[Jeepman]

Sway bar bushing issues here.
1. Swaybars twist, thus rotate in a bushing
a. If it is a rubber bushing it grips both bar and bracket but the rubber flexes in between both
b. If a thermo plastic (like the moog ones) or polyurethane the bushing rotates inside the bushing, thus the bushing is acting as a bearing and needs to be lubed between the bushing and bar
c. The factory one with the nylon insert, the factory is hoping the nylon is acting as a slippery surface between it and what ever is moving next to it.

I made some polyurethane front swaybar bushings for the 2001-07 vans. They have been installed in two different vans. It has only been a couple weeks so no bad news yet. I am not going to wait months to see the out come. I have made them for many different applications with great success.
I will make a few sets soon and have them available.

Johnny

I don't believe that any of the bushings - rubber, rubber with nylon insert, polyurethane, or thermoplastic are designed to rotate on the bar. I believe the rotation happens as the bushing ages or loses grip on the bar for some reason.
- the latest thermoplastic bushings from MOOG have instructions for installation but no mention of lubricant of any kind. In fact the instructions say to "clean the sway bar prior to installation".
- the bushing, with the nylon insert, from Mopar will stick to the bar per my experience.
- an old bushing I saved, which I believe is polyurethane, has a fabric bonded to its inner surface, for grip I assume. I just ripped off some of the fabric, it was worn and torn. That bushing was purchased from the Dealer and used on the 2002 GC some years back.
- the fact that the outer part of the sway bar turns into the bushing (on the vans and many other vehicles), rather than going straight in, counters having any free movement between the bar and the bushing, the way I see it.
- freedom of movement between the bar and the bushing will eventually result in dry squeaking/creaking easily detected when going slow over bumps. In fact, the new MOOGs I put on recently are now doing that. I assume it's the MOOGs but will loosen the bolts on a dry day and see what happens with the noise. I attribute this to the fact I used lubricant when I installed them and that lubricant (synthetic brake lube) is now mostly squeezed out, or the brackets are stretched from having the bushings with nylon inserts installed previously. The dry squeaking/creaking, over small bumps, dissipates when it is wet out.

I don't intend to be argumentative. I appreciate your opinions and your experimenting and will be interested in your findings. Have you ever come across the bushings with the fabric layer inside, mentioned above? I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been ripped from the wear. This bushing was installed in March of 2007 (by me) and would have been what the Dealership was offering at that time.

So there are two issues - (1) a dry squeaking/creaking noise and (2) a clunking noise, to contend with.
The way I see it, the clunking noise is due to the one bolt bracket design (tab end clunks) and will happen once the bar and bushing are moving relative to each other enough to create wear, hence eventual looseness between bar and bushing.
The way I see it, the squeaking/creaking noise is indication of a bushing failure. Some of the Ford Fairlanes, Falcons, Mustangs, etc, back in the 1960s, would have control arm bushing failures. You could hear them coming from a mile away except on rainy days. They eventually came up with greasable ones as the fix.

 

[platinumplatypus]

8 years late, but the idea that a thin (small difference between uinner and outer radius) rubber sway bar bushing would twist with the sway bar is silly. The bar twists far much for a bushing to follow along. The twist is on the order of 45 degrees. 1/8th of a turn doesn't sound like all that much but on a bar about 1" in diameter that's around 3/8" displacement at the sway bar surface though a bushing that has less than 1/2" of material from the twisting bar to the bracket. These sway bar bushings have a short life because they chew up the rubber, as they age they get corrosion and the swar bar surface rough and chews up the bushings faster as the years go by.

As for the brackets stretching, that's not realistic. you might succeed in bending the tab, although I never have, but you wouldn't have any luck stretching the steel. The brackets corrode and replacement hardware without a heavy washer can chew them up.

The sway bar interface for these vans was ill-conceived. There's no elastomer that would cushion the vibration that can accomodate the rotation. The Moog urethane bushings last a little longer than the Moog rubber bushings and that's all. The nylon insert bushings also get the nylon face chewed though. A simple greasable split sintered bronze anulus (a 2 part porous bronze insert) instead of the nylon one would have had a 50,000 or 100,000 mile wear life preventing the rubber bushing from wearing out prematurely. It would also cost an extra $10 a pair. Unfortunately just cutting a sintered bronze bearing in half leaves gaps at the saw kerf so making them from available parts depends on buying a slightly larger sintered bronze bearing and
re-shaping it to end up wiith halves that don't gap at the seams.

