OT- Sway bar lateral movement, is it normal?

[Big Trees]

As some may remember from my previous posts I have taken up working on as much of our stuff as I possibly can since moving to the sticks and our vehicles are in that category too.

My better half's daily vehicle is a 09 Equinox and I replaced the sway bar links (example pic below) and sway bar bushing with MOOG replacements on Sunday.



Installation went smooth and was a simple job. One thing I did notice when I was finishing installing the new ones was that the sway bar moved just a little from side to side. I did not check before I took off the old ones so I don't have anything to compare the finished results to. And I did not do any diagnosing before I took off the old ones. A shop gave my wife a estimate of what needed done and it was expensive enough that I had her buy the parts and I just put them on.

After I was finished we both went for a quick spin on our VERY ROUGH road we live on and it sounded like new suspension. NO noises to be heard. We parked the vehicle and it sat until yesterday when she went to work. On her way to work she didn't hear a noise at all but on her way home she started to hear a faint "clunk" type of noise by her feet.

It was dark when she got home so I didn't look at it but thought to myself about how that was the side where I noticed the slight lateral movement by the bushing during install.

This morning I have went out and confirmed that the sway bar moving back and forth the little amount it does makes a slight sound when the bushing on the drivers side comes in contact with the sway bar on the right side of the drivers side bushing.
Not sure if that makes sense but the sway bar itself on the drivers side has a elevated part of the sway bar to keep it from moving too much. And that is what the bushing is hitting and making the sound.

I have looked online and have read conflicting opinions/facts.

From all of the vehicles you guys have worked on, is it normal for the sway bar to move a little? I haven't measured the movement but it's minimal. I have the bushings tightened down very tight and it still moves a little.


Any of your opinions will be greatly appreciated as always. Thanks in advance for your help

 

[gears]

hey Big T, you replaced 1/2 of the problem. You've got 2 mounts that secure the bar to the frame - sounds like they're worn enough to cause interference (hasn't had a front end collision or met a ditch has it?) Failing an accident/impact, it sounds to me like those mount bushings are your new (likely quieter) noise culprit.

They're not too difficult to replace.

 

[Big Trees]

(quoted from post at 09:33:59 02/02/16) hey Big T, you replaced 1/2 of the problem. You've got 2 mounts that secure the bar to the frame - sounds like they're worn enough to cause interference (hasn't had a front end collision or met a ditch has it?) Failing an accident/impact, it sounds to me like those mount bushings are your new (likely quieter) noise culprit.

They're not too difficult to replace.

Thanks for the reply, gears. With all of my 'mumbo jumbo' I probably confused everybody or I just wasn't clear at all. Sorry for that.

I DID replace the bushings as well. They are MOOG brand exactly like this image below. Shoot!! Photobucket is down right now so I can't load the bushings image but I replaced those too.

The bushings keep the bar from moving up and down but it has a very slight lateral movement (maybe .5" or less). I have read that the bushings should keep the bar from moving up or down but the bar may have a side to side movement since nothing is holding it in place from moving that way. Some people I read use a hose clamp and some rubber to take away that .5" that the bar uses to move that little distance.

And no collision, wreck or impact of any kind what so ever. The parts we got are the ones that are called for this vehicle also.

Thanks for your help!

 

[HFJ]

Photobucket is down right now so I can't load the bushings image

tinypic and imgur are good alternatives to photobucket.

lol, when testing the links, it turns out tinypic is down at the moment too. this is rare, i've used tinypic for a good 15 years now.

 

[HFJ]

... and tinypic's back up now

here's a handy site:

Down for everyone or just me?

sometimes, a site will be working fine, but a routing problem between your ISP and the site can cause u to not be able to load it, while others can. if u can't load it and this site can't either, chances are that it's really down.

 

[grapeview8n]

sway bar "floats" side to side. stays centered by physics. you don't want it to be able to slop side to side with an easy push, but some movement is normal.

 

[Hobo,NC]

The bar should not move in the mount with new bushings with out forcing it to move side to side. No loose up and down motion is acceptable.

 

[Big Trees]

grapeview, Hobo - Thank you both for your replies. I appreciate your help. I know you all are very well educated and experienced and would know how it was supposed to be.

Thank you guys very much.

 

[Hobo,NC]

I do like Moog its about all I will install. I looked at the parts for a 09 Equinox it does not ask for the bar size which is unusual on most all applications, maybe they used only one bar.

Welcome to the world of GM front end knocks and rattles.

 

[Big Trees]

(quoted from post at 06:20:44 02/03/16)
I do like Moog its about all I will install. I looked at the parts for a 09 Equinox it does not ask for the bar size which is unusual on most all applications, maybe they used only one bar.

Welcome to the world of GM front end knocks and rattles.

LOL & front end knocks and rattles.

Hobo, that was one thing I checked for also. I see they have different sizes for the rear sway bar but only one size for the front. Considering that I figured I had the right size. It does NOT move up and down, only a little side to side.

What I did was (don't laugh), wrapped a little piece of electrical tape in the space between the bushing and the 'stopper' on the sway bar to keep it from moving. Don't know how long it'll last but it was silent as a mouse yesterday when I test drove it.

Thanks a lot for your reply!

 

[Hobo,NC]

Looks like a confirmed kill I would be looking for some new straps the old ones may be stretched...


Is this what you got
Moog
Sway Bar Bushing Kit
Part No. K200333
Front

 

[Big Trees]

(quoted from post at 06:37:43 02/03/16)


Looks like a confirmed kill I would be looking for some new straps the old ones may be stretched...


Is this what you got
Moog
Sway Bar Bushing Kit
Part No. K200333
Front

Yes, that is exactly the same part. I will look up some straps and order a set. Surely won't hurt.