Suspension Upgrades - Bushings

[Finnie3d]

2011-03-30_07-30-32_930.jpg2011-04-11_19-37-33_389.jpg

It's been a couple of weeks now since I got my sway bar bushings installed. Energy Suspension Red. Had to use 45* grease nipples to clear strut rods, and had to grind the bracket wing edges down a bit to fit, but they make a noticeable difference in how neutral Max is through turns.

Shout out to Kestner's Auto Repair on Broad River in Columbia. They did the installation (funny story) and engineered the mods needed to install the parts. Most importantly they did the job quickly and for a great price.

I ordered the other bushings (Lower Control Arm, Leaf Spring, Strut Rod, Body Mount and Tie Rod End Boots), shocks, springs and blocks and hope to have it all installed within the next couple of weeks.

[l.k.]

sweet man...i bet it does make a difference. Im a big fan of energy...

keep us posted on whats next...

[foolonthehill]

Who's stuff are you using? Where are you getting it?
I'm getting an ADDCO sway bar for mine as soon as its back from the chassis shop, and plan on all new bushings everywhere.

[pennyman1]

Be careful about the Addco bar - I bought one for my 1980 years ago and it was so big it interfered with the turning radius by the wheels rubbing on it before you get to the stops. Mine was 1 1/4" solid bar - wish it would work. That clearance problem was with wheels with a neutral offset - 3 1/2" back space. Hope they changed it since then.

[4doorciv]

Thank you for this post. You got a part number for this? I will order one hopefully the end of the month.

[foolonthehill]

part number for which parts?

[LethalEthan]

I have an addco rear sway bar on my toyota and I love it. Fit's great and came with poly bushings for everything. They are a bit noisy though

[DroppedMitsu]

Energy makes a few bushings for our trucks. Go on their site: energysuspension.com and you can see what they have for our trucks.

[4doorciv]

Energy makes a few bushings for our trucks. Go on their site: energysuspension.com and you can see what they have for our trucks.

Thanks. Will do.

[Cobra]

I just installed the Energy Suspension Bushings as well. Have been worried about the sway bar link bolt that sticks down too far. It looks exactly like your picture. Any knowledge on this being correct?

[Merrill]

I just installed the Energy Suspension Bushings as well. Have been worried about the sway bar link bolt that sticks down too far. It looks exactly like your picture. Any knowledge on this being correct?

Cut it or flip it over.

[Fordubishi]

Mine were pointed down and would rub on the inside of the rims while turning so I just flipped them the other way now the thread points up and the bolt head is flush with the lower control arm mount.

[Lon Moer]

I did all the front and rear bushings from Energy Suspensions in red.

this shows where to trim the bushing bracket (I used bolt cutters, then smoothed the edges with a wire wheel)


And I did the lower control arm bushings without removing the arms


they needed to be done

[bobbyk]

That's what mine looked like when I pulled them out. I did strut rod bushings also.

[irving3d]

So did you have to grind down the energy control arm bushings at all? I bought a cheap set of bushings from ebay but they seem to be too long? My control arm wont fit in the socket anymore because they stick out so far . i was thinking about buying Energy if i cant make these work out.

[pennyman1]

no mods needed on the energy suspension bushings - the rubber ones you got could be trimmed or sanded down, but you will be replacing them in 5-10K miles. Just get the urethane bushings - 24+ years in Geronimo and counting...

[Sscorpion]

Hey guys! so i am replacing all of the bushing with energy suspension red and i am having a hard time trying to figure out which size of the sway bar links is the correct one off of www.energysuspension.com . Can i get someone who has done this already to let me know which is the best fit for my truck( 88 dodge ram 50 2wd ). thanks in advance

[Sscorpion]

Ok so here is the lowdown on part number for energy suspension from there tech support for our trucks. ENJOY!!!!

1ea. 5.5101rx- SWAY BAR W/ END LINK SET(RED) - You will need to modify the sway bars brackets as pictured above and cut the round tube on the end links about a 1/4" to make up the difference for the extra lip on the bushings over the stock oem bushings.

2PK. 9.13101R- TIE ROD END DUST COVERS(RED)- NO MODIFICATION

1EA. 5.7102RX- STRUT ROD BUSHING SET(RED)- NO MODIFICATION

1EA. 5.3102RX- CONTROL ARM BUSHING SET(RED)- NO MODIFICATION

1EA. 5.2103RX- REAR LEAFSPRING BUSHING SET(RED)- NO MODOFICATION

IMAG0168.jpg AND IMAG0169.jpg

THis is what mine looks like after i did it this weekend!

[85d50austin]

How exactly did you remove LCA bushings without taking spring off? I'm planning on replacing mine this weekend and wanted kinda of a step by step.
I can see in the pic that you put a jack stand under the arm but did you have to disconnect anything else first? I can't tell if you removed lower ball joint? Any help will be appreciated as I already have the bushings and want to install without gambling with the spring compressor

[Lon Moer]

I did mine with the spring compressor, you can see the compressed spring in the pictures.

And I didn't do any modification to the sway bar end links, everything fit together fine.