My mechanic says I need to replace both front sway bar links on my 2002 Jetta....I am, of course, hesitant to do it at this price. How critical is it to replace? Can I get junk yard sway bars to make it cheaper? And can I do it myself (have no experience fixing anything....
View 11 RepliesCan the hellwig sway bar links will work with an oem sway bar? I need new ones and figured why replace with something I know will fail early...
View 3 RepliesThe Honda dealership told me my 2005 CRV has loose sway bar links. How are these fixed? They quoted a price of $290 for the front links and $374 for the rear links. Does this sound reasonable.
View 14 RepliesI want to change the front sway bar links on a 2005 Camry that has been driven in central New York (ice, salt, corrosion) for 10 years. There is definite wiggle and noise. I recently replaced the ball joints. That was difficult. How difficult is it to remove the sway bar links? Looks like a 5MM or so allen wrench is supposed to hold the ball joint type link to allow 18MM nut to be removed. A 5MM allen wrench is about 4 inches long and skinny. An 18MM wrench is about 12 inches long and beefy. I am skeptical about breaking the nut loose.
Will I need to heat the nut? If yes, how? With a simple propane torch? If yes, how does that work? Apply heat and wait for a sound that indicates the rust has broken? Apply heat for a time, try to hold with the allen wrench and try to undo the nut? Keep trying that again and again until it works? This would be after multiple rust busting spraying to make this easier. I used a 4 inch grinder to grind the nuts off the ball joints to remove them (I know how that sounds, but that is what I did). Thoughts about that for the sway bar links? I am a bolt turner who can stand some aggravation.
Both of my front sway bar links have a bad joint and are making a bad noise.. I purchased the replacements and tried to loosen the nuts with no success. I put some oil to loosen them and will let them set over night. Next attempt will include a breaker bar.
View 4 RepliesMy car is a 2000 Corolla CE.
If I replace the rear sway bar end links, do I need to get an alignment? (I just got an alignment 2 days ago). Here is a DIY on replacing the rear sway bar end links: [URL]
The top attaches to the strut.....what is the bar the other end attaches to?
I just installed rear sway bar & links, this made a world of difference in the way the car handles as soon as I made the first turn I could feel the difference in the car it definitely corners flatter, the install only took about an hour did it in the driveway on ramps, I installed the kia sway bar 555102T000 the bar is 18.3 mm while the stock one is only 15mm I included some pics...
View 8 RepliesI've been having the loud clunk under the drivers side floor, that many others have as well. Did many hours of research and replaced the sway bar end links. Napa only had the left side in stock so I did it first last weekend and did the right side this weekend. One thing I noticed when doing the right side was the hole in the frame was all wallowed out. Drilled out the bushing in the upper end link and used a bigger bolt to fill the gap up. went for a drive and the clunk was way worse than it ever was still on the left side. So I took off the left one and went for a drive. Sure enough no clunk, the left one was wallowed out as well. So I did the same thing on that side and the evil clunk is finally gone. Just thought I would throw that out that if have a clunk after replacing the end links, Check the upper holes.
View 14 RepliesI plan on replacing as I have a clunk happening. Thought I'd try here first.
Is there a brand that's better? 1Aauto has OEM. Is there a brand that's better or makes a difference?
Or is a front sway bar end link a front sway bar end link?
What is the correct length of the front sway bar end links. I need that info to order replacements for my 04 X EB 6.0 4x4. I just don't want to wait another day.
View 3 RepliesI'm new to the whole Ranger truck thing since buying a 1993 Ranger 4x4 for my 14 y/o son. It has a 4 inch suspension lift and a 3 inch body lift running 33x10.5x15 tires. The front sway bar is not hooked up. I know that i will need drop brackets for the sway bar but my question is about the end links needed for this truck. There are 2 tabs with provisions for a horizontal bolt on each side of the twin I-beam where the end link would attach and the sway bar has a single horizontal hole on each end. Searching for replacement links at various auto parts websites only seems to yield the standard end links that consist of a straight bolt with a nut on each end and the rubber insulators. That clearly is not the correct end link for my application. Not sure if the front suspension is the factory installed unit or if it was swapped some time in the part.
