Front Sway Bar Bushings

[bnaatds]

Has anyone replaced these? My sway bar measures 23/24mm diameter in my 1990 Reatta. All of the parts houses show 19, 21, 28, 31 options none of which are close. What's up with that? I took off one of the old bushings and it looks like a 23/24mm ID as well. I'm confused! Why can't I find the right ones?

[dship]

The 86-93 Buick E Parts and Illustration Catalog lists 21mm sway bar bushings for the 90 and 91 Reatta.  I had them recently replaced by my mechanic while replacing whole car suspension.  I believe RockAuto has them.

[bnaatds]

I ordered that one (21mm). It's on the right in the picture below. The stock one is on the left. It's most definitely 23mm. This car is so frustrating! No listing for 23mm and you can't put a generic one in with that crazy offset bracket.

[padgett]

Clamp and drill out a 21 ?

[Ronnie]

Why not just clamp the 21mm bushing on and use it? It's split on one side and should go over the bar about as easily as a 23mm would. The rubber should compress the 0.079" difference in diameter. The bar only rotates a few degrees at full suspension travel. A dab of grease inside the bushing and you would never know the difference - or am I missing something that is different on a '90 vs my '88?

 

Trying to machine or drill the ID of a soft rubber bushing would be very imprecise even in a machine shop.

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, bnaatds said:

you can't put a generic one in with that crazy offset bracket.

I went back and read the thread closer. Maybe what I said won't work on a '90.

[2seater]

I remember a similar problem on my '90 a couple of decades ago. I got the wrong size bushings initially and contacted the dealership I bought them from and they sent another set but even they were tough to install, so the size may not have been correct either. At the time we were buying parts from a guy named Dallas Slabaugh at a dealership (Van de Veere??) in Ohio, but I don't remember much more about it, unfortunately. I do remember they were color coded, I think one was orange and the closer one was blue. Not very scientific. I do know that looking at the antiroll bar on the '89's, they look much thicker.

I found I saved one original bushing which is just under 1" diameter, so 23-24mm sounds about right, the only number on it is AHA with a 12 below. I also have one of the new incorrect bushings, much smaller. It has a list of three part numbers on it, 3545376-Blue, xx78-White, and xx80-Orange. There is a paint smear on it but the color and dirt has faded that to beige. The id of the new (incorrect) bushing is ~5/8" or ~16mm?? Using that first part number in a search comes up as a Cadillac part, so maybe it will help in the search?

[bnaatds]

Thanks everyone for the ideas and help. I tried to just install the 21mm but it distorts very badly opening it up on that 23mm bar. I tried 3 or 4 different bushings from other cars that were 23mm but I could not find one that had a usable shape that fit the bracket. I also tried to cut one from a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox that was a 24mm and close to the same shape but it also did not fit in the bracket well. I finally took a set of the 21mm bushings (AC Delco 45G1455), put them in the freezer overnight and then drilled them out with a 29/32" drill... PERFECT! It works great and the drill actually worked better than I expected. It's not perfect but it clamped down nice and snug. The sway bar doesn't move up/down or forward/backward but it rotates nice and smooth with silicone grease applied to the interior of the bushing.