Guest Jstbcausd Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 So yesterday I heard a funny clunk from the front of my 2000 regal, and found out today it was a broken sway bar. The mechanic I went to said it was ok to keep driving the car and he recommended to be careful on turns and that replacing it would be very expensive. So my questions are is it ok to drive the car? And is it that tough to replace it? He said you had to drop the subframe, is this true as well? And would it be bad to get one out of a junkyard, that obviously wasn't in bad shape? Thanks for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brh Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 A broken sway bar?? Wow. The bushings go thats normal, I've busted the mounts in a Blazer but never heard of the bar busting. Anyway, its okay to drive, but any turning or quick moves with the steering wheel are bad. By turning I mean on ramps going about 30-40 mph. Ya just need to be careful of the car under or over steering while moving. Don't do this for a long time, it will beat up your tires (months). Not familiar with the 2000, but a bone yard sway bar with new bushings and mounts should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 I have one that looks like new that you can have if you pay the shipping.I owned a '99 Regal and discovered that Impala police sway bars fit, so my original (GS) was place in the back corner of the workshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jstbcausd Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Mr. Eaton,Thank you for the offer, I live in Ontario, ny, any idea how much the shipping would be? Also when you swapped yours did you in fact have to drop the subframe? Thank you again for any further information you can share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 If the swaybar failure was corrosion related I'd recommend taking a hard look at the rest of the undercarriage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 The sub-frame (engine cradle) did not need to be lowered or otherwise touched.I will not have a chance to weigh it until Sunday......... I don't see any reason to package it.... how could you hurt one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jstbcausd Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Thanks again, it puts my mind at ease to hear you don't need to lower the subframe. As for it breaking I managed to somehow have the front spring on that side break and begin to separate at the bearing plate mount, and the mechanic I went to said that if could have caused the rod to bend and crack from age especially since it is hollow, which kind of surprised me, but hey it did last 11 years as he said there was no doubt in his mind it is the original piece. Damn GM, how can you expect to win people over when your product only lasts 11 years,lol. Thank you again for your advice gentlemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 The breaking spring is a curiousity issue to me. Hollow sway bars have been at GM for quite some time. Lighter and with (allegedly) greater ability to tune the bar's resistance better than could be done with a solid bar, they claimed at the time. Still, they seem to have held up well. Solid and hollow bars go in the same place, too.When the spring broke, the bumper on the strut should have caught it, just as it would if that side of the suspension "bottomed out" in a bump, so unless the bumper (urethane) broke, the strut would not have compressed any more than normal, which should not have really affected the sway bar's travel.As mentioned, it's somewhat common to have sway bar mounting bushings (to the subframe) get dried-out with age and make noise. GM had some tech bulletins for the noise issue and probably some upgraded bushings.Bad thing about shipping that bar is that with its length, it could well be classified as "oversize". Once the dimensions are known, then you can go into the UPS website and dummy-up a shipping document to see what the "consumer" shipping charges might be.While you're replacing the sway bar, you might also consider upgrading/replacing the end-link bushings with some Moog (or similar) urethane bushings. I've seen similar things at O'Reillys auto parts down here (same as Hi-Lo in other parts of the country). You can go into the Moog website and probably find them online at RockAuto Auto Parts, too.Enjoy!NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Attached is a photo of the sway bar. The part number is 10284146 and GMpartsdirect sells it for $106.20 plus shipping.The bar weighs between 8 and 9 pounds, it is 46 inches between the mounting holes and roughly 8 inches from the hole centerline to the middle of the bar. It must be tubular because it would weigh much more if solid.There are some on Ebay, just enter the part number. 