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Can anyone please tell me how tightly the bushes should grip the bar?
With both drop links undone, it takes two hands to move it.
Is that normal or should it move freely?
Thanks in advance.
Those bushes only need to hold the bar up a bit so it doesn't drop onto the pavement, they don't actually hold anything. tight is fine. Somewhat loose is fine, as long as they Don't Deflect! Hard poly bushes can allow twist. Soft rubber bushes should be much tighter. The bar is there to keep both ends, where they connect to the suspension, so they stay even-ish. The sway bar twists, but actually AVOIDS twisting. To keep both wheels the same amount from the body on each side. As long as no deflection on the mounts then they are tight enough.
Those bushes only need to hold the bar up a bit so it doesn't drop onto the pavement, they don't actually hold anything. tight is fine. Somewhat loose is fine, as long as they Don't Deflect! Hard poly bushes can allow twist. Soft rubber bushes should be much tighter. The bar is there to keep both ends, where they connect to the suspension, so they stay even-ish. The sway bar twists, but actually AVOIDS twisting. To keep both wheels the same amount from the body on each side. As long as no deflection on the mounts then they are tight enough.
My ARB feels really tight and creaks hence my question. Should they be tightly held by the aftermarket bushes I recently fitted?
Your D-rubbers are most likely dried out hence the creaking noise it wouldn't hurt to loosen off the sway bar and apply some rubber grease to the rubbers
I applied red rubber grease when I fitted new bushes a year ago. That grease turned very sticky causing a horrid creak so I removed them, washed off all the gooey mess with petrol and refitted them dry.
They started creaking again slightly so this morning I removed them AGAIN, cleaned them and added a smear of some normal grease. Now the ARM is not so stiff to move and the creak has gone - so far! 🤞
I applied red rubber grease when I fitted new bushes a year ago. That grease turned very sticky causing a horrid creak so I removed them, washed off all the gooey mess with petrol and refitted them dry.
They started creaking again slightly so this morning I removed them AGAIN, cleaned them and added a smear of some normal grease. Now the ARM is not so stiff to move and the creak has gone - so far! 🤞
I was going to replace mine, but the manual directs dropping the front subframe on the '07 4.2 coupe base. Do you have a simpler routine for removing the bushings? Can you describe? Thanks
I was going to replace mine, but the manual directs dropping the front subframe on the '07 4.2 coupe base. Do you have a simpler routine for removing the bushings? Can you describe? Thanks
They can be changed without dropping the subframe but it is a fiddle.
raise front of car and remove wheels and front wheel arch liners then disconnect the drop links by removing the lower bolt that passes through the lateral arm.
The LHS is fiddly requiring a dropped 13mm ring spanner for the front and a small 13mm micro 1/4” drive rachet for the rear after slackening the bolt with the dropped ring. With 2 people and a long extension with a UJ behind the socket it is possible to get on the rear bolt but not the front.
on the RHS you will need to remove the plastic cover for access then use the dropped ring and small rachet spanner.
its fiddly but doable.
Good luck.
My squeak has lessened after adding a smear of grease but it is still there. I only managed to smear grease on the LHS.
I have just ordered some more new bushes from Jaguar as I believe that the aftermarket bushes I fitted have caused the squeak problem, perhaps at the joint.
I am trying to establish whether the joint should be at the front or rear, probably the front so that when the wheel hits a lump in the road the ARB will not be pushed against the join, but I need clarity on that point.
Good luck.
Last edited by Neville Hobbs; 02-10-2022 at 11:01 AM.
Fitted two new OEM ARB bushes this morning. Took me about 3 hours. ARB moves quite easily now in these new bushes which I fitted dry.
Still squeaks!!!!! Really pi**ed off now.
WTF is squeaking???? Driving me mad.
Anyway, here are some photos I took. LHS front bolt is hard to access due to the pipe that runs directly above it. Fitted a 13mm 1/4 drive socket on the bolt then prized a small ratchet into the socket. RHS is not too difficult to access. OEM new bush. Slit fitted at front as most forces from bumps are rearward.
Last edited by Neville Hobbs; 02-17-2022 at 11:29 AM.
Despite several knowledgeable people saying that it wont be the “sloppy” track rod end, I changed the track rod end and inner track rod and the rattle disappeared!
I still have the damn squeak though.
Any ideas? I have not changed the front wheel bearing. Swapped front wheel and wheel nuts just in case.
I have been using a Chassis Ear Kit too. Squeak sound gets picked up the loudest when microphone is clipped to the lower ball joint which has been changed!!
The cheap Chassis Ear from Amazon? How well did it work?
The Chassis Ear kit is good at finding the general area of a noise but obviously not good at pinpointing a noise!!
Unfortunately I cannot replocate the squeak when stationary. Damn thing. Squeaks on speed bumps when the suspension has a large deflection.
Humor me, when stationary, by pushing down on each corner of the car, will the squeak present itself? The reason I ask is that the squeak on my car dumfounded many… until we learned it was actually the worn strut isolator and not the bushings, that everyone was thinking.
Incidentally, my bushes are VERY tight. They are greased with rubber grease. And there are no squeaks now…. except for that annoying creak in braking… I need to get to that.
Humor me, when stationary, by pushing down on each corner of the car, will the squeak present itself? The reason I ask is that the squeak on my car dumfounded many… until we learned it was actually the worn strut isolator and not the bushings, that everyone was thinking.
Incidentally, my bushes are VERY tight. They are greased with rubber grease. And there are no squeaks now…. except for that annoying creak in braking… I need to get to that.
Creaks and squeaks are very annoying.
No, pushing down on the corners does not produce the squeak.
In an attempt to rid the car of creaks and groans, when I fitted a new top mount I used that awful red rubber grease on the isolators.
A year later I had a creak which had me stripping the dashboard even though I could replicate that one by getting a pal to bounce the car. I eventually cured it by removing the top mount and cleaning off all the red grease which had gone gooey and sticky. Rubber grease went in the bin after causing exactly what I had set out to cure!!!!
I now have a slight clunk from the LHS when braking after changing from forward to reverse, as if the calliper is loose which it is not. Wondering if its the bottom ball joint. Too cold and wet to investigate at the moment.
I do wonder if its the LHS lower ball joint producing the squeak that appears to come from the RHS. Does happen. Creaks rattles and squeaks get transmitted around the cars in mysterious ways.
Changing the lower ball joint is fun!
Last edited by Neville Hobbs; 01-12-2023 at 07:48 AM.
02-07-2022, 11:13 AM
