Front Sway Bar Bushings - Parts Availability

curtngel

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I have an intermittent creaking/squeaking coming from the front end on my 2016 Civic Touring. The dealership diagnosed as bad sway bar bushings.

This is something I can handle myself, with some assistance from a buddy who will happily share a couple of beverages while supervising my efforts and allowing me the use of his lift and his tools.

Anyone know of any aftermarket bushing sets that would work with the stock sway bar? Or am I stuck with replacing the entire sway bar? It appears the stock sway bar and bushings are one complete unit on the parts diagram, with no option for separate bushings. I'm not looking for a performance upgrade, far from it actually. Just want the car to drive as quietly and smoothly as it used to.
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JO3L

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Most aftermarket polyurethane companies have universal sway bar bushings that you can use with your stock front sway. Just need to identify what size is your bar prior to ordering the bushings.

If you are going to tackle this job though, you might as well upgrade the front sway bar while you are at it. Otherwise this is a lot of work to get rid of an intermittent noise concern.
 

teders

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Most aftermarket polyurethane companies have universal sway bar bushings that you can use with your stock front sway. Just need to identify what size is your bar prior to ordering the bushings.

If you are going to tackle this job though, you might as well upgrade the front sway bar while you are at it. Otherwise this is a lot of work to get rid of an intermittent noise concern.
i wouldn't say that there is a need to upgrade the front sway bar in OP's case, the last thing these cars need is a stiffer FSB.
 
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curtngel

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i wouldn't say that there is a need to upgrade the front sway bar in OP's case, the last thing these cars need is a stiffer FSB.
Hey Guys. Thanks for your input and direction. I ended up ordering a set of 27mm prothane universal bushings, and installed them over the weekend. For anyone else that tackles this repair, the universal Prothane bushings are too big without some modification, but some quick trimming of their raised edges took care of it.

The oem rubber bushings, which are reinforced with metal, were both completely fused to the sway bar. Once I had the swaybar out, I chiseled off most of each bushing, and used my bench grinder to remove the last 1/4"-1/2" of rubber. The creaking/squeaking was from the outer face of the bushings scraping against their brackets and against the subframe as the swaybar twisted. The swar bar sits on top of the subframe, and in combination with the underbody cover, is relatively protected from rain and snow, so I'm guessing the failure was due to not enough grease applied to the inner face of the bushings at the factory, versus grease getting washed out.

I ended up doing this in my garage and on my own - no assistance - instead of at my buddy's with his lift and his supervision. With the help of a set of Eibach swaybar install instructions I found linked elsewhere on this forum, its a pretty straight forward procedure. Took me a total of 9 very mellow hours, including getting the car both onto and off of the set of taller stands that I use for my jeep, and stopping to make lunch and dinner for my kids. Total cost was $20 CDN for the urethane bushings + my time, compared to the dealership's estimate of $950 labour + parts. Unfortunate that the oem parts failed, but still well worth my time, and I wish I had done this sooner.
 

teders

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Hey Guys. Thanks for your input and direction. I ended up ordering a set of 27mm prothane universal bushings, and installed them over the weekend. For anyone else that tackles this repair, the universal Prothane bushings are too big without some modification, but some quick trimming of their raised edges took care of it.

The oem rubber bushings, which are reinforced with metal, were both completely fused to the sway bar. Once I had the swaybar out, I chiseled off most of each bushing, and used my bench grinder to remove the last 1/4"-1/2" of rubber. The creaking/squeaking was from the outer face of the bushings scraping against their brackets and against the subframe as the swaybar twisted. The swar bar sits on top of the subframe, and in combination with the underbody cover, is relatively protected from rain and snow, so I'm guessing the failure was due to not enough grease applied to the inner face of the bushings at the factory, versus grease getting washed out.

I ended up doing this in my garage and on my own - no assistance - instead of at my buddy's with his lift and his supervision. With the help of a set of Eibach swaybar install instructions I found linked elsewhere on this forum, its a pretty straight forward procedure. Took me a total of 9 very mellow hours, including getting the car both onto and off of the set of taller stands that I use for my jeep, and stopping to make lunch and dinner for my kids. Total cost was $20 CDN for the urethane bushings + my time, compared to the dealership's estimate of $950 labour + parts. Unfortunate that the oem parts failed, but still well worth my time, and I wish I had done this sooner.
Damn dude, i'm pretty sure i have the same squeaking, but i've just accepted it as a part of owning a race car.
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