Have you DIY'd your front sway bar bushings??

Wishmaster

Member
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07 Galaxy Gray AT Mazda5 GT
Have been wanting to attempt this for awhile... keep hearing different stories - 1. impossible to do without removing front sub-frame = expensive shop job. - 2. Can be done yourself, it's a little tight, but not a much of a problem, don't need to remove anything.

So what's the real deal, it's seems the people who are saying #1, have never actually done it themselves, it's always been "a friend". Has anyone actually done this? I don't need a full-on how-to, just a realistic description of how difficult the job is and if any special tools are required.

Thanks everyone!
 
I've changed the front sway bar by myself. It is a challenge just because there's not much room to work with. First make sure you have suitable clearance under the car. I had my car on jack-stands at the highest point.

I would recommend impact tools to get the sub-frame off. The sub-frame doesn't have to be removed completely from the car. Keep the shock towers bolted in and the sub-frame should just hang there. The sub-frame will swing towards the rear of the car once the last bolt comes out so be prepared for that. You may have to remove the exhaust hangers and anything else to get it out of way.

This pic is of the sway bar and bushings removed. You can see my exhaust hangers are off too.

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Once it's hanging, it's all a matter of squeezing into the small space to get the bushings off. There's no way of getting an impact in there so use lots penetrating oil and brute force. It will come off. This is the most challenging part.

Then you'll have to re-assemble everything. Since the sub-frame swings towards to rear of the car, you'll have to find someone or something to help you push it back to it's original location. In my case, I had no one to help me so I used a car jack to push it forward. Like this:

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I hope this helps.
 
I just did mine yesterday actually (greased them). But unlike wedginator, I didn't remove any of the subframe but worked from below with my arms wrapped around it. The passenger side has room for a standard 14mm socket and a small extension. The driver side has the hydraulic lines to the steering rack partially in the way of the front bolt, therefore a 'wobble' came in handy and required working from behind the subframe.

Since this was my second time and I had previously anti-seized the bolts, removal was not nearly as difficult as the first time. I did notice as I inspected the bushings, that there was a mesh tape applied to the inside surface. Since I decided to remove it, time will tell if the lessened grippy-ness will keep the bushings quiet longer. There was also noticeable wear to the sway bar. Being that I live in Florida and sand is the only dirt we have, any grit that gets trapped would evidence itself as the wear marks present.
 
I've changed the front sway bar by myself. It is a challenge just because there's not much room to work with. First make sure you have suitable clearance under the car. I had my car on jack-stands at the highest point.

I would recommend impact tools to get the sub-frame off. The sub-frame doesn't have to be removed completely from the car. Keep the shock towers bolted in and the sub-frame should just hang there. The sub-frame will swing towards the rear of the car once the last bolt comes out so be prepared for that. You may have to remove the exhaust hangers and anything else to get it out of way.

This pic is of the sway bar and bushings removed. You can see my exhaust hangers are off too.

main.php


Once it's hanging, it's all a matter of squeezing into the small space to get the bushings off. There's no way of getting an impact in there so use lots penetrating oil and brute force. It will come off. This is the most challenging part.

Then you'll have to re-assemble everything. Since the sub-frame swings towards to rear of the car, you'll have to find someone or something to help you push it back to it's original location. In my case, I had no one to help me so I used a car jack to push it forward. Like this:

main.php


I hope this helps.

You might want to buy a cheap come-along and pull to line things up. That looks a little sketchy, both on the body of the car and the potential for the rotor to slip off while you're working. Just a thought. I had to use a come-along to pull my front half axles forward on my F150 when I replaced the radius arm bushings. Come-alongs are miracle tools. When I used to work out in the gas fields building gathering systems, all of my employees called me Mr. Come-along because I had it out using it constantly. The big joke was to hide it from me. LOL! That and a huge pry/cheater bar. You can't work in oil/gas without those two tools.
 
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I'm in the process of changing the bushings as well. is there any aftermarket bushings that are better than stock? or what bushings did you use?
 
Thank you flcruising!!! i been looking for aftermarket bushings all afternoon and i could not find it. i was just ordering some oem ones from mazdaparts.com when i saw your reply. you just save me some $. thanks man!
 
I'm just going to throw this out there. Energy Suspension offers greaseable polyurethane bushings from 11mm to 35mm that come with replacement brackets that have zerk fittings. These poly bushings would be an enormous upgrade from OEM replacement and, being greaseable, they'll be super quiet too. A set of these greaseable poly bushings w/ brackets came with my purchase of the JBR adjustable rear sway bar from James Barone Racine and they're great. Just grease-em up every few months.

http://energysuspension.com/products/Sway-Bar-End-Link-Bushings.html
 
Have just done this twice . I did not remove the subframe, the pass. side is no problem, the drivers side is a little more difficult but can be done. I first had ordered some bushings online , they had Mazda stamps on them ,they did not last . 2 months later I bought some from O'Reilly, they were Moog's & seem to be working fine. This was on a '06, also changed the front struts. Next project will be swapping out the rear control arms for AC Delco 45k0187.
 
