Evening all...
I purchased new rear sway bar bushings and end links.
Is replacing these a simple job or is there anything I need to know before attempting doing this in the driveway?
Bushings look simple...end links look a little more involved

 

iownme, as long as you get both rear wheels off of the ground at the same time, the job will be really easy. You only attempt to do one side at a time, then the torsion bar is going to be twisted up and you are going to have a lot of spring in things and getting it back together is going to be a challenge to say the least.

Probably also want to get your hands on some PB Blaster. That will help make removing the bolts/nuts much easier. Spray on some of the lubricant, give it a few minutes to soak in and then remove.

 

Hello iownme, The end links require a specialized tool to remove/install without the risk of damaging the rubber grease cups. I fabed a tool by welding a deep well 15mm socket to a junk wrench...you will also need an 8mm? or 9mm? (can't recall) Allen wrench to hold the end link when removing/installing on the control arm. Look at the male threaded end of the end link -you will see where the Allen wrench goes... OR... you can 'shadetree it' with a 15mm socket and a set of vise grips. I have done three of these jobs in the past few months and on all three I had to use my 'gas ax' to heat the sway bar ends in order to back out the old end links...otherwise it's very straight forward. Good luck, Andy

 

Hmmmm....sounds like once I get (if I can get) the end links off it might get ugly.
Can I drive the car to a shop if I get stuck half way through?....I have no access to heat if the links won't come out.
I,m now thinking about taking it to a shop :+(

I have not had a chance to look at the end links yet. So tomorrow I,ll go and take a good look...thanks for the advice

 

Thermo....2 questions.
Where do you suggest I place the axle stands?
And I. Can't figure out if your saying I should remove and replace 1 link at a time or remove both links then replace them.
And a 3rd question...lol...will I need my tie rod splitter to release the links?

 

iownme, as for the jack stands, I would place them under the frame supports for the body of the car. So, the jackstands will rest just in front of the rear wheels.

As for removing the end links, you can do it either way. The big thing is you want both of the rear wheels to be in the same position (both on level ground, both tires hanging free in the air, etc). The big thing is you don't want any stress on the sway bar.

As for the end links, I can not speak about removing them. I have not removed the ones off of my car. I would follow the recommendations of C.3823.

 

Thanks thermo...took a look under the car. Without my home garage or tools it looks like a PITA. Local shops here are not so good so I looked on craigslist for a tech (I know...cheap sometimes ends up being expensive..lol)
I found a guy who can at least speak like he knows his stuff who quoted me $75 for replacing the end links.
Sidenote...replacement driveshaft arrives Tuesday ($150 inc shipping)

 

Rear sway bar end links and bushings is a simple job. Hardest part is jacking up the car. I see you already got a mechanic, if you hadn't already done so I would say good luck, you'll knock it out quickly!
Where are you located?

 

Thank you thank you thank you to you all!.
The tech called me back yesterday with some stupiiid questions... I lost all faith in his ability to touch my baby......SO.....I decided to try myself. It was not "easy" but I did get it done unaided.
The only real problems I encountered was that the allen key hole split so I could not use an allen key. Had to rip the rubber boot off and grip the bj stud with vice grips...worked fine.
Even with PB Blaster the bolts were hard to remove. Once removed I wire wheeled them then used anti seize on all threads.
The end links came off the sway bar with no problem.
The car drives much nicer!
Next will be the front sway bar!
Thanks again guys...I could not have done it without all the input from you

 

I did both rear and front sway bar bushing and links.
If you are replacing front sway bar bushings, you need to find shorter bolts than the ones you took out. You can yank it out but impossible to put wrench on it when putting it back in. I ended up getting metric bolts that are shorter from auto parts store.

Alternatively you can drop the rear part of subframe but to me that was more work.

Well done getting rear sway bar links out. It was bear even with an impact gun due to corrosion here in Michigan. I ended up putting vice grip on the ball joint to hold it in place.