Addco sway bar & suspension noise

[Fourth Horseman]

Ever since I installed my Addco rear sway bar I get noise from my rear suspension somewhere whenever going through a deep gutter or up a high driveway entrance, etc. Basically anytime one rear wheel is high and the other is low. As a test I took the bar off and went through a couple gutters wihtout the bar and the noise was gone. So I cleaned up all the bushings and the bar and put some Mobil 1 synthetic grease on the big bushings that hold the bar to the axle, and also a little bit on the end link bushings and put it all back in place. I was careful to torque everything back down to the specs listed in the shop manual.

Result? Still have the noise. I did not have this noise with the stock sway bar. I'm starting to wonder if it's not the bar itself, but rather something else back there making noise, maybe as a result of the stiffer bar forcing the suspension to move somehow? What else could it be, though? Everything looks good with a visual inspection. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm running out of ideas and getting ready to just put the stock bar back and forget the whole thing. Help! :)

[FordNut]

Mine has always done this. The Addco sway bar didn't make a difference either way (better or worse) nor did the Zack/Mac control arms. Some others had the noise and found some loose body mounts somewhere.

[Fourth Horseman]

Well, I used to have the body mount noise, but after my wreck that is gone. I don't know if the shock of the impact fixed it, or the body shop fixed it along with everything else.

In any event, if I take the sway bar out and leave it out the noise goes away. So in some way it's related to the bar being there. I'm confident it's not bushing noise because I cleaned everything up really well and was fairly generous when I greased it up.

I'm just at a loss as to what's causing this.

[RCSignals]

what kind of noise is it? a thud? a bang? a squeek?

[Murader03]

Got noise with mine installed also. What I noticed on install was that the bushings on one side didn't quite seat like the other side did. The lip on the bushings don't allow them to seat correctly. I haven't had time to take them back out and remove some of the lip. The passanger side is the side I notice as the problem noise area. Will work on this when I get under the car again.....When I get it back with the new engine! :)

[Constable]

I had the noise when I installed the Addco bar, but knew immediately it wasn't supposed to do that. I got back under the car and said "screw it" to the endlink bushings. Instead of leaving them loose enough so the spacer sleeve can be turned by hand, I ran the endlinks down until everyhting felt tight and solid. Used my own judgement. It's been a good 7,000 miles since, and I haven't heard the noise again. No adverse effects. Suspension handles awesome. I was under the car yesterday and everyhting appeared normal.

[MM03]

What he said ^^^^^ .
I had same noise did same repair. :up:

[Fourth Horseman]

Excellent. I'll give that a try tonight when I get home. Thanks for the help, fellas!
:rock:

[Constable]

A more in-depth look at my fix:

Get under the car first and grab the sway bar with your hands. Rock it back & forth and side to side. If you hear a small clunk (it will be faint), then check the bushings that are on either side of the frame.

Feel around each one with your hands to see if there are any gaps. The bushings that came with my bar had a small "lip" on the tapered end. When the two bushings were placed on either side of the frame, their two lips contacted eachother. The thickness of the two lips combined was actually thicker then the frame was. No matter how much I tightened the endlinks, the "clunk" was still there because the tapered seats of the bushings weren't sitting flush with the frame.

I removed the two bushings that sat on the inside of the frame rail. I then did a short amount of work with my table grinder. I ground the lip of of each one. I then replaced the bushings into their rightful spots. Now, when the two bushings are combined, they seat nicely against the frame. I tightened the endlinks down by hand until I could feel that the bushings were tight on the frame.

Take it for a few test drives and see how it works. Make sure to check the whole setup after a few days to make sure that nothing is mangled or loose. I also used a good amount of lithium grease on all of the bushings... but that's up to you.

[Fourth Horseman]

Thanks for the info. I'll try tightening the end links more as you recommended. If that doesn't work I'll look at the bushings themselves and try removing the lip like you did.

I'll let you know how it works out.

[HwyCruiser]

I haven't noticed any noise. But then again, I didn't do the install. I guess my installer knew all the tricks.

- JD

[Dennis Reinhart]

I have been using ADDCO for over five years, I have never got noise, from a sway bar unless the link kits are to loose.

[schuvwj]

Ford service manual says only torque the rear swaybar bolts to 15 ft-lbs.

[Fourth Horseman]

Well, torquing down to spec from the manual is still resulting in noise. I'm going to follow everybody's advice here and crank them down by hand until the spacer tube is tight. I didn't get a chance to do it tonight, but if the weather plays nice tomorrow I'll give it a go.

[Fourth Horseman]

UPDATE: Finally got a chance to get under my car and try tightening down the end links some more. Result? problem solved! Everything is nice and quiet and the rear suspension feels great. Guess I should have known that the torque specs for the stock end links wouldn't be the same for the after-market jobs, but for some reason it just never occurred to me. Thanks for all the help, folks. Mucho appreciated!
:up:

[RF Overlord]

Guess I should have known that the torque specs for the stock end links wouldn't be the same for the after-market jobs, but for some reason it just never occurred to me.

The interesting thing is that the instruction sheet that came with my bushing kit (from ADDCO) said specifically not to tighten down the end links, due to their being made out of collapsed neutronium or something...just until I couldn't turn the spacer tube by hand, but by doing that, they seemed way too loose...

I only have the clunk occasionally, and it's hard to duplicate multiple times in a row...sounds more like something heavy sliding around in the trunk...like a tire iron...I guess I'll just crank the links down some more and see if that fix works for me...so far, you guys are all batting 1.000...

[CRUZTAKER]

Marauderman has provided some interesting information HERE (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9769)