Suspension bushings for the control arm accommodate less than half as much angular rotation on a smaller diameter center with roughly an inch and a half of material between the rotating center and the static outer sleeve.

I don't believe that any of the bushings - rubber, rubber with nylon insert, polyurethane, or thermoplastic are designed to rotate on the bar. I believe the rotation happens as the bushing ages or loses grip on the bar for some reason.
- the latest thermoplastic bushings from MOOG have instructions for installation but no mention of lubricant of any kind. In fact the instructions say to "clean the sway bar prior to installation".
- the bushing, with the nylon insert, from Mopar will stick to the bar per my experience.
- an old bushing I saved, which I believe is polyurethane, has a fabric bonded to its inner surface, for grip I assume. I just ripped off some of the fabric, it was worn and torn. That bushing was purchased from the Dealer and used on the 2002 GC some years back.
- the fact that the outer part of the sway bar turns into the bushing (on the vans and many other vehicles), rather than going straight in, counters having any free movement between the bar and the bushing, the way I see it.
- freedom of movement between the bar and the bushing will eventually result in dry squeaking/creaking easily detected when going slow over bumps. In fact, the new MOOGs I put on recently are now doing that. I assume it's the MOOGs but will loosen the bolts on a dry day and see what happens with the noise. I attribute this to the fact I used lubricant when I installed them and that lubricant (synthetic brake lube) is now mostly squeezed out, or the brackets are stretched from having the bushings with nylon inserts installed previously. The dry squeaking/creaking, over small bumps, dissipates when it is wet out.

I don't intend to be argumentative. I appreciate your opinions and your experimenting and will be interested in your findings. Have you ever come across the bushings with the fabric layer inside, mentioned above? I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been ripped from the wear. This bushing was installed in March of 2007 (by me) and would have been what the Dealership was offering at that time.

So there are two issues - (1) a dry squeaking/creaking noise and (2) a clunking noise, to contend with.
The way I see it, the clunking noise is due to the one bolt bracket design (tab end clunks) and will happen once the bar and bushing are moving relative to each other enough to create wear, hence eventual looseness between bar and bushing.
The way I see it, the squeaking/creaking noise is indication of a bushing failure. Some of the Ford Fairlanes, Falcons, Mustangs, etc, back in the 1960s, would have control arm bushing failures. You could hear them coming from a mile away except on rainy days. They eventually came up with greasable ones as the fix.

 

[shipo]

These sway bar bushings have a short life because they chew up the rubber, as they age they get corrosion and the swar bar surface rough and chews up the bushings faster as the years go by.

While I won't argue with much of what you wrote, I've replaced bushings on several of these vans (several times each), and even though I live in the salt-belt, I have never once seen a corroded swaybar in the zone of the bushing. In literally every case, the area of the bar which goes through the bushing has been polished shiny and smooth by the bushing.

 

[cmk033]

Someone Please Summrize to Solve Bushing Problem for Good

There are too many posting to parse out the meat.
Could someone organize the PROPER installation and part about the bushing?
Couple things I caught were:
New OEM bushing with NYLON sleeve should be used.
Van should be on a RAMP, not jack stand when being replaced.
No lubricant will be used.
Is there a different bushing for different size bar?
I am noticing there are three different OEM bushings with same part number sold in eBay. (see attached pics first one says it is for Diameter of 26)
Should the stabilizer link be replaced as well?

If there were one subject that was took up most of posts, this would be the one on the top.

 

[Jeepman]

The touring suspension on the early 4th Generations had a slightly larger sway bar diameter (a half millimeter or something like that) and a different part number for the bushings (Mopar 4743041AE). The standard size bushing is commonly used though (Mopar 4743024AE) and it's less expensive.

Mopar 4743041AE: https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/mopar,4743041AE,stabilizer+bar+bushing,7624

Mopar 4743024AE: https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/mopar,4743024AE,stabilizer+bar+bushing,7624

Getting those bushings, which are suppose to grip the bar (compression bond), to stay gripped and quiet is a challenge. New brackets may help. Otherwise lubricate them and hope for the best.

Sway bar bushing design: https://forum.chryslerminivan.net/s...thread.php/114825-Sway-Bar-Bushing-Replacement?p=1202033&viewfull=1#post1202033

Mopar bushings are installed with the slot to the rear. The groove in the bracket has to fit in the groove in the bushing.