Broken Anti Swaybar

[cannonball]

00 OBW 145,000. Broke it in 2 places right at the bends. Made a nice pop. Anyways I got a new one from the dealer, and after installing it incorrectly the first time I was good to go until I started hearing popping at slower speeds the next day. I'm assuming the endlinks or bushings are bad as well. My question is this. What are the torque specs for the anti swaybar endlink connection? There is a good chance I overtorqued them. Next question is a good place to purchase them over the net so I don't have to go back to the dealer? Any other thoughts are appreciated as well. BTW it did make a tremendous difference in the front end stiffness.

[Legacy777]

I'd recommend picking up a set of aftermarket ones. I believe the stock ones are plastic.

 

As for places to look, you can try

 

www.boxer4racing.com

www.subarugenuineparts.com

http://www.renickmotorsports.com/oscommerce/catalog/

 

There's more around as well.

[cidion]

00 OBW 145,000. Broke it in 2 places right at the bends.

 

I don't have an answer for you, but I have a 00 OBW at 140K miles, and had the same thing broken.

 

Can I ask how it broke (what you were doing) and how you fixed it?

I'd like to fix it myself, but don't have a lift. how did you install it incorrectly?

 

thanks

 

Bryan

Chattanooga, TN

[Andyjo]

I haven't broken my swapbar, but it does make a nice poping noise sometimes when i turn, sometimes when the drivers side suspension unloads a bit... i'm betting you're onto something with the torque specs.. i just torques the crap out of the link bolts when i put them on

I looked up the torque specs.. here we go:

Front Suspension

Stabilizer bar

-Stabilizer bar bushing clamp bolts ... 16 to 21

-Stabilizer-to-link bolts/nuts ... 28 to 37

-Link-to-controling arb bolts/nuts ... 16 to 22

all are in Ft-lbs the rear end is about the same, maybe a little more

[cannonball]

Correction, I undertorqued the link bolt on the drivers side. I discovered this yesterday. Doh. Now the popping's gone. How did I break it? Driving through a freshly plowed farm field following a farmer. I design ag irrigation systems so I get to have a little fun now and then on the job. I think it's been weak for a while though because there is a tremendous difference in stiffness now. And how did I install it incorrectly? I'm embarrassed to say. Let's just say I was in a rush to fix it, and since I had never changed one before I had no reference to how the endlinks should point (why the hell didn't I look at the rear ones the first time). How did I figure it out? The first time I locked my steering wheel to one side it made a horrendous scaping noise. Anyways lessoned learned. When tooling around make sure to keep a level head and be patient. It's not worth the hair loss.

[cannonball]

BTW I forgot to mention now that I know how to do it correctly it almost as easy as changing the oil, well almost. I had a hydraulic jack to lift one side to make it easier to get under there, I also removed the tire as well. This is neccesary to pull the broken bar out and put the new one in. Unbolt the endlinks, bushings, and the plate in the middle. You have to work it, but you can snake the new bar back in. Reverse procedure.

[2X2KOB]

00 OBW - mine broke with about 75K on it. Broke at the sharp bend right where it exits the bushing on the frame, driver's side. I took it off and welded it back together and it's been OK since, a couple years now. As far as I know, there was no exceptional event that caused it to break.