Sway Bar Rattle Over Bumps

13451 Views 20 Replies 10 Participants Last post by brougham, May 6, 2011

NTL1991

Discussion Starter · Apr 5, 2011

I've got a rattle noise coming from the front of my '97 Eldorado. It sounds like it's low near the floor, and in the center of the car. It happens when I'm driving from 10-40MPH over bumps in the road.

I've replaced both upper strut mounts as per TSB 53-33-04B, "Rattle/Loose Lumber Noise when Driving Over Bumps" as well as both sway bar links, as they were shot.

I drove the car with both of the links off when I was waiting for the new links to be delivered, and the noise went away completely. When I installed the new links, the noise came back.

One link (Raybestos "Service Grade" Link) was defective as there was too much play in one of the ball joints. A replacement Raybestos "Professional Grade" link (much thicker, heavier duty, with grease fittings and larger ball joints) was sent as a replacement.

Removing the links determined that the problem is not engine mount related, so the only other thing I can think of is the sway bar bushings... Should I try to replace the other "Service Grade" link with a "Professional Grade" one to be sure it's not just another bad link?

Thanks,
Nick

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ben.gators

· #13 · Apr 7, 2011

Mark C said:
Throw an adjustable cresent wrench on a straight section your bar somewhere near the bushings, tighten it down then pull it off without moving it, and measure it with a ruler, you should be able to tell what size the bar is. My 97 STS with FE3 springs and F45 suspension had a 19mm bar. The bushings are a royal PITA t change because the mounting bolts go thru the bracket from the top, and they are about 2 1/2" long. Unfortunately the distance from the top of the subframe to the floor pan is about 1 1/2". I spent about an hour on each side with an open end wrench turning it about a 1/16th of a turn, flipping the wrench over and doing it again until the bolt hit the floorboards. then I figued out it would be easier to take out the rear subframe to body bolts so I could lower each side of the frame for extra clearance and thenI could use a socket. Came right off then. Make sure you keep the bushings some where warm, or soak them in hot water so they are pliable, because straight out of the box they are very rigid and you can hardly even spread them with a screw driver to get them over the bar.

I'll be doing the ones on my 2000 this weekend, can hardly wait.

Thanks for the tip. And please update us about the way you replace the bushings on 2000 STS too. I guess it shouldn't be very different from 97, is it?

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ben.gators

· #15 · May 6, 2011

Hey guys, for some reason no online part store lists the sway bar bushing for my 99 STS. Where do you guys find the bushings to buy?

I went to Autozone, NAPA, O'reilly, Pepboys, and they did not carry the sway bar bushing for my car. I went to nearby Cadillac Dealership, and they did not too. They said I need to put an special order for a set of bushing!!!!

As fr as I realized, there are two different sway bar sizes for my car. One was 19 mm. The other problem is the sway bar is oval in cross-section. This 19 mm is the horizontal diameter or vertical diameter? The funny part is the dealership could NOT figure out what size is my sway bar based on the given VIN and asked me to measure it myself! That is so ridiculous... However no matter what the size is, they did not have it in stock.

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ben.gators

· #17 · May 6, 2011

So this is Rippy time!

By the way, how did you measure the sway bar? Or Chris could find the size based on VIN?

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ben.gators

· #19 · May 6, 2011

Thanks, I sent Rippy a message

One more question, could you manage to remove the sway bar bracket bolts without lowering the cradle? I think by proper jacking I should have more than enough clearance for removing those long bolts, but asking never hurts...

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