View 4 RepliesOne is coming apart, so I'm gonna replace the pair. My Chilton book says to jack the front end up. The part instruction sheet makes no mention of doing that.
Raising the front would allow the control arms to hang. That would seem to me to make it harder to deal with the links.
So putting the new extended links on my truck, not sure if they are supposed to be seated flush on both the frame and sway bar itself before tightening them down. This is how they are sitting now --
You can see a little gap between the rubber fitting where the bushing sits and the frame mount. Just wanted to make sure before I torque it down. Its the same on the other side as well. They are sitting flush on the sway bar.
I have a 2002 F350 4x4 CC 7.3 i am wanting to change the sway bar bushings front and rear to poly and I want greasable bushings to avoid the squeaking that you get with these bushings alot of the time. I would like to change the end links to poly too i realize these wont be greaseable. What was the outcome and where did you buy the bushings. What is the size of the front and rear sway bars and the length of the end links??
View 14 RepliesI'm on my second set of links. The replacement were Dorman 3 years ago. They are rattling again. Do I just replace them again? I forgot to add, the bushings were replaced this year.
View 1 RepliesMy 04 6.0 Limited and both front and rear sway bars. The front links keep wearing out after 3-4000 miles. But, I saw someone in here put F350 Sway Bars in their Excursion? REALLY?? Is this right or is this snake oil? Is their another way to fix the front links so they don't wear out so quickly??
View 4 RepliesI have recently inherited a 2000 Jetta. The car runs great however the plastic tube that holds the oil dipstick is broken in two or thee spots. It has been previously repaired with electrical/duct tape. Doesn't seem to leak but I'm wondering if I need to get a new one in there. Is this something I can do at home or does it need to go to a shop?
View 3 RepliesI'm getting my struts replaced tomorrow on all corners, but the mechanic said my sway bar might break and may require replacement because my car is around 10 years old, is this true?
View 8 RepliesI've got a 2002 Jetta TDI that's been playing stump the mechanic for the past two weeks. I've had about $800 worth of work (most of which had error codes and were necessary), but given that the next suggestion is to replace the fuel pump at a cost of ~$2k, I figured it was time to get some additional opinions.
When the car is completely cold, the engine typically turns over a few times before starting up. Sometimes a few turns into seven or eight, but I've never had it not start. The problem comes when I've driven it somewhere (like to the grocery store, yoga class, or to get gas, to name a few) and try to restart it after my task is done. The warmer the engine, the lower the chance it will start. In it's most extreme, the car will not start at all, and I have had it stall out on me at stoplights if I do manage to get it started.
The car has had a history of intermittent hard starts in the four years I've had it, but nothing at all like this.
In the past two weeks, my mechanic has replaced the coolant temperature sensor, thermostat and seal ring, serpentine belt tensioner and serpentine belt, power supply relay, fuel pressure regulator and seal rings and the crank sensor. They've also been able to see that something is off about the fuel pump since they can see air bubbles in the fuel line, but thought I could push the car for a while without having to replace the pump.
What the problem is, what to do about it, if VW is doing anything if you complain enough.
View 4 RepliesI drive a car I am extremely reliant on. I don't have money to buy a new one and I may be a bit over protective of this car. It is in excellent shape, I bought it with 96K and whoever owned it took good care of it. I changed the battery pretty much right away, and the auto parts store guy said it looked like it was the original battery. So I suspect the timing belt is original too, (along with the clutch, which works great BTW). I don't know anything about cars short of what I have heard on CT, but it seems there is a trend towards having to change the timing belt at 80-90K And I know that a worn out timing belt can have no symptoms and essentially ruin your car if it breaks.
I took my car for the blue plate special, and it has been to the dealer a couple of times for some repairs where they also do the general service and see if they can find something to charge me for and in all cases, my car had nothing they would identify and repair. Fluids are good air filters are good etc. When I took it to the little shop on the corner I got the same report, and when I picked it up I asked, well how does the timing belt look? And he said. I can't tell you, you would have to take it apart to find out. So my questions are, as I do not know if the timing belt has been changed by previous owners. should I just go for it and have someone change the timing belt as part of my regular maintenance plan now, or is there some nifty way to find out if it needs changing without having to spend an arm and a leg?