AU front swaybar maintenance/replacement pictorial

[Silver']

This info is not quite right for series 1 AU's as they're different, but the basics are no doubt the same.

This is such a simple job that I thought I'd throw up a few pics that I took while I was at it to perhaps encourage someone to have a shot at this themselves. It doesn't take long, I spent more time cleaning the front wheels and brakes than I did on the actual swaybar change. The swaybar D-bushes are prone to knocking over bumps so even if you aren't wanting to put in a heavier bar as I am, this info could still be useful to change the bushes.

Firstly, don't do this without jack stands (or ramps) and be sure to do it on firm level ground.

What's going in - Whiteline - BFF21XZ, 30mm thick and adjustable between two settings: http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_detail4.php?part_number=BFF21XZ




What you get;



The new D-bushes are solid. I wasn't keen to cut them so I left them sitting on the warm engine's intake manifold while I jacked the car - this enabled me, with some difficulty, to slide them over the end blades of the swaybar.



They also come with grease that's very necessary. It also must not taste very nice as the dog took only a small sample!



This is your best jack stand positioning and why I removed the wheels - as wide as you safely can and under the lower arm so that the suspension is as close to driving ride height as possible. If you want do it the right way;
1. Loosen wheel nuts.
2. Raise one side on the jack.
3. Remove wheel
4. Place wheel under the sill at the front door so that if you jack fails you will probably not die.
5. Place jack stand as indicated in the below pic.
6. Let the car down onto the jack stand.



To remove the old bar, it's a 14mm nut on the swaybar link that you see in the foreground of the above pic, and then the two 13mm nuts that hold the D-shackle thingy in the background. The second last pic is a better one for seeing them.

Here's the D-bush fitted to the bar. You could also warm it in hot water to help soften it enough to get it over the swaybar end. It needs to be well greased and you'll note that the bush is designed to seal around the edges to keep the grease in. Hopefully you don't lose too much grease when sliding the bush over the end of the 'bar. I also greased the outside of the such but these fitted so snugly once tightened that I feel that wasn't really necessary.


A comparison of the bars showing relative thickness and also the length to the swaybar link. You always put an adjustable swaybar on at it's softest setting so I'll be using the hole closet to the end.



Another shot, trying to highlight the difference in thickness between the standard Series 2 TE50 bar and the new one. You can also see the wear on the old bar caused by it moving within the D-bushes. Unlike most of the bushes in your suspension that are thick and soft enough to flex across their range of movement, these are designed to 'slide' over the swaybar so the bushes do wear once the grease hardens - and that's when the knocking starts.


To refit to the car, fit the ends first and then place the D-shackles over the bushes that you slid onto the 'bar and tighten. As you can see, the dog is still standing so the grease hasn't killed her. Yet.



This is my glamour shot of the bar, though the background also serves to show that I really was responsible and initially fitted the bar on the softest setting;)


After a quick spin, my initial impression is that even on the softer setting it corners MUCH flatter now and the moderate knocking that I had over corrugations (particularly leading up to a roundabout just near home) is now gone. It will be interesting to me to see if I pick up any harshness or other downside to having a heavier bar as I've never fitted one to a road car before.

For anyone thinking of replacing their bushes only, if your new bushes are cut as the old ones on my car were then you won't even need to take the bar all of the way out - just undo the shackles, whip the old one out, clean up the inside of the shackle, lubricate the inside of the bush and refit.

Next job is the rear bar and that's no picnic on an IRS car so I'll leave it for a weekend.

Al.

[rayban76]

Another great writeup mate, I'm sure this would help those unsure of what to do. Good job.

I havent changed my sway par yet but its on the list, I have heard it makes a great difference to the cars feel.

Ray

[SantoAU]

Awesome write up. Sway bar is on my to-do list, so this will be very helpful

[superroo]

Additional tip I have herd, is to wrap the area where the bush sits on the bar in Teflon tape.
Helps reduce friction and stops any squeaking.

Cheers

[Silver']

A quick note on this - I fitted the Whiteline 20mm three way adjustable bar yesterday and it's fairly horrific to fit in your driveway on jack stands. Getting the old one out was not so bad, but the new one in is bulkier and a driveshaft needs to come out.

It took me ages and everything hurts =)

[mcfly94]

I just did the 30mm on the front of my au s3, awesome upgrade for $175! not so easy doing it with the car not jacked up but can be done!

[bluestripes]

Would just like to add, i snapped my left under carriage that holds the sway bar and i was told that it was because i needed to have the weight of the wheel on the ground prior to tightening. Mechanic said you nip everything up hand tight, put blocks under the wheels and than get under and torque bolts.

Not sure how true all that is, however, i will be replacing both undercarriages next week and i will be following above method.

[Space of Aids]

Where are the photos?

[FTe342]

Originally Posted by Space of Aids

Where are the photos?

This thread is 7 years old. The pics were probably hosted on photobucket or similiar and have now been unlinked meaning you now cant see them

[Uncle_Ken]

Fixed
The error was Https but http worked
UK

[Silver']

Originally Posted by Uncle_Ken

Fixed
The error was Https but http worked
UK

Thanks UK, at some stage the forum seems to have decided that the links all needed to be changed to https. I could handle it at my end but that domain name is no longer needed as I don't really want to pay for an ssl certificate for a dead domain. If I could edit my posts I could update them all but I don't think this is an option (?)

