Front sway bar bushings

[Toy Man]

Installing Urethane bushings in the front sway bar.

Last November I purchased a set of urethane sway bar bushings.
(Greaseless 1 1/16” bushing set – p/n 9.5111G)

When I went to put the new bushings on with the stock brackets, the brackets would not fit. After some cussing, I put the brackets that came with the new bushings on even though they were made out of a soft metal. Over time I noticed the brackets were being deformed but I ignored it.

While on a run several weeks ago, a club member had one of his cheapo brackets break and he reminded me how deformed mine were. Today I decided to try once again to put the stock brackets on over the urethane bushings.

More cussing until I finally decided to grind off the curled lip at the bottom of the stock bracket. Bingo – the brackets went on and I was a happy camper.

Detailed install procedure follows:

Loosen the bolts at the ends of the front sway (until the top nut almost comes off)

Remove the brackets over the rubber sway bar bushings. You may have to give the end of your wrench several good whacks with a big hammer loosen the bolts.

Remove the rubber bushings. If they have been on for any length of time, notice how worn they are.

Grease the insides of the new urethane bushings with the supplied grease.

Slip (force) the new bushings on the sway bar and line them up in the correct position.

Grind the ‘lip’ off the bottom of the stock sway bar brackets.

Force a stock bracket over the new bushing. Take the heavy hammer and give the bracket a couple of good whacks to seat the bracket on the bushing.

Install the original bolts. Be careful not to cross-thread them. If the bolt will not tighten easily, back it out, re-align and try again. Alternately tighten the bottom and top bolts until tight. Give the end of the wrench a couple of whacks with the big hammer to make sure the bolts are secure.

Tighten the sway bar end bolts and you are done.


Note 1: In order for my passenger side bracket to fit, I had to grind off some of the lip on my Skid Row front skid plate.

Note 2: - When I have had my Xterra in for service I have noticed some of the mechanics using latex gloves. Well that’s for sissies – real men have grease under their fingernails. However while banging and cussing at the brackets, I noticed I had a box of latex gloves on the bench and thought I would try them.
Damn if I didn’t like them. Looks like this old dog has learned a new trick.

7/1/2003

[rrdstarr]

Dick, how long have you been running with this new configuration? Sorry I just didn't have the time to get those brackets made in school!

Do you have any pictures for people who might not understand what you have written here???

[Toy Man]

Dick, how long have you been running with this new configuration? Sorry I just didn't have the time to get those brackets made in school!

About 3 hours. I will report back after a month's use.

Not to worry about the special brackets. I figure you are a pretty busy boy about now.

Could probably post a photo of them installed if anyone one is interested.

Toy Man

[evergreen]

i would be interested in seeing what you had to grind down to make them fit. i need to replace mine pretty soon.

[Toy Man]

i would be interested in seeing what you had to grind down to make them fit. i need to replace mine pretty soon.

I did not think about photos when I was installing them and I'm not sure a photo of them installed will show what you need to grind/cut off.

Basically it is the curved lip at the bottom of the bracket.

You MIGHT be able to get the bracket installed with the lip still on but I couldn't.

Toy Man

[Toy Man]

Now that I think about it, I probably could have put the brackets on without grinding the lip off if I had completely removed the sway bar end bolts and let the sway bar drop free. I could have then put the bushings on, pounded the brackets over the bushings and pushed the sway bar up hooking the lip on the frame and then bolting the brackets on.

Maybe....

Toy MAN

[Toy Man]

Or maybe just grind 1/8” off the end of the lip tip. This might allow the bracket to slide past the frame but still provide the extra support the hooked lip provides.

Toy Man

[OffroadX]

Nice. Unfortunately not an option for me. My passenger-side swaybar mount that the bracket bolts to is quite crushed back towards the frame/crossmember and as a result my PS endlink is inclined about 20 degrees to the rear and the end of the swaybar is starting to intrude in between the frame and UCA One of these days I'll either ditch it entirely or get the old mount cut off and a new one fabbed and welded on.

Brent

[xterrabull]

Yes, I installed DayStar brand bracket bushings (1 1/16" diameter) in the stock brackets ~2 mos ago & so far so good; no bracket grinding required with endlinks completely removed. But even with the endlinks disconnected, the brackets take some fiddling with to get bolted in.
Since we're on the topic: it was mentioned on XOC to flip over the sway bar if you're lifted. I did this & it allows a much shorter end link length (i.e. 5 1/2" long bolts) which I feel is important for maintaining good clearance from the tie rod adjusters when off road. Plus the geometry looks better as far as endlink angles (they are more straight up & down), etc....