12498643 is the heavy duty bar (police car) and I paid $52.49 in 2003.You may want to replace the bushing, but I do not have a part number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wildcat465 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 The factory sway bars are hollow which is awesome for low weight. Not so good for cars driven in salty climates. Dorman makes a solid bar complete with all hardware including links. Part # 927-100 I think, about $100 or so.Not trying to step on your toes Barney, but you don't know what rust does to suspension pieces up here. I sell one or two of these a week. Pretty common problem for GM's up here where we salt the roads for 6 months. Good thing it fits a lot of different GM's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Paul...... I understand the north, I was born in Indiana and lived there 26 years.Started heading south, first stop St. Louis, then Lexington KY and then Austin TX.I remember rust but try very hard to forget it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brh Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Getting back to the install of new bushings, I'll pass a pearl of wisdom on that I heard from a mechanic. First off he highly recommends Moog, secondly, the bushings do not get compressed the way we use to way back when. Check the install instructions to make sure of this, I know I would have squished the new ones if I hadn't been told about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I think salt is only part of the problem of the hollow sway bars breaking. The other part of the equation is the poor roads. Driving with all of the pot holes and flexing the sway bar all of the time takes its toll. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 There has been no response to me on wanting/needing the front sway bar I have.Did the problem go away or did you find one closer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 The factory sway bars are hollow which is awesome for low weight. Not so good for cars driven in salty climates. Dorman makes a solid bar complete with all hardware including links. Part # 927-100 I think, about $100 or so.Not trying to step on your toes Barney, but you don't know what rust does to suspension pieces up here. I sell one or two of these a week. Pretty common problem for GM's up here where we salt the roads for 6 months. Good thing it fits a lot of different GM's.Wow Paul. I was going to step in and say NO WAY the sway bar broke and recommend that the original poster get his part back to confirm the repair. I was skeptical. I was an ASE Master Tech for 7 + years and replaced a LOT of sway bar links as those are the wear items but NEVER thought an actual sway bar would "snap" "crack" or otherwise break. I thought this guy was being scammed for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jstbcausd Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Mr. Eaton, sorry I haven't responded, I picked up another job and haven't had much free time for the internet. But yes if you are still willing I could still use the sway bar. I haven't had the chance to look into how much shipping would be but will do so tonight, unless you by chance had that information. If not I did see where you had put the dimensions of the bar but I did not notice a weight or your zip code it'd be coming from. Thank you again for your assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wildcat465 Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Wow Paul. I was going to step in and say NO WAY the sway bar broke and recommend that the original poster get his part back to confirm the repair. I was skeptical. I was an ASE Master Tech for 7 + years and replaced a LOT of sway bar links as those are the wear items but NEVER thought an actual sway bar would "snap" "crack" or otherwise break. I thought this guy was being scammed for sure.I'll help you out Bryan. I was a ASE master tech for 20+ years and sell parts to commercial customers now. The factory sway bars on 1997-2010 GM vehicles such as Regal, Century, Impala, Grand Prix, Intrigue, Venture, Montana, and some others all use the same HOLLOW sway bar from the factory. In heavy salt usage, and rough pavement (thanks Larry) areas, these will inevitably break off near the end where they flatten out for the link holes. Dorman sells a kit with a new SOLID bar, bushings and links, available in almost every parts store. I sell 2-3 a week to my customers.Not a scam.Google it, you will find many forum threads about this problem, hence, the Dorman kits existence.BTW, I have seen solid bars break as well, it can happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 No Paul I believe you, I just never had it happen in my 7 + years. I worked on Mazda, Subaru and Porsche. However, our shop was a Pontiac shop and never heard those guys talking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 The weight is 8-9 pounds (stepping on and off the scales with and without the sway bar is a accurate as I can get) zip code is 78628 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 When GM went to the hollow bars, they claimed they allowed for better stiffness "tunability" of roll stiffness, plus being lighter in weight. I also suspect it had something to do with lower parts costs, too--be that as it may. On some vehicle platforms, the base suspension would use hollow bars and the upgrade suspension would use the solid bars. Never saw that many failures in our shop so I suspect they had decent longevity.I concur, if Dorman's got a replacement part package, there's enough volume there to support that situation.Enjoy!NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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