|
|
|
|
Sway Bar Bushings replacement by Schmitt
I am trying to improve the handling of the Xtreme, so I decided to replace the stock rubber sway bar bushings with poly-urethane bushings. It was a cheap and easy mod that resulted in better handling truck.
I ordered front and rear Prothane kits from Spohn performance. The Xtremes have 33mm front bars and 23mm rear bars.
I started by jacking the truck and disconnecting the front sway bar from the end links. I removed the end links from the lower control arms and removed the sway bar. I removed the old sway bar bushings and installed the new Prothane units. The front kit came with new end link bolts, washers, nuts and the poly-urethane bushings. So I installed all of that after re-installing the front bar. The kits come with installation grease. Apply a small amount to bushings so they do not squeak.
Next I move to the rear, I disconnected the rear bar from the end links at the lower ends. Then I removed the sway bar from the rear end housing. The end links were then removed from the frame. I removed and replaced the bushings on the bar itself. I thought the old bushings on the end links would have to be pressed out, so I headed to the machine shop. The machinist taught me a cool trick, since the old bushings are rubber they will burn. So he took a torch and lit them up. After the old rubber burns off, and the links cool down, I cleaned them up with a scotch brite pad and hit them with some semi-gloss. After the paint dried, I installed the new bushings and greased them. I re-installed the rear bar, the end links, then reconnected the two.
After lowering the truck, I torqued everything to spec. The total time on the project was about four hours. The truck now handles the Grady curve at 75 mph instead of 70 mph.
| Total visitors: | 8,366 |
| Visitors today: | 10 |
Statistics
|
|
