So now it's my turn to do these jobs. Yay....

Got the old parts off. The sway bar was the typical fracture at the end on the driver's side. Bushing on the driver side wasn't too bad; the passenger had complete separation of the rubber from the metal housing.

Book says I need to orient the bushing a particular way. Other than that, any tips for the job?

was it the sway bar bushing or the control arm bushing taht seperated? if it was the con arm you can get the whole assembly for about 10 dollars more than the bushings and ball joint sperately.

This is a strange problem that I've never fully understood on these vans. Replacing the bar is an OK job, but my question is why that is necessary.
Here is the original sway (stabilizer) bar:
http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/origSway.png
Its shaped with a slight upward bend in the center near where the exhaust pipe would normally be (in this case the photo is from an engine I had out for repairs).
Look below at the end of the bar where it attaches to the support arm:http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/drSswaybar.png
This is the driver's side end. The top of the bar has separated so perfectly it looks to me as if it were made that way.
Here is the passenger side view:
http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/rbarend.png
Again, the bar end has come apart into two halves. Now my question
is why would that happen so perfectly, and even after it did, what difference does it make to the function of the bar? After all, the bar is still firmly attached to the arms on both sides, its not like its getting to move around anywhere. What difference does it make if these ends come apart like that? I used to think that the two pieces slapped around and made a noise driving over bumps, but I'm not so sure that was the case.

Here is the replacement bar installed:
http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/rframeover.png
and a closer view of the bend in the center:
http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/newsway.png
The new bar is shaped to bend downward at the center near the exhaust while the original was shaped to bend upward. Unless the new bar is designed to fit AWD models (which I've never seen) and needs clearance to fit around a driveshaft, it comes uncomfortably close to the exhaust pipe when intstalled--I can just fit two fingers between the exhaust and the bar.
Here are the two, new and original side by side:
http://cemrweb.cemr.wvu.edu/~mathews/venture/compsway.png
After installing the new bar, I don't really notice any change in the van at all.
Just my 2 cents here.

it does look like the ends were made in 2 separate pieces. and it was just bolted together instead of being welded like it should have been.

it does look like the ends were made in 2 separate pieces. and it was just bolted together instead of being welded like it should have been.
I've worked on several of these vans and they all looked just like this one.:screwy:
I can't see a reason to make 'em that way and I can't see a reason to change 'em either.:shakehead

now i am going to have to check mine out. but due to the single piece holding it to the end link it could cause a stress fracture and premature failure of the bar at one of the ends and cause stability problems if it breaks in a hard turn. on a side note how hard was it to drop the entire front subframe?

I don't think its very hard at all. It takes me about 2 hours to pull one apart like that. I've had practice, so it may take you 4 hours :wink:

See my recent post over on the olds silhouette forum: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1049830

My drivers side was like that, just welded the tab back, been fixed like that for 15k now. Much easier and cheaper than replacing the bar.

Merc, sure you got it in the right way (upside down?) Does it go the other way.

"Merc, sure you got it in the right way (upside down?) Does it go the other way."

You mean because of the way the bar bends up? Yea, the new one has this white bold lettering along the bottom side of it that says: "Warning this side down on driver's side" so there's no way to mistake it.

Ah, cool, figured it must have had some way to orient it...... Maybe the Chinaman who put the label on the swaybar couldnt read english and supposed it was supposed to be on top? :-)

I should have taken a picture of the ends on the new bar--those are NOT made with a separation, its just molded flat from the bar stock.

Nice, IDK why they did it that way, but is sounds like you have a much better bar than stock. :-)

Korn,

Getting into the forum for the first time in a while. Just saw your post.

Take a look here. I did these jobs last spring (with your help I might add). There are part numbers etc throughout the thread.

I replaced the control arms with Dormans. They came with BJ and bushings already installed. It was a very easy process.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=975478

Best....

and only a few dollars more than all of the bushings and ball joints separately

My conclusion after repairing mine was that when the hollow bar was smashed flat , the two sides cracked open and started out all as one single piece. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=5948299&postcount=12

I remember when we posted in that thread--I still am scratching my head as to why the bar needs replaced at all. The split ends just can't compromise the ability of the stabilizer bar to stabilize. I mean, even with the split ends, the bar is still mechanically connected to the swing arms--it might make a metal on metal sound once in a while, but it still would work.
So, are we just doing preventive maintenance by changing out the split end bar? Or is there some hope that this is going to improve handling and stability? I don't know the answer there--I changed out mine as well as several others, but really its not a big improvement. The only thing I can say is the 'clunk' noise is gone now, but a couple small hose clamps to keep the ends aligned would have done that.

Can anyone tell us if they have seen a severed bar end? That is, has the other half of the bar end broken off? I'm just thinking aloud, but all of the vans I've seen only have this weird separation of the bar ends, not both halves broken off. It would still perform the job its designed to do.

I guess my final comment on this would be if you are working in that area anyway, you should replace split bars, otherwise, I'd just leave well enough alone until you had occasion to be working on the suspension anyway.

Mine flexed right where the end was since one half of it was also broken from the bar (half as thick)

Thanks for the replies, but the job has been done for a couple of weeks now.

Replaced the sway bar, end links, and bushings. Didn't bother replacing the whole control arm. Everything went fairly smooth. The bolt that secures the sway bar clamp on the drivers side was tight to the rear air lines, but other than that not much drama.

Did the sway bar need replaced? Technically no - it was still doing it's job. But I couldn't not fix it once I saw it - it was broke, for Pete's sake!

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-334213.html

Found this interesting about the sway bar (hollow vs solid).

I figured it was lighter as the stock was hollow, never thought it could be stronger that way......... with the exception of the ends of course.....