Did mine yesterday. The rear is simple, but the front was not. I did remove the subframe part to get better access and it was still a total PITA. The subframe takes maybe 2-3 minutes to remove and it's obvious which piece it is once you locate the stabilizer bar. Lift the car as much as possible on jack stands and be ready to be sore the next day unless you are in really good shape. Took me about 1.5 hours to do both front and back, which is really slow for me.

Unfortunately, replacing them did not fix the knock I hear turning corners and hitting bumps. It sounds too "big", as in heavy parts, to be end links so I'm not sure. I have a tranny leak that has to be fixed under warranty so I'll let the dealer look at it before I waste more time on it.
 
Have just done this twice . I did not remove the subframe, the pass. side is no problem, the drivers side is a little more difficult but can be done. I first had ordered some bushings online , they had Mazda stamps on them ,they did not last . 2 months later I bought some from O'Reilly, they were Moog's & seem to be working fine. This was on a '06, also changed the front struts. Next project will be swapping out the rear control arms for AC Delco 45k0187.

There is no way bigger arms will fit in to even do the passenger side without removing the subframe piece, just for the record.
 
Just did mine. See the thread "Suspension Clunk - Left Front". I just updated that thread a couple days ago. Post #45
 
OK,
so I changed the front sway bar bushings by myself.
I was desparate to find pictures of them before I started the job and couldn't find many, so I took a couple of pics - just for visual. This is not a how-to or the best, easy and fast way to do the job :)

First - I didn't remove the subframe, nor the sway bar links.
I did it from the side - jacked the car, removed the wheel and worked from the wheel well.
My Mazda 5 is from Canada - spent there 3 years of harsh winter conditions, later on being not driven for couple of years - this leads to every single bolt underneath the car being badly corroded.
That's why i was not able to unscrew the two bolts with my small 1/4" ratchet.
Perhaps a 3/8" ratchet would be best to use, but I didn't have one and still doubt if it would be enough to apply the brute force needed to unscrew the bolts even to the last few threads.
So I used my 1/2" ratchet that is big for the space around the bushings, but was useful for the amount of force needed.

Driver's side seemed to me the easier one, because I was able to use the ratchet for the rear bolt easier.
I unscrewed the front bolt with a standard 14mm socket through the gap between the sway bar and the tie rod - the steering wheel was fully turned to the left.
Here is how it looks:

Drivers_front_zpsac387546.jpg

The red arrow points to the front bolt, green arrow to the rear one

I was able to turn the ratchet only a couple of 'clicks' and used immense force for every turn.

For the rear bolt I used a universal joint and standard 14mm socket, looks like this:

Drivers_rear_zps2a368b0c.jpg

Again - red arrow front bolt, green arrow - rear (behind the sway bar)

After half of the bolt unscrewed I had to change the universal joint to a deep 14mm socket, because the ratchet was hitting the brake servo grommet.

After that replaced the bushing, greasing it thoroughly with white lithium grease, cleaned the bolts and applied anti-sieze throughout all the threading.
Screwed the bolts back by hand all the way down and tightened them down by hand with my small 1/4' ratchet - I hope that the next time they need replacing will be a lot easier to unscrew them.

This bushing took me about an hour - I know - rediculous amount of time, but that's my way - slow :) with this kind of rust and gunk on the bolts




Proceeded to the passenger side:

Again the front bolt was the easier one - turned the steering wheel fully to the right.
Used the 1/2" ratchet with standard 14mm socket.

The rear bolt was the hardest one - I used 1/2" ratchet with adjustable head with 14mm deep socket.
Here's how it looks :
Passenger_zpsbdf421a7.jpg

Again - red arrow - front bolt, green arrow - rear bolt (behind the sway bar)

These bolts needed brute force to unscrew all the way to the end.

After removing them, greased the bushing, cleaned the bolts, applied anti-sieze, and lots of it, tighten them back by hand with my small 1/4" ratchet,

Here's how it looks:
Passenger-onefourthratchet_zpsb470cc54.jpg

With the white grease around the bushing and using the smal ratchet with short extension.
I used OEM Mazda rubber bushings.

All in all I used a lot of time, but the satisfaction at the end of the day of changing these by myself is worth it :)
 
I diy'd too and it's not bad once you figure out where they are and how to reach them with the tools you have. The length of threads to engage feels like an eternity when your in the awkward position. Thanks for putting the pictures up! It'll be a good refresher for when they wear out again.
 
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