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Sway bar question

T

the_bandit87

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Sydney,NS
Well last time I was under my truck I noticed that my sway bar bushings are gone (they are cracked and pices of them are starting to fall off) so its time for new ones. I'm going to go with polyurethane because I hear that they are tougher. Here is my dilema. I'm not sure what size my sway bar is, and I'm just about to go and mike it but I was wondering if there was anything like an FAQ about what size front an rear sway bars came on XJs over the years and weather the options packages had anything to do with it. When I went down to my local parts place he said that there is a 23mm Sway bar all the way up to 27mm. Mine is an 87 Laredo, it had the Class I hitch from factory (came with light duty plastic rad), 4.0, Aw4/Command Trac 4wd, and an open D44 out back. I'm going to go and mike it now but I just though this would be interesting to bring up.
 
My new poly bushings squeak almost as bad as my 130K mi rubber ones did. Make sure you lube the hell out of them. I would get under there and measure it yourself--for my 96 there were 4 different sway bar diameters listed at the parts store. Measure it yourself is the only way to be sure
 
You mean mic it right, as in using a micrometer? I'm sure calipers will work fine for the accuracy you need.

EDIT: forgot to mention that I have the poly mounts with the grease fittings and I've never heard them squeak for the 1/2 year I've had them so far.
 
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I just went and bought new ones from the dealership...i think it was like twenty bucks. You figure your original ones lasted 19 years so they're probably good enough.
 
I eyeballed mine with a ruler. My old swaybar bushings were worn really bad and actually produced a thunk through the floor boards.

I greased the hell out of them when I installed the new ones but within a week or two they started creaking. However, during my next oil changed I pulled them and regreased them, haven't creaked for 8 months.
 
I bought some cheap poly ones for the ZJ. I had to regrease them every few months or they'd start squaking pretty loud on bumps. At least they had a zerk fitting so they were easy to grease. I eventually swapped them out for rubber and they've been quite ever since.
 
To measure the swaybar, use your metric open-ended wrenches. my 99 had a 27mm
 
You can also use an adjustable wrench, then measure the size. By the way, XJ anti-sway bars go up to 28 mm.
 
Napa sells Thermoplastic Sway Bar bushings, they are harder, last much longer and don't squeak compared to polyurethane. Look for the higher quality (i.e. more expensive) offering from NAPA. The Thermoplastic is very bright blue.

Poor Man's caliper that is more than accurate for swaybar diameter, A big adjustable wrench with a ruler, just adjust the wrench flats to slightly squeeze the bar, remove and measure the difference inbetween flats.

OR

Wrap a string around the bar, mark where it meets, measure the length and then divide by 3.1428 (Pi).

Make sure you measure at a straight part of the bar, not at the bends.
 
For my rear swaybar, I very carefully mic'd it with my digital micrometer (normally found on my reloading bench), to verify that yes, in fact, the swaybar would fit into a standard rubber-maid trash can.:roflmao:

Steve
 
Rick Anderson said:
Napa sells Thermoplastic Sway Bar bushings, they are harder, last much longer and don't squeak compared to polyurethane. Look for the higher quality (i.e. more expensive) offering from NAPA. The Thermoplastic is very bright blue.
Click to expand...


Warning: old post revisited. Gotta get that out in the open for those that are against this for some reason.


Has anyone used the Napa thermoplastic bushings? I know that I don't want to deal with poly. Should I go with rubber or the plastic bushings? Good idea about using an open-ended wrench btw!
 
Markos said:
Warning: old post revisited. Gotta get that out in the open for those that are against this for some reason.


Has anyone used the Napa thermoplastic bushings? I know that I don't want to deal with poly. Should I go with rubber or the plastic bushings? Good idea about using an open-ended wrench btw!
Click to expand...

Take the OEM rubber bushings and soak them every half year with silicon spray.:laugh3:

p.s. why an open-end wrench for this job?


'92 XJ
 
Last edited:
I got stock rubber replacement sway bar mount bushings and the link bushings for cheap from quadretec. I think all the bushings and s&h was about $20.
 
I got the Crown replacements from Morris 4x4 for about 10 bucks delivered. They also have a handy diagram/parts listing which breaks down the years for specific parts. Helped me figure out exactly which part numbers I've needed a few times, even if I didn't get it there.

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/jeep-suspension-parts/84-01-cherokee-xj.htm

Also have a 10% discount for forum users.

wim hoppenbrouwers said:
p.s. why an open-end wrench for this job?
Click to expand...

Handy way to measure if you don't have calipers or the like.
 
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