How to Install a Sway Bar Link

The sway bar on your vehicle is designed to connect the driver's side suspension to the passenger side, so that when you turn a corner, the vehicle won't lean heavily from side to side. The sway bar is connected to the lower control arms via the sway bar links, and if the bushings in the links start to wear out, your vehicle will start to sway more in the corners. Replacing the links is pretty simple to do and can be done with just a few tools and some time.

Things You'll Need

• Jack
• Jack stands
• 3/8-inch ratchet and socket
• Open-end wrench set
• Replacement sway bar link

Instructions

1. Lift up the front of the vehicle using the jack and secure it on jack stands. Make sure the vehicle is completely secure on the jack stands before you crawl underneath it.

2. Locate the sway bar links. These are straight bolts with bushings that secure the sway bar to the lower control arm. Unbolt the end link by placing an open-end wrench on the top nut on the link and using a 3/8-inch ratchet and socket on the bottom of the bolt. Then pull the bolt out through the bottom of the lower control arm and pull out the bushings with your hands.

3. Note how the replacement link is assembled. Each link is preassembled with the bushings in the correct order, so make sure you know which way everything goes. Each bushing has a flat section designed to hold a washer and then it arcs in towards the hole in the middle---that's designed to go onto the sway bar and lower control arm.

4. Unbolt the replacement link using the open-end wrench set and 3/8-inch ratchet and socket, but keep the lower washer and bushing on the bolt. Slide the bolt up through the lower control arm, but only so that 2 inches of the bolt shows. Slide the next bushing onto the end of the bolt, then the washer, then the long spacer. Slide the bolt up higher, then add the washer and another bushing. Then push the bolt in all the way, add the last bushing, then washer and secure the nut on the top with your hands. Do not tighten down with tools yet.

5. Repeat this process on the other side of the vehicle. Then lower it off of the stands using the jack. With the weight of the vehicle on the ground, tighten the sway bar end links on both sides using the 3/8-inch ratchet and socket and open-end wrench set. This top nut is a locking nut, so as long as the bushings are tight but not compressed to the point that they're bulging out, it will work correctly.