that tie the frame to the I beam front axle. I'm just trying to maintain my unit in the best condition. Thanks for all of the comments. Happy Holidays.

[enblethen]

Since OP has a MH, I think he has round sway bars.

[westend]

Any rubber or plastic part can benefit from silicone lubes since they don't deteriorate those materials. WD40 will deteriorate rubber and certain plastics.

[ScottG]

LOL, were talking about all kinds of different "sway bars" here.

[RLS7201]

Why not fix the problem permanently, with These Bushings on Ebay.


Richard

[TakingThe5th]

Take a look at STP Son-Of-A Gun and Armor-All Protectant. My Dad used to use Ru-Glyde on anything made of rubber and got surprising results. I also have friends who use Lemon Pledge furniture polish to stop the rubber noise. I like to use food-grade silicon spray on my car door gaskets to prevent freezing, and also on the vinyl windows on my S&B.

[enblethen]

You need to find some polyurethane lubricant. Most auto parts stores.

[DutchmenSport]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Depends upon what kind of sway bar you are using and where you are lubing? If it's a friction sway bar, you don't want to lube anything.

A sway does NOT work on friction. It works by transmitting torque applied to one side of the bar to the opposite side. As one side of the vehicle goes down, the sway bar tries to "lift" the opposite side. The mounts could be needle bearings !

If this is the type of sway bar the OP has, then he doesn't want to lube anything on this. If he is using an Equal-i-zer or Blue Ox style, thats a different matter: