HELP: Blown Front Sway Bar Bushing

[bushpilot]

Last day or so I drove the truck and it felt like
i had a flat or something on one of the rears (srw).

this afternoon after wiring some of our garage...im
standing back lookin at my work & celebrating a bit w/
a beer(s) and notice the front sway bar passenger side
looks funny...damm bushing is blown...

bolt/nut is still on it...but it blew the the inner side of the
bushing...

anyone ever had this happen (i can see a ball joint blown
from these f'in houston roads but a sway bar bushing ?)

any clues on what i need to do to replace the bushing ?
do i jack the bar back into place ? how do i push the sway
bar back toward the middle of the truck to get the thing
to line up when i replace the bushing ?

anyone know if i can order JUST the sway bar bushings ?

got any hints on how i can tell my wife if we had the REAR
sway bar (which we dont) then this would have never happened...
ive been wantin' a rear sway bar

 

[bushpilot]

well as suspected ive called 'round and none of the
typical suspects stocks the bushings...

had to go to summitracing online, they had ONE
set of the polly bushings in stock...and oh yeah they
had the rear sway bar in stock too...IRL (in a f350 crewcab)
here i come

 

[bushpilot]

update...

well the front bar is off & ive replaced the bushings...
replacement front sway bar bushings are available from
summit racing (the bushings are poly based & made by
energy suspension.. p/n: 4.5186R/G (R=red or G=black)

the OE DROP LINK bushings were an absolute B*TCH to get
out...even w/ a 20 ton press...the OE bushings have a THIN
metal outter ring that is EXTREAMLY diff. to press out...a
conventional socket or bearing seat/press tool needs to be
cut down so that it will clear the edge when pressing out the
bushings.

anyway i got 'em, and got the new bushings in...its not THAT
bad a job once you get the old bearings out.

the rear sway bar (mfg by helwig) also purchased from
summit was shipped wrong...theres some issue w/ the partnumbers
printed in helwig & summits catalog...once i get the right one
ill post the part number for it.

the helwig rear bar p/n "7636" itself is TOO SHORT as are
the drop links (course you cant know this til the 80lb thing is
COMPLETELY bolted in to place)

 

[dzl_x_4x4]

Last day or so I drove the truck and it felt like
i had a flat or something on one of the rears (srw).

this afternoon after wiring some of our garage...im
standing back lookin at my work & celebrating a bit w/
a beer(s) and notice the front sway bar passenger side
looks funny...damm bushing is blown...

bolt/nut is still on it...but it blew the the inner side of the
bushing...

anyone ever had this happen (i can see a ball joint blown
from these f'in houston roads but a sway bar bushing ?)

any clues on what i need to do to replace the bushing ?
do i jack the bar back into place ? how do i push the sway
bar back toward the middle of the truck to get the thing
to line up when i replace the bushing ?

anyone know if i can order JUST the sway bar bushings ?

got any hints on how i can tell my wife if we had the REAR
sway bar (which we dont) then this would have never happened...
ive been wantin' a rear sway bar

I know exactly what causes it, Susan my wife! . I have the hellwig sway bar in the rear and one time after she drove it I had the same thing. Dang this truck is wondering, even thought about selling it. Took it to the shop and had the tires rotated front end looked at, etc.
Then the tech says I know what it is. The entire bottom end of the end link was sheared off. I mean all gone ! Of course she never told me and the X almost was sold because of it. Now, no more borrowing the X . Also 4wheel parts hooked me up with some superlift end links, They are much bigger. 4Wheel parts say that the Hellwig end link are to weak and they see alot of them shear off.

Dzl_X_4x4

Just wanted to tell the story.

 

[dzl_x_4x4]

Last day or so I drove the truck and it felt like
i had a flat or something on one of the rears (srw).

this afternoon after wiring some of our garage...im
standing back lookin at my work & celebrating a bit w/
a beer(s) and notice the front sway bar passenger side
looks funny...damm bushing is blown...

bolt/nut is still on it...but it blew the the inner side of the
bushing...

anyone ever had this happen (i can see a ball joint blown
from these f'in houston roads but a sway bar bushing ?)

any clues on what i need to do to replace the bushing ?
do i jack the bar back into place ? how do i push the sway
bar back toward the middle of the truck to get the thing
to line up when i replace the bushing ?

anyone know if i can order JUST the sway bar bushings ?

got any hints on how i can tell my wife if we had the REAR
sway bar (which we dont) then this would have never happened...
ive been wantin' a rear sway bar

I know exactly what causes it, Susan my wife! . I have the hellwig sway bar in the rear and one time after she drove it I had the same thing. Dang this truck is wondering, even thought about selling it. Took it to the shop and had the tires rotated front end looked at, etc.
Then the tech says I know what it is. The entire bottom end of the end link was sheared off. I mean all gone ! Of course she never told me and the X almost was sold because of it. Now, no more borrowing the X . Also 4wheel parts hooked me up with some superlift end links, They are much bigger. 4Wheel parts say that the Hellwig end link are to weak and they see alot of them shear off.

Dzl_X_4x4

Just wanted to tell the story.

 

[bushpilot]

Finally got the new bushings in & the front bar back in place....
its much nicer now...good firm cornering & ride up front...i need
to go back and grease the bushings (i should have done it when
i installed it but thought ehhh how bad can it be....well it squeeks
just like everyone said it would ! )

i finally got the CORRECT REAR helwig bar...7677 despite what
ever one tells you...summit & helwig themselves werent even sure...
its much nicer thru the turns now...seems a LOT more stable thru
shape turns...not as much tail wag from quick steering inputs.

 

[Yellowsub1962]

I missed this post the first time around, but for anyone checking this thread in the future, the easiest way to get the old bushings out is with a torch. Just light 'em up and watch 'em melt right out. I usually do it over a steel bucket filled halfway with water, that way when the rubber drips out, it land in the water and extinguishes itself. NOTE: burning rubber is not healthy to breathe, so wear a respirator and use a fan to blow the fumes/smoke away from you.

 

[BamaSixGun]

Finally got the new bushings in & the front bar back in place....
its much nicer now...good firm cornering & ride up front...i need
to go back and grease the bushings (i should have done it when
i installed it but thought ehhh how bad can it be....well it squeeks
just like everyone said it would ! )

i finally got the CORRECT REAR helwig bar...7677 despite what
ever one tells you...summit & helwig themselves werent even sure...
its much nicer thru the turns now...seems a LOT more stable thru
shape turns...not as much tail wag from quick steering inputs.

hey bush, how much was the helwig rear sway bar, and would it be the same part number for a 2004 F350 crewcab short bed?

 

[bushpilot]

I missed this post the first time around, but for anyone checking this thread in the future, the easiest way to get the old bushings out is with a torch. Just light 'em up and watch 'em melt right out. I usually do it over a steel bucket filled halfway with water, that way when the rubber drips out, it land in the water and extinguishes itself. NOTE: burning rubber is not healthy to breathe, so wear a respirator and use a fan to blow the fumes/smoke away from you.

its a good idea but it wont work w/ the factory bushings...theres
a metal outter on the rubber bushing...it was a REAL pain in the
ass to press out.

you can heat it but all that will BURN OUT (remember the OE bushings
are RUBBER not plastic/poly) will be the center...youll still have the issue
of removing the metal outter portion.

 

[bushpilot]

hey bush, how much was the helwig rear sway bar, and would it be the same part number for a 2004 F350 crewcab short bed?

helwig sway bar #7677 fits the 99 to Current SRW.
the bar was 236 from Summit....you could save some
by checking around...orginally i bought the bar from
summit racing cause they had the front bushings in stock.

in the end after returning TWO rear sway bars to summit
i contacted Helwig myself and confirmed the part number
w/ their engineering department (even helwigs catalogs had
errors).

the 7677 was finished much nicer than the other bars
that were sent !

i used different nuts on the u-bolt/pumpkin clamp and
the drop links...helwig did NOT send enough to apply
jamb nuts...so i went to lowes and bought nyloc nuts for
all the bolts/threads...aint NOTHING on this thing coming loose
(i had some slippage of the u-clamp after my 1st road test...so
i had to do some minor repositioning and hammering of the nuts
and bolts...my air impact was of GOOD use during this project.