Front Sway Bar Moving Topic is solved

[Stu70]

V70R 2006
Found the reason for the clunking

64C0F07F-6037-4BE0-8915-3FBC60E02289.jpeg (2.61 MiB) Viewed 2004 times

Turns out the bar has ‘slid ‘ through an inch and resulted in this rubbing.
PO has installed after market sway bar bushings. I ended up loosening one bolt on each bushing bracket and smacking the bar back through.
First thought is the control arm bushes are worn leading to too much lateral movement .

Maybe replace control arms and sway bar bushes? Ordering a sway bar from the likes of IPD would require selling a kidney for the shipping.
Thoughts on a game plan would be appreciated TIA

##Edit - on the ‘longer’ side of the bar ( passenger) I replaced the end link three weeks ago, left this side till today when I had use of a impact wrench as the top end link nut was on incredibly tight ( ended up using a 3 foot bar on the end of a ratchet) - the rubbing is stilll so shiny I think this may have been the reason as I don’t remember seeing this damage.
I replaced the end links due to wear and clunking from passenger side. ##

[Krons]

FYI replacing the sway bar is a significant undertaking. Lots of stuff in the way. Watch a YouTube vid or two to know what you'll be in for.

[- Pete -]

Hey Stu. The clunking on my VR drove me nuts. So much I replaced everything until I finally figured it out, much the same as you recently have. I was able to simply replace the sway bar bushings on my upsized sway bar (without even touching any of the fasteners which hold the subframe to the main frame). I’m almost fully sure that the factory bar has non-serviceable bushings, but I’d appreciate correction if I’m wrong. There have been some “workarounds” for replacing the sway bushings with other generic ones. I would try to figure out if your front sway is original or aftermarket. Then proceed with a bushing replacement strategy.

That scraping on the control arm sure looks nice! Hopefully re-aligning the sway eliminates that point of contact.

For the control arm bushings, I would just buy the bushings and ball joint & do the press work yourself. It’s literally less than half the cost of a “loaded” control arm. For the bushings, go ahead and buy the best ones available.

Best of luck with it all. I remember when you first posted that car when you got it.

Edit: there are supposed to be washers welded to the sway bar to prevent lateral movement. They should be positioned just medial of the bushing brackets. Can you account for both of these?

[vtl]

Original bushings are glued to the bar. Yes, one need to weld something onto sway bar to limit lateral movement with greased PU bushings.

Front sway bar job is unfortunately PIA on this car. Rear is PIA too, but slightly less.

[volvolugnut]

Original bushings are glued to the bar. Yes, one need to weld something onto sway bar to limit lateral movement with greased PU bushings.

Front sway bar job is unfortunately PIA on this car. Rear is PIA too, but slightly less.

It is a bad idea to weld to springs. The metallurgy will be changed and weakened. And the weld is likely to fail anyway.

volvolugnut

[vtl]

It is a bad idea to weld to springs. The metallurgy will be changed and weakened. And the weld is likely to fail anyway.

Nope, the welds stay. The sway bar may be weakened, but PU bushings typically wear out quickly, so sway bar won't work as as good as the stock one (when it worked ).

[Stu70]

Thanks for info. I will bribe a engineer at work to spin up a couple of collars to attach to the bar stopping any movement .
I wouldn’t have believed the difference in firmness just by the bar being off centre.
I will replace those sway bushes and some get new CA bushings too.
The bar is 25mm and stock - partsforvolvosonline.com sell a bushing kit which these look a lot like.

Thanks Pete - it’s nearly been a year of ownership, I miss the S70 and the ease of repairs on that. The total electronicness of the P2 is daunting but it’s shiny and goes fast so Im happy. I’d be keen to know how you reached the rear bolt on the sway bar bush bracket without dropping the sub frame. I got the front ones from the top but gave up on any thoughts of doing the rears.

[- Pete -]

Yeah Stu, like VTL’s said, a couple tack welds won’t hurt the original sway bar’s integrity too much. By now it’s pretty flaccid anyhow, but keeping it centered is of obvious importance.

On the topic of thicker/aftermarket sway bars; I honestly don’t think it’s worth it to upsize, unless you are doing road/track events or have a broken sway. The exceptions to this would be if 1. you can find a second hand upsized sway for a good price, 2. You already have the subframe lowered for another project. Most of us just lolly-gag around in these things (trying not to induce a cracked sleeve) anyway, with the occasional 3/4 ~4k RPM pull.

I’ll have to dig through my old photo HD’s to see what I have for clues to that bit of fastener magicianry. I do believe it was pretty easy (the tool made it possible, not me). I even spoke with Ken Pruett (IPD) encouraging a new method for their suggested approach of sway bar bushing replacement technique.

[vtl]

Rear sway bar is a way to go for upsizing, especially on XC70 with regular suspension (14 mm bar). Nivomat setup has a 19 mm bar, SR has 22, VR 23.

I have a DIY Nivomats upgrade + V70R sway bar, it was a must for my long overland trips with roof-long steel basket loaded with stuff. Plus XC90 in front, but it was a very mild upgrade.