Knowing how to lubricate sway bar bushings and understanding the role of the sway bar bushing will partly help you deliver the safest and smoothest track handling for your automobile on the road most of the time. All it takes is a little time, a few common tools, and the right kind of grease to make your car’s suspension sound and feel new again. Now, let’s roll up your sleeves and explore the process with Car From Japan:
Contents
What Is The Sway Bar Bushings
Before learning about sway bar bushings, let’s go through the concept and function of the sway bar and balancing system. A sway bar, also known as an anti-roll bar, stabilizer bar, or torsion bar, is a part of the car suspension system that helps to reduce the rolling force during fast cornering or unusual crossing. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels via short swingarms with a torsion elastic linkage function.
The sway bar increases the anti-roll stiffness of the suspension. In terms of shape, the sway bar is a U-shaped metal bar that connects both wheels on the same axle to the chassis. The ends of the rods are connected to the suspension on either side of the corresponding two wheels. And the middle part of the rod is connected to the vehicle’s body.
In more detail, the sway bar will keep the vehicle more stable, not leaning to one side too much when cornering. Because when cornering, the car’s weight will be pushed to one side, causing the suspension on that side to be pressed down, forcing the body to tilt. If the body is tilted too much to one specific side, it will cause the other two wheels to lose traction, which will make the whole car spin out of control (called oversteer).
The sway bar must be solidly attached to the car body, and the end of the bar near the wheels must also be in the same steady position to strengthen balancing and handling effectively.
Structured like many suspension details in particular, and car components in general, sway bars are fixed in a safe area with bushings providing a restricted active range of motion without requiring bearings or moving elements.
With such advantages in all terms of anti-rolling, the sway bar and the bushings deserve to be checked regularly to avoid the issue of car rusting and malfunctioning during service life. After the due checking that you still have not gotten to the point of executing any sway bar bushings replacement, you can then think about lubricating the bushings.
Therefore, these bushings will gradually sink into worse states if working without proper and timely maintenance and lubrication. And at some point, they will destroy or even disturb the smoothness of the whole system.
The Best Grease For Sway Bar Bushings You Should Use
The issues of rust or stiff movement that happened with the sway bar and the bushings can be solved instantly with a grease suitable for the vehicle type, bar type, or the nature of the bushings you are using. Generally, sway bar bushings are synthetic rubber or natural, or even polyurethane materials-based products.
Along with rubber, polyurethane bushings are considerably popular among sway bar performance enthusiasts. Its characteristic is a bit more rigid and delivers better resistance to severe heat, ozone, and mixed types of car lubricating or enhancing fluids that may tarnish rubber-made ones after a long time of use.
In short, for sway bar bushings without a divided structure, a bit of standard grease is enough to smooth-slide it to the core. Some kinds of bushings even need no lubricant. Aside from this grease, original manufacturers suggest using water-based, silicone-based, or vegetable oil to smooth the tolerance-limited bushings.
Specifically, polyurethane-based bushing factories even provide retaining belts with the necessary lubricant amount for each routine maintenance.
For optimal function, you can be assured that these lubricants will not react negatively or go against your bushing materials and can be cleaned easily without leaving any debris surrounding them. And exceptionally, if a fresh-buy bushing does not come with a factory-recommended lubricant or instructions for using it, it needs to be smoothed completely dry.
Among all types of lubricants floating on the market that may leave you confused, we have two notable choices for you: the dry Teflon sprays and the silicone-based lubricant.
One of the most recognizable benefits of silicone lubricant is that it tends to stay fixed in its supposed-to-be area and not easily wash out of any needed surface. While the flip side of it is that it draws and holds dirt or grit from the road along the way your car moves, turning the greased area into unfilled sandpaper that will likely accelerate the wearing speed of the bushing surfaces.
On the other hand, according to experienced mechanics, Teflon dry spray has the optimal lubricating ability and does not attract grit. But the feature that makes this substance unable to score max points in this magical-lubricating check-up is the speed of drifting and sliding on obstacles.
So, if you want to lubricate sway bar bushings as effectively as possible, you will have to repeat the spraying step until the sway bar surface is covered evenly with enough substance.
How to Lubricate Sway Bar Bushings
Below are some steps presented in a simple way to help you do the process without wasting too much effort and time.
- Step 1. Find an open space and park your car on an even surface. Install the emergency brake and, after each rear wheel, place a quality wheel clamp.
- Step 2. Lift the car’s front end with a proper car jack and place a bracket under the frame on each side of the front end. To ensure safety, carefully inspect the jack stands, wheels, and brakes to ensure the vehicle is not wobbling and is held in a fixed, stable position before you get under the car.
- Step 3. Rotate all front wheels to the side to access the bushing position. Use a nail or other sharp object to mark on the bracket to determine its correct position before removing it, making it easier to put it back in place after completing the process.
- Step 4. Mark positions and remove the top and bottom swingarm brackets with an appropriately sized wrench. Remove the bolts and tilt the sway bar towards the vehicle’s rear. Move the bracket out of its fixed position.
- Step 5. Place the sway bar in a wide and unobstructed location. Grease it with a recommended lubricant or silicone grease. Simultaneously slide the bushings off the bar.
- Step 6. Depending on the bushing type and the manufacturer’s recommendations, you can lubricate the sway bushings with an all-purpose silicone lubricant or a dry Teflon lubricant. Then thread the bushings back to the sway bar until they come to the bar stop. Turn the split edge of the bushing towards the front side of the car.
- Step 7. Install the sway bar back into its original position under your vehicle. Place the brackets back in spots determined by the premade marks. Replace the bolts and secure the brackets.
- Step 8. Rotate the front wheels and repeat the lubrication steps above for the bushing on the other side of the vehicle.
After completing the procedure on the other side, jack the vehicle off the stand, put it aside, and gently lower the car’s front end to the ground. Disconnect the emergency brake and detach the wheel clamps.
So the sway bar bushings lubricating process is now completed within 8 simple and quick steps. You can practice and refer to a few more sources of information or videos for a more visual follow-up. The steps are not too difficult and take a lot of effort. We wish you all success implementing them.
FAQs
How often should I grease sway bars?
For most cars with factory-installed parts, you never need to grease your sway bar bushings. The need for greasing almost always comes from aftermarket polyurethane bushings—the colorful red, blue, or black ones that people often install for better performance. Depending on your climate (rain and dirt wash grease away faster) and the quality of the grease you use, you might need to do it once a year, or you might go several years without a problem.
Do bad sway bar bushings sound like?
The classic sound of bad sway bar bushings is a low-pitched, groaning squeak that happens when your car’s body flexes. You will most likely hear it when:
– Going over speed bumps.
– Pulling into a steep driveway.
– Driving on uneven or bumpy roads.
Can you over-tighten sway bar links?
Yes, you absolutely can over-tighten sway bar links, and it’s a common mistake that causes problems. When you crank down on the nuts too hard, you’ll crush the rubber or polyurethane bushings, which prevents them from flexing correctly and makes them wear out very quickly. In a worst-case scenario, you can even strip the threads or snap the stud on the link itself, turning a simple job into a much bigger headache. This is why mechanics always recommend using a torque wrench to tighten them to the specific value listed by the car’s manufacturer.
Wrapping Up On Lubricate Sway Bar Bushings
Overall, lubricate sway bar bushings is quite a vital maintenance act if your vehicle is equipped with a standard system. With this lubrication, you will not have to wonder too much about whether to do it or not, as it will always be a good idea and not excessive. Prepare a simple kit and roll up your sleeves to perform this simple lubricating procedure, following our instructions and recalling everything you have just learned about the sway bar.
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