broken sway bar

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by busboy4

Hi All,
changed out a long time broken bar on my '99 yesterday with the Dorman kit.

Busboy? Despite having your bar busted for awhile and considering you've only had the new bar for a day, have you found any issues/differences, pros or cons, regarding the handling, cornering, lean, and feel of your car with the dorman kit installed against the original?

[busboy4]

So far I like it. It is my Son's car so I only used to drive it But it seems responsive and firm. The OEM bar was separating, but had not let go completely until recently and was noisily smacking around. I think I would describe it as just a more commanding/firm feel in the wheel. I do work with a retired GM engineer type and he did not particularly care for the idea of just removing and not replacing a broken bar as the whole suspension geometry assumes its existence. For what it is worth..

[Hoppy2]

I read in the chilton's manual that the engine / suspension cradle needs to be dropped to remove the bar. Is this true? Can it just come out the side of the car?

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by Hoppy2

I read in the chilton's manual that the engine / suspension cradle needs to be dropped to remove the bar. Is this true? Can it just come out the side of the car?

Not true.
Taken them out through the passenger side however they most likely will come out from the other. Remove the bracket & bushings from the bar and rotate the bar up then down under the tie rods and with a little twist and it slides right out. Helps to have a buddy guide the other end to not whack anything like brake and fuel lines near the driver side.

cheers

[sparcx]

Originally Posted by sparcx

I've been searching around for good pricing and noticed that the Dorman 927-100 bar is actually close to the same specs as the acdelco 12498643 version. It may even be the same bar.

That dorman kit actually comes with endlinks, bushings, clamps, and bolts. Clamps and bolts don't appear to be included in the acdelco 12498643 version.

From what i've read via google the dorman is an updated sway bar that is solid steel 33.58mm.

I ended up picking up this dorman kit for about the same price as the ac delco, so i went with that as it included the clamps and bolts. Attaching some pics just for the heck of it, but pretty much everything as expected from the earlier description i posted. Very heavy duty solid steel bar.

Bar is marked with a Made in USA label. The endlinks/clamps/bushings package is marked with a Made In China label.

[pfofit]

Interesting, From Atlantic Canada, I got mine from a distributor who said they came from Ontario and here are some pics. I only had time to replaced the seized and worn down end links. the bar once I've done everybody elses problems.

Mine came with a warning /notice about proper installation. It appears that the bump/rise in the middle goes down on the new one, as opposed to the old one with the bump going up. well see how it goes.

Also the id tag is identical to yours except the made in china reference.

[sparcx]

Originally Posted by pfofit

Mine came with a warning /notice about proper installation. It appears that the bump/rise in the middle goes down on the new one, as opposed to the old one with the bump going up. well see how it goes.

Also the id tag is identical to yours except the made in china reference.

that's really strange. i notice yours has a 2009 copyright and mine has a 2010 copyright. Looks like they might have changed up production

My bar is completely blank with no markings. There is no mention of a warning anywhere.. There's a white label wrapped around the middle of the bar that has the sku and Made in USA reference on it.

I would guess in terms of clearance there is problably only one way for it to go in.

[pfofit]

Missed the date thingy.
I was at two places that "had it to see and fondle" and they were the same with the "Stop Tag" attached and china all over the place. Surprisingly, one place was a junk yard (recycling yard). They said they don't take them off cars as they are either already broken or will be soon enough. He "said" they had sold 11 this year as of end of may and had 3 more on order.

I rarely have any faith anymore in labeling. Like all ads, it seems to be all about blatant deception to the consumer.

I've had OEM parts from dealers that are stamped made in china.
<digression>
Up here in Canada there was a big to-do about product labeling for fish and food products. Here in canada, fish can be grown and fed in an east asia polluted water fish farm, caught there, processed there, frozen there, and shipped to a factory half way around the world to Nova Scotia where a Canadian slides it into a box that is made in Canada and is therefore labeled product of Canada.

