[Chowder]

So I've done a search on the noise my front end makes when going over speed bumps, etc. It's always been annoying as hell, and it seems to be worse since I did the T/S lift. Taking the advice of the other posters, I went down to the local bike shop and got myself some wax chain lube.

I got under my vehicle and started spraying any and all bushings I could see, but upon testing, I realize I totally missed the one culprit. Which one in particular is the donkey squeeler? Note that telling me the name won't be good enough, I need to know where it's located too . Pictures would be helpful too :help:

 

[Unnamed]

Did you remember to put it up on jacks or something so that the suspension hung free and the bushing could deform enough to get the grease worked in?

 

[Neil F.]

It is usually the swaybar bushings in the end caps.

 

[Unnamed]

It is usually the swaybar bushings in the end caps.

I still have to get used to that new avatar... I was like who the hell is that?

 

[canyonD]

you may also need to recenter your swaybar. That was the main culprit in my front squeaks. It was shifted all the way over to the passenger side and the end of the sway bar was making contact with the control arm. Squeak city. After removing and recentering, squeaking disappeared, and I didn't even bother with lube. I think that 90% of the squeaking complaints are due to shifted swaybar.

 

[Chowder]

No, I didn't jack up the front end. I had already jacked it up earlier because I was moving my torsion bars from 6 1/2 turns to 7 1/2, so I didn't feel like jacking it up again. I basically hit everything down there that looked like a bushing and crossed my fingers. I'm going to go back out there with my buddy and see if he can locate the sway bar bushings. If he can, I'll jack it up, lube it up and report back later today. I might also be going wheeling later, so maybe I'll throw up some pics too

 

[Chowder]

Uhh yeah, we couldn't figure out what part to lube. Does anyone have a picture?

 

[canyonD]

is it centered? If you recenter it, you probably would not need the lube.

To find where the lube is supposed to go, look at the swaybar. Then look for the black plasticy looking bushings, There are 4. 2 inboard and 2 outboard. The bushings are inside the retainers in the diagram shown below.

 

[Chowder]

Thanks, that pic helped a ton. The squeek is much improved, I assume when I can get around to lifting the front end and getting it in there, it'll be better.

As for your other question: I'm not sure how to tell if it's centered or not. And if it's not, I wouldn't know how to recenter it. Could you explain?

 

[Neil F.]

To verify if it is centered, verify if the bar is inserted equal amounts in the end caps. If it is not, remove the mounts (4) in the picture and move the bar left/right. Humm I installed Hotchkis sway bars six years ago. The center mounts are put on first then rotate the bar into the end caps. I don't remember too much of an issue with getting it centered. (Just a note, if you do fool with it, to get the bar to lined up with the end caps, have the truck on the ground, not jacked up.) I don't know if squeaks are associated with centering or not but sway bars squeaks and them needing lube are common on the DOC forum.

 

[canyonD]

Here is the thread that addresses recentering

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110623&highlight=bushing

 

[Chowder]

Well I went to test out my new tires today...I only had about 30 minutes before dark, so I only did a few hills and mud pools, but boy does my D have a lot of traction. I had a Grand Cherokee before and the open differentials were horrible when it came to any sort of mud or snow. The D does way better, and the new tires make it feel unstoppable.

Anyway, I heard no evidence of the squeaking when I went over the speed bumps in my apartment. Maybe the lube worked itself in better while I was out on the trails, but we'll see what happens when I drive off in the morning.

 

[crazysonofafitc]

Ive tried lubing my bushings with the aerosol lithium grease as recommeneded. What would be a reasonable amount to expect from the local auto shop to get those replaced. Ive seen the bushings for about $40 online, but i have no idea how to get them replaced. what would be the labor charge yall would expect to get those put on?

 

[alex393]

I had the same problem the front end on my durango sounded like hell every time I would go over even the smallest bumps. I pulled off the front sway bar and lubed up the 4 sway bar bushings with belray water proof marine greese. There was also places on the bar were the bushing material wears on to the bar I cleaned it up with the wire wheel on my grinder. I put it all back together and havent had a problem since. It all took about 30 minutes to do. Dont waist your time trying to spray lube on the bushings while they are still on your vehicle you will never compleatly solve the problem. I think the hardest part of the job was a rusted bolt I ran into but I heated it up with at torch and that solved that! Good luck! Sqeeky front ends suck!

 

[canyonD]

kevin_rants has an entire thread dedicated to the prothane bushing replacement. Just do a quick search to find his thread.

 

[Almond Pale Ale]

Jeff - thanks.

You can get the Prothanes from www.eshocks.com and swap them out yourself. I think I paid less than $35 for the fronts and rears together. Front sway bar was an easy to do job, took about an hour.

I still have not done the upper end link bushings on my rear sway bar but the over-the-axle bushings were a snap once I figured out how to tighten them without causing one end to bind up (there is a pic in my thread).

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110623&highlight=Prothane

 

[Chimichanga31]

$38 dollars for all 4 front swaybar bushings at O'reilly's, made by Moog (the blue ones. not urethane, so no squeak so the moog site says, I lubed them with white grease anyway). Installed in 1.5 hours and haven't had any more problems. I jacked around lubing my old bushings every month or so. I haven't done a thing to them since I put the new ones on. You can mess around oiling them frequently, but it's like the old saying: You can polish a turd all you want, it still a turd.

 

[sledslapper]

What are the sizes of these front swaybar bushings? I have 1.18 and 1.4 to choose from when ordering...

 

[tosterho]

NEIL this question is for you. When I installed my addco front sway bar I didn't notice that I didn't have any lube other than general purpose grease and now they are squeaking really bad. I have a t/s lift and I just got an alignment. So my question is with it on a lift can I take each cap off one by one and grease them with a needle injector? To me they are a pain getting them off and the sway bar isn't the easiest especially when you have to turn the torsion bars back down to get it off. So thanks for your help.

 

[brad81987]

I thought you wern't spose to lift with performance sway bars, i know you can't with the Hotchkis