Entovetter

Hi All...

I'm about to start a project refurbishing the sway bar system on my '98 with Z51, and I need some informed advice. I'm replacing the plastic end links with aluminum ones, and replacing the stock rubber bushings with polyurethane bushings. The car is for street use only.

First, bushing size. In '98 the Z51 bars were 25.4mm front and 21.7mm rear. The closest size poly bushings I can find are 26mm and 22mm, respectively. Are these the correct sizes to use for replacements?

Second, condition of the sway bars as they pass thru the bushings (see pics). At the contact points they are rusty, so what all should I do to prep them before I put everything back together? Should I sand off the rust and paint the entire area before reassembly? Or should I leave the contact areas simply cleaned, lubed, unpainted metal?

Any informed guidance will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

NukeC5

I would sand it and paint it. I suspect you are on too much of a budget to do a new bar kit? If you leave it un-covered metal, you run the high likelihood of rusting again.

Those sizes of bushings should be correct. They will still fit snug around the bar when tightened down, yet allow for side to side movement when needed. Hence why you put the grease in them that they come with.

leadfoot4

I would recommend a good, hard look at the condition of the bars, where they are contained by the bushings. I recall a couple of discussions here, over the years, where the bars had rusted through and broken, at those points.

jornahow

Why not stick with stock rubber bushings? The poly bushings can get noisy; they need lubrication and they wear faster. If you are not hung up on keeping it stock why not upgrade to new bars? I put C5 Z06 bars and new rubber bushings on my base 02. Along with C6 Z06 shocks I'm very happy with the improvement. Others may recommend that you consider C6 bars; they are less expensive than the C5 Z06 bars, but I chose to stick to my generation for the bars.

RonSSNova

The sway bars are hollow and will break. My rear one was busted, fell clean apart. If they are pitted at all, and those look like they are, replace them. Would you want one or the other to break in the middle of a corner?

If you look in this photo, you can see the busted bar.





I went extra **** and made grease fittings for my new poly bushings.....as long as I was rebuilding the suspension.



Just do the setup from the Z51 C6, comes with the correct rubber or poly bushings.

Contact GM Parts Direct (Gene Cully) or Parts Taxi. Both are vendors on this site.

It is a nice upgrade.

Ron

bighank

I did something similar replacing the stock ones with Z51 or Z06 bars. Used the rubber bushings and applied several layers of regular teflon tape in the area which will be under the bushings. No squeaks and its been about 2 years. I also replaced the plastic end links with the metal ones.

Entovetter

I appreciate the responses. Pretty sure I'll go with new bars, for peace of mind. This forum is the greatest!

bumble-z

Listen to what RonSSNova, said in this regards.
Take those sways off & go with sways that is new/newer & not rusty.

Entovetter

Just ordered the C6 Z51 bars from Gene Culley. The pics of the broken sways were a real eye-opener, and convinced me. Thanks for your comments.

leadfoot4

RonSSNova

Hey, you are most welcome!
I'm happy to share the stuff I learned while working on mine this last year.

Ron