The rules state that if 51% of the production cost (Paraphrase) is Canadain then the whole dang thing is product of canada.<end digression>

[sparcx]

Got someone to install it for me the other day. Everything checks out good. I noticed a change right away. Plus the broken piece was obviously not making any more noise. Everything seems a bit more solid in the front end.

I posted the before pics HERE and the after pics are attached below.

The mechanic had it done really really fast. Apparently they do a ton of these regularly.

[akeeeno]

Has anybody had their TRAC OFF, ABS, & PCS lights go off simultaneously because of this?

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by akeeeno

Has anybody had their TRAC OFF, ABS, & PCS lights go off simultaneously because of this?

They are normally off. Do you mean come on?

A broken bar causing excessive lean especially during a turn while braking can activate the yaw and\or lateral accelerometer to activate the PCS which will start pulsing the appropriate brake/wheel., but will not turn on the lights.

Turning the lights on are 'cause of an error detected from one of the various signals it looks at.

Now guessing,... if a corner of the car leans excessively maybe strain on a wheel sensor cable or perhaps lateral stress on a questionable/dying wheel bearing can induce noise or erratic signals into that wheels sensor and trip the system.

[akeeeno]

Originally Posted by pfofit

They are normally off. Do you mean come on?

A broken bar causing excessive lean especially during a turn while braking can activate the yaw and\or lateral accelerometer to activate the PCS which will start pulsing the appropriate brake/wheel., but will not turn on the lights.

Turning the lights on are 'cause of an error detected from one of the various signals it looks at.

Now guessing,... if a corner of the car leans excessively maybe strain on a wheel sensor cable or perhaps lateral stress on a questionable/dying wheel bearing can induce noise or erratic signals into that wheels sensor and trip the system.

Sorry, yes I meant "on". I checked the wheel bearings on all four and they seemed to be fine. I also disconnected and connected back together all of the wheel sensors but that didn't seem to work either.

The Service Engine Soon, TRAC OFF, PCS, & Anti-Lock lights all showed up at the same time and stay on for most of the time. Sometimes they go away for a couple hours or so and the only major difference I can tell is in the power steering. For some strange reason, it's a little bit more difficult to turn than normal.

I've checked the power steering fluid, changes the rotors and pads on all four, disconnected/connected the battery and wheel sensors, and checked the wheel bearing. Everything seems to be fine except for the cracked sway bar.

Anyone know what could be happening? If it's not the sway bar, I'm really running out of options.

[LittleHoov]

When you have a Trac-Off/ABS style error, it turns off the Magnasteer system which your Intrigue should have. So it defaults to a firmer steering. I sort of like it myself, but not at the cost of no ABS.

Magnasteer gives you a light-feeling steering wheel at slow speeds (parking lot, driveway, etc) and should firm up nicely at higher speeds (highway, racetrack, running from the police)

[akeeeno]

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

When you have a Trac-Off/ABS style error, it turns off the Magnasteer system which your Intrigue should have. So it defaults to a firmer steering. I sort of like it myself, but not at the cost of no ABS.

Magnasteer gives you a light-feeling steering wheel at slow speeds (parking lot, driveway, etc) and should firm up nicely at higher speeds (highway, racetrack, running from the police)

Do you know what could cause the Magnasteer system to turn off like that?

[Circle]

Originally Posted by akeeeno

Do you know what could cause the Magnasteer system to turn off like that?

If not the wheel hub sensors, it could be the ABS control module, located near the air box. The front of the module comes off with some torx fasteners. Disconnect the wires and remove it. The car will still run as well as it did before but still without ABS, Magnasteer and traction control. The part is expensive but I sent mine to an outfit called Module Master (Google it) and they rebuilt it for a fraction of the cost new. I reinstalled the the rebuilt module and the ABS, Magnasteer and trac control work fine and the ABS, SVS and Trac lights went out as well.