aebarto11

I mentioned in another thread that I had found a replacement bushing for the front stabilizer bar - which I purchased here:



For $14.50 I figured I had nothing to lose. I had been fighting the sway bar "groans" for weeks now since my OEM bushings were shot. I installed the bushings today and documented the task:

The bushings: Moog K201023 (they list several Audi models in their compatibility chart)



New Bushings

Here are my OEM bushings which had separated in two. I had to grind out the remnants stuck in the mount and scrape remnants off the bar itself:




OEM Bushings



Bushing Remnants on Bar



Using a wire wheel to remove remnants in mount.

I cleaned up the mounts and re-painted the bar.











I applied graphite to the inside of the bushings to keep any noises away.



Installation of the bushings & bar:









I test drove the car afterwards and ran it pretty hard. No more noises and the car seems to act normal. I will drop the pan in a couple weeks to see how the bushings are holding up. I will keep everyone posted.

richard-tx

Come back in 30,000 miles.

Tstealth32

Bravo! This is awesome. Do you live in a cold climate? But be a good indication if it works well, but I know with all of our other bushings, it's hard to narrow down one sound. If this does last 30k miles, I'd be more than happy, thats 2.5 years for an easy fix. The control arm bushings will last just as long anyways.

aebarto11

I live in Oklahoma so cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Everything up front is new except the lower arms so it's pretty quiet up there. I'd be ecstatic if they got to 30k miles! I never assumed they'd last like OEM, but for $15 I could change them 20 times before I spent the same money as a new sway bar. Swapping the bushings is only a 30 min job. If they last half that, I'd still be ok - just another excuse to get the tools out and wrench on the car!

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

Very nice work indeed. Congrats
Cheers,
Louis

aTOMic

Good post! I'm waiting for someone to argue that the mount MUST BE BONDED to the bar and then give a clear description why. Seems to negate the rationale for connecting one wheel's geometry to another if the bar isn't free to twist... and yes, I see there is some twist allowed, but still counterintuitive.
I used A6/Passat (pn when I have time) VW/Audi bushings, no lube but no noise yet (~4k miles), they look like they were made for this bar/bracket combo with indentations/debossed areas in the right places... even though they were very tight - almost too big - but my poor choice of KARLYN (crap) control arms negates my experiment. They've already torn. And I installed them very carefully with my brother who races, and who is smarter than most ASE mechanics (he fabs suspension for Alfa/Porsche/VW for racing), have done it before on a car that has 100k on the same control arm setup and it's still 100%.
-Tom

MP4.2+6.0

German center of the universe think aside, I think the reason they did it wasn't technical at all. Line many other things in car builds these days, it's about reducing labor input. Bonded to bar means essentially a buch of robot steps can load the bar, probably w/ U clamps pushed on it, and then machine drive the fasteners.

That notwithstanding, I think D4 went back to std separate part bushings. Sometimes the brilliant manufacturing process engineers later learn their saving a Euro cost them a boatload more in warranty claims and such.

Sort of lost in the discussion FWIW is the opportunity if you do change the bar to get a stiffer OE one. But the real action in that is probably more in the rear.

Sci-fi_Wasabi

thanks aebarto11, very nice pics and write up.
2 questions
1. how do you know/test if these bushings are bad.( I guess you said they were groaning, but I can't seem to narrow down sounds to 1 part)
2. you mentioned each bushing had split into two parts, could they have originally been two parts, or do you actually see an uneven tear

thanks again.

aebarto11

It sometimes tough to narrow down the noises between control arm bushings, ball joints and bearings. It was more of a narrowing down process for me. If you are suspecting that the sway bar bushings are bad - the simplest way to find out is to lubricate the bushings and see if the noise goes away. If no change after - you can more than likely cross of the list. I used a silicone spray lubricant. It worked for the noise, but doesn't last. The separation is part of the deterioration of the bushing - they come new as one and fused to the bar. From looking at the picture above - its pretty evident that mine were shot. When you lubricate the bushings - I would take the bushing mounts off to really get in there with the lubricant. This will also get you a pretty good look at the condition of the bushings. Good luck!

Sci-fi_Wasabi

thanks, I'll loosen the bracket and lube. I suppose if the bracket is able to come off easily from the rest of the bushing, and the bushing separates from the bar, the bonding is broken anyway, and it may be good to replace them.