[Space of Aids]

Hey thanks for getting the photos through guys, this will be my next project on the coon, hopefully keep her running healthy and strong.

[TeamSAXON]

Hey mate I know this is an old thread but I need to do this for some clunkiness and the photos are no longer showing up. Would greatly appreciate

[Silver']

Originally Posted by TeamSAXON

Hey mate I know this is an old thread but I need to do this for some clunkiness and the photos are no longer showing up. Would greatly appreciate

I got you. I’ll sort it out when I get home. Give me a couple of hours.

[Silver']

Reposting this, with the images restored. I also took the opportunity to revise my dubious attempts at humour.

This info is not quite right for series 1 AU's as they're different, but the basics are no doubt the same.

This is such a simple job that I thought I'd throw up a few pics that I took while I was at it to perhaps encourage someone to have a shot at this themselves. It doesn't take long, I spent more time cleaning the front wheels and brakes than I did on the actual swaybar change. The swaybar D-bushes are prone to knocking over bumps so even if you aren't wanting to put in a heavier bar as I am, this info could still be useful to change the bushes.

Firstly, don't do this without jack stands (or ramps) and be sure to do it on firm level ground.

What's going in - Whiteline - BFF21XZ, 30mm thick and adjustable between two settings: https://old.whitelineperformance.com...ade-adjustable





What you get;



The new D-bushes are solid. I wasn't keen to cut them so I left them sitting on the warm engine's intake manifold while I jacked the car - this enabled me, with some difficulty, to slide them over the end blades of the swaybar.



They also come with grease that's very necessary. It also must not taste very nice as the dog took only a small sample!



This is your best jack stand positioning and why I removed the wheels - as wide as you safely can and under the lower arm so that the suspension is as close to driving ride height as possible. If you want do it the right way;
1. Loosen wheel nuts.
2. Raise one side on the jack.
3. Remove wheel
4. Place wheel under the sill at the front door so that if you jack fails you will probably not die.
5. Place jack stand as indicated in the below pic.
6. Let the car down onto the jack stand.



To remove the old bar, it's a 14mm nut on the swaybar link that you see in the foreground of the above pic, and then the two 13mm nuts that hold the D-shackle thingy in the background. The second last pic is a better one for seeing them.

Here's the D-bush fitted to the bar. You could also warm it in hot water to help soften it enough to get it over the swaybar end. It needs to be well greased and you'll note that the bush is designed to seal around the edges to keep the grease in. Hopefully you don't lose too much grease when sliding the bush over the end of the 'bar. I also greased the outside of the such but these fitted so snugly once tightened that I feel that wasn't really necessary.


A comparison of the bars showing relative thickness and also the length to the swaybar link. I figure that you should always try an adjustable swaybar on at it's softest setting initially, so I'll be using the hole closet to the end.



Another shot, trying to highlight the difference in thickness between the standard Series 2 TE50 bar and the new one. You can also see the wear on the old bar caused by it moving within the D-bushes. Unlike most of the bushes in your suspension that are thick and soft enough to flex across their range of movement, these are designed to 'slide' over the swaybar so the bushes do wear once the grease hardens - and that's when the knocking starts.


To refit to the car, fit the ends first and then place the D-shackles over the bushes that you slid onto the 'bar and tighten.



This is my glamour shot of the bar


After a quick spin, my initial impression is that even on the softer setting it corners MUCH flatter now and the moderate knocking that I had over corrugations (particularly leading up to a roundabout just near home) is now gone. It will be interesting to me to see if I pick up any harshness or other downside to having a heavier bar as I've never fitted one to a road car before.

For anyone thinking of replacing their bushes only, if your new bushes are cut as the old ones on my car were then you won't even need to take the bar all of the way out - just undo the shackles, whip the old one out, clean up the inside of the shackle, lubricate the inside of the bush and refit.

Next job is the rear bar and that's no picnic on an IRS car so I'll leave it for a weekend.

Al.

[Silver']

Since it's been ten years of daily driving on the Whiteline bars front and rear, I thought I'd update this thread with some thoughts, in case anyone is interested.

The brackets bolted to the rails in the above picture cracked shortly after fitting the front swaybar. I replaced them and they have been fine so I suspect the original spec was updated with a stronger variant one at some point. I don't think that they're still available.

As well as the replacement brackets, I fitted Whiteline adjustable drop links. These allow you to remove all swaybar preload if you can get under the car when it's on it's wheels. This gives a brilliant on-centre feel to the steering, that I really like.



The ride with these bars can be quite tedious on poor quality roads and lower speeds. Cornering speed and control are massively improved though, so going back to standard TE50/XR8 spec swaybars isn't very appealing. But lately, I've been considering an upgrade to Shockworks coilovers and I don't think the Whiteline bars would be a very good fit for them when chasing the best ride/performance compromise for daily use

The rear bar is brillant though, I'd not hesitate to recommend it to anyone as it gives great grip and feel for the rear. It's a difficult install though, probably best to drop the IRS cradle altogether to fit it. I started on the medium setting but dropped it back to the softest option some time ago.

[TeamSAXON]

Thanks mate much appreciated. I was just going to replace the bushes, but this makes me want to look into another bar. I'll see how the bushes go I guess. Nonetheless it's a great bit of info that you've contributed here with the photos. The update is also good to read.