Polyurethane rear sway bar bushings

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ShipFixer
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Polyurethane rear sway bar bushings

Postby ShipFixer » Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:41 am

Just thought I'd ask, has anyone ever identified polyurethane replacements for the rear sway bar bushings, or at least the sizing for a universal replacement? I have the Prothane front replacements coming in plus new Moog end links for all four corners, plus a set of OEM rubber rear bushings from Courtesy.

If not I'll measure the bar and the OEM bushings, and/or take them to Autozone to crack this nut once and for all...


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robgeo1
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Postby robgeo1 » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:18 pm

You are speaking my language Ship. Please let me know the correct Moog end links to order. If you can, pass on the measurements for the bar and OEM bushings. I'm sure there is a replacement if we know the measurements. I don't have calipers to measure correctly or I would do it myself.

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Postby Touchdown » Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:01 pm

8) Watching this one...

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Postby ShipFixer » Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:52 pm

The front end links are K80470 and K80471 - found lots of places that sell them, bought mine from Amazon. The only weird part is they look completely different. But, eh, it's what everyone else is putting in on all of the Nissan forums.

The rear end links are K750037 and K750038. It took some digging, but I found these part numbers at Rock Auto a couple days ago and ordered them for $22 each.

Got the Prothane sway bar bushings in today. For those reading the other threads, they're really easy to bend open and should be super easy to put on the bar. Didn't come with a lot of grease though.

I'd have already measured the rear sway bar and bushing too except my current apartment building frowns on us crawling under our vehicles :-D I figured I'd go ahead and install OEM with everything else this weekend in the base auto hobby shop and measure the rear for next time.

After 80K miles and eight years, I'm very interested to see how much differently the truck handles...

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Postby volvite » Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:18 pm

You should take pictures and do a write up. Pictures speak a 1000 words.

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Postby ShipFixer » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:54 pm

Got the rear measured, going to look for a bracket plus bushing option. Not happy with how the polyurethane replacement sits in the stock bracket in the front. It's improved handling but not what I think it could be...

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robgeo1
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Postby robgeo1 » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:10 pm

Do you feel the front bushings are worth the cost/time?

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Postby ShipFixer » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:44 pm

robgeo1 wrote:Do you feel the front bushings are worth the cost/time?
Yup! With just the front bushings alone the truck corners a lot better, particularly at highway speed. Best test was a downhill entrance ramp onto a highway at 80mph with a BMW cutting me off. Front left tire had a lot of turning and brake force on it and the truck stayed very level. And steering is a little more on-center too.

But...I think it could be better. Pictures later when I get time, but if you look at how yours are now they're split open at the back and squishing up and down into where the bracket bends to meet the frame. A more squared bracket (or maybe some rubber bits in the stock bracket) would keep the bushing tight around the bar all the way around.

I ordered a different part that should come with a bracket, and the same for the rear. (It's a 25mm bar for those who are curious, I also measured the bushing and bracket dimensions and ordered something that looks right.) There's a lot of complaints about this on Amazon and elsewhere, with Energy Suspension or Prothane bushings showing a bracket plus bushing in pictures, but not shipping a bracket.

I went to the Energy Suspension website and found a part number that seems to correlate to generic bushings plus brackets that measure up to what I saw. Will see what I get in a few days and hopefully get them installed by Friday.

Searching for "brackets" I did find some machined aluminum Hotchkiss units with bushings...for $100. Not going that far on this experiment :-D

Oh...rear sway bar end links are the right part, but they are going to be a PITA to get to. May save that one for later. My truck started life on the east coast so a lot of things are rusted together. What should have taken less than an hour (front end links, sway bar bushings, and tire rotation) took about three hours and my big breaker bar. If I'd had a sawzall or something I'd have just cut the stupid end links off. Anyway...not looking forward to the rear version of what I went through on the front.

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Postby robgeo1 » Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:50 pm

I'm thinking the bushings look like this: http://www.carid.com/universal-suspensi ... 01679.html

So the hole is 25mm in diameter and you know the bracket size. So you should be able to order that bushing from just about anywhere. We shouldn't have to pay any $100 crap for a bracket! I think Prothane would send exactly what we need for less.

I've found the rear sway bar end links and they shouldn't be hard to order. Havent done it yet but will.

Thanks for the info brotha!

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Postby ShipFixer » Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:28 pm

That's what the Energy Suspension ones I ordered look like...lots of sources out there. I'm just waiting to see what these look like and get them installed before I start throwing out part numbers and measurements to everyone :-) They run two different bracket sizes for GM's and Ford's based on outer diameter and bolt separation distance. I picked the one that looked closer.

If I'd noticed this bracket only option on Carid's website I'd have tried their larger bracket for the front, but I've already ordered another set from Prothane. See how the bottom of the bracket is squared off? That's what I think is screwy with the stock bracket...it's rounded and let's the back side of the bushing squeeze out to either side and open up.

Thinking that's why Prothane has started moving the split from the back to the side on some part numbers. So it's squeezed closed around the bar instead of open.

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Postby ShipFixer » Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:03 am

I received the new parts tonight and it looks like I guessed correctly on part numbers. I received 34mm front (9.5114G) and 25mm rear (9.5129R) bushings with brackets that appear correct from Energy Suspension, rather than "bushings only" as many complain about. Won't know for sure that the bolts line up with the frame until I try to install them tomorrow, but I think I found the best "cornering performance" solution.

So...a couple differences. The stock brackets are much more substantial but bent in a curve where they meet the frame, allowing the bushing to squish out away from the bar under compression. These are a little less substantial but bent 90 degrees where they'll meet the frame, so they should hold the bushings properly tight all the way around the bar. Contemplating putting the stock brackets over the new brackets if it fits right since there were some isolated complaints on Amazon about these breaking...the bolts seem to have plenty of length for this.

Also, the previous Prothane 34mm bushings I ordered based on the Frontier kit were split at the flat side that meets the frame and have ridges for grease retention. The Energy Suspension versions have the split along the side (which I'm thinking will be better) and are smooth on the inside.

I liked the idea of the grease-retention grooves initially, but the smooth surface will hold the sway bar tighter for longer. I use lithium grease generously here anyway, so I'm not too concerned with squeaking.

Hoping to get these installed tomorrow afternoon...along with pictures...

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Postby ShipFixer » Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:35 pm

Okay, these were *not* the right parts! I need to get the larger outer diameter bushings and brackets.

Not sure how I screwed that up, but oh well...

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robgeo1
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Postby robgeo1 » Tue Jan 29, 2013 3:02 pm

Well, nothing ventured..... Thanks for the effort! I've received all my stuff so far- the moog end links, the hr springs and the bilsteins... Now just gotta get the stuff put in!!

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Postby ShipFixer » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:30 pm

robgeo1 wrote:Well, nothing ventured..... Thanks for the effort! I've received all my stuff so far- the moog end links, the hr springs and the bilsteins... Now just gotta get the stuff put in!!
I'm going to re-attack...just haven't gotten around to it yet ;-)

My rear bushings are split along the side rather than the back (along the frame) and sit a lot better in the brackets, which appear to be identical to the fronts.

May just try a different bushing style and see how it sits in the bracket...


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