Replace Rear Sway Bar Bushings

[billr99]

Back in November, I was told during my bi-annual inspection that the rear sway bar bushings were going away which was good as it explained a rear rattle that I couldn't pin down despite unloading everything, including the spare, in an effort to trace it. So a quick look in VIDA revealed that Volvo, in their infinite wisdom, departed from pretty much normal practice of having separate pieces in the sway bar assembly by designing a single available assembly that encompasses the bar, mounting bushings and a 2-part bracket. Some have said that the bushings are vulcanized onto the bar but I could find no evidence of that with mine. Apparently Volvo wanted $175+ for the bar assembly, and whatever labour it takes to remove one rear coil-over and drop the rear exhaust to R&R the thing (2 hours according to JRL's recent experience) versus the more common practice of charging $8 or so apiece for the bushings and whatever labour it takes to unbolt two bolts per bracket to replace the bushing (maybe 15 minutes total?). So there has to be a better way.

The first step was to try and find some kind of bushing. My XC has a 14mm rear bar and I believe that this is standard throughout the '01-07 model years. A search for cars with 14mm bars found a fair number, such as Acuras, Hondas, Mazdas, and Toyotas, but none of these had a bushing design that was comparable to Volvos. A BMW 540i has a bushing design that is exactly the same as what Volvo uses but the overall size of the bushing is lightly smaller than Volvos and therefore would not fit the bracket properly. To their credit, Volvo seems to use a fairly beefy bushing for a small bar. I ended up going with a poly bushing from Energy Suspensions (PN 9.5103 for a non-greasable set). This bushing is a hair larger in overall size than the stock bushing but that is close enough as a slight modification is required. Photo #1 shows one bushing/bracket right out of the box.

So the way this worked out was that I unbolted both mounting brackets for the rear bar. You will note that the brackets consist of two pieces that are U-shaped with one smaller piece nested into a larger piece with the whole thing encircling the bushing and mounted with a single bolt through a boss in the rear subframe. By tapping a flat-bladed screwdriver into the joint between the two pieces you can pop the bracket apart and remove it from the bar assembly. Now simply cut away the old bushing. Photo #2 shows the OEM brackets split apart, Photo #3 shows how the brackets nest together to hold the bushing.

The Energy Suspensions bushing set comes with two bushing and two brackets that are shaped something like the Greek omega (Ω). See Photo #1. By bending the bracket into a U-shape, you can use this bracket to replace the larger "outer" stock bracket. As shown in Photo #4. You will also need to slightly file open the bracket's mounting holes with a rat-tail file to size them to the stock mounting bolt. This will give your bracket the proper configuration to contain the poly bush. However, the bush ends up being just a bit taller than what the bracket (with the stock "inner" bracket nested into it) will allow, so I used my bench grinder to remove about 1/8in of the bushing height from the flat mounting side of the bush. The poly on these bushing is dense enough that a fine grain wheel actually works fairly well to make this slight "adjustment". Photo #5 shows the nearly finished replacement bushing sans the inner bracket and the slightly reduced in height bushing.

So using the provide "poly grease", I lubed the bar where the bushing would go and then proceeded to fight the bushing onto the bar. This is actually the hardest part of the whole exercise as you need to lever the bushing open enough to get it on the bar and everything is moving and greasy, etc., etc. As just about anything automotive, the second one is easier. Any road, with the bushing mounted on the bar, you simply place the smaller, lower bracket into position between the bush and the subframe and the larger bracket over top of the whole thing. Retain with the stock bolt and off you go. Hopefully, never needing to replace these things again.

Total time involved was about 1.5 hour, but all but about 20 minutes of that was working out how to do the first one. As I said, the second one was way easier.

Also if there is a wider interest, I can put something together for the "Resources" section. Just give me some indication that this is useful.

Cheers,

Bill

[chipenter]

Thank Bill I am in the same situation been looking at poly bushes , as the way to go you have just confirmed it for me , is there any difference in the ride ?

[JRL]

I paid (after some negotiations) about $96 for a rear sway bar complete and was done with it without any of all this BS

[Xheart]

It is a useful DIY.
The paper-clip button on message enables you to add photos. See attached image.

Thanks.

[billr99]

Thank Bill I am in the same situation been looking at poly bushes , as the way to go you have just confirmed it for me , is there any difference in the ride ?

Not that I can tell so far. The roads around here are crap this time of year with the ground heaving a bit with the thaw so its rough going no matter how you cut it. But at least I don't have the rattle that I had before.

Cheers,

Bill

[billr99]

I paid (after some negotiations) about $96 for a rear sway bar complete and was done with it without any of all this BS

I believe that I read over on Matthew's site that on March 24 you were complaining that replacing that bar on an '04 took over 3 hrs and I quote:

"Had to replace the rear sway bar on my 04 (FWD) I just bought, the bushings were shot and it was making noise.
For some reason it was much harder on a 2WD than on an AWD (which I have done before).
Why couldn't Volvo just be like everyone else and have removeable/replaceable bushings????

THREE friggen hours , the SOB would not go back in, we had to remove almost everything in the rear,"

Now that is BS and it was on an FWD to boot! (How can that be harder than an AWD without the half shafts in the way? ) So I've sorted it and did so in way less than 3 hours. Next one I do will be done in less than an hour no problem. Oh, and total cost was $18 CDN tax in.

Later,

Bill

[Waterdog]

Also if there is a wider interest, I can put something together for the "Resources" section. Just give me some indication that this is useful.

I think this is useful, and expect to be doing this procedure in a couple of years. Would be nice if it were easy to find.

[Volky_one]

Yesterday ordered a front Swaybar, $180 and was quoted $340 to intall it, I am going to do the work myself. any ideas for easy install? should I take off the bushings and swap them to the existing bar and save a new bar? any input is apreciated.

[billr99]

Yesterday ordered a front Swaybar, $180 and was quoted $340 to intall it, I am going to do the work myself. any ideas for easy install? should I take off the bushings and swap them to the existing bar and save a new bar? any input is apreciated.

First of all take a look at VIDA on what is required "officially" to replace the whole bar. Pretty ugly procedure requiring that the engine be put on a "leveller" and the rear of the subframe dropped so that you can gain enough access to R&R the bar. I haven't taken a close look at the front bar in real life as yet so I'm not sure that you can get access to the bushing brackets without some of this. The damn thing sits on top of the subframe which is quite wide at that point. So it may be a bit of an exercise no matter how you do it.

The good news (at least as far as VIDA as a reference - see attached pic) is that the front bushing brackets are to more common practice of being an "omega" shape and held on by two bolts each. It looks possible to just replace them with a Energy Suspension or Prothane set of bushings/brackets of appropriate size. If you can gain enough access to get the old ones out without dropping the subframe, I would think this would be the way to go. $15-20 for the bushing set and a lot less work versus $180 and a nightmare of labour.

Good luck,

Bill

[Ars Gladius]

Just have a look at IPD's instructions. They have simplified it as much as possible for the home mechanic. It will give you an idea on how to get to the bushings.

FRONT SWAY BAR INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS.PDF (658KB)

REAR SWAY BAR INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS.PDF (7133KB)