Swaybar bushings

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Nov 9, 2008
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How loose should they be?

Wife's Camry has had a rattle for a few years now, and it's gotten bad enough to annoy me whenever I drive it. Today I pulled the wheel and put a jack under the knuckle; I don't feel any play in the swaybar link (I know that's a common source of noise, but it just doesn't feel loose to me). Poking around I noticed a small gap between the swaybar and the bushing. If I jack up on the sway bar, not a lot of force, I can get 1, maybe 2mm of movement.

Sorry for the junky pic, could not get the light right.

camry_swaybar_bushing.PNG
 
That is a rubber bushing, right? If so, I can't see that causing a rattle. If that was so, some of the old cars I have had should have sounded like they were falling apart, and they did not.
 
Don't think there should be any movement. Disconnect both ends and tie the bar up with bungee cords and go for a ride. See if it's still making noise.
Hmm, I might try that. I should see about busting loose those swaybar links, IIRC they are a bear to remove once they get rusty, I should have removed and installed with anti-seize years ago. Time files.
 
What year Camry? They should be pretty tight. I’ve seen a lot of the new Camry that have the plastic sway bar end links fail but that won’t cause too much of a rattle I don’t think at least not if it’s a metal sound.
 
2011 Camry. The noise is kinda muffled, not a heat shield sort of noise at all. But it does it all the time: like on any minor road imperfection. Which means every 10 feet this time of year.
 
How loose should they be?

Wife's Camry has had a rattle for a few years now, and it's gotten bad enough to annoy me whenever I drive it. Today I pulled the wheel and put a jack under the knuckle; I don't feel any play in the swaybar link (I know that's a common source of noise, but it just doesn't feel loose to me). Poking around I noticed a small gap between the swaybar and the bushing. If I jack up on the sway bar, not a lot of force, I can get 1, maybe 2mm of movement.

Sorry for the junky pic, could not get the light right.

View attachment 45378

No play at all. with the car on ramps so the bar is as close as possible to the normal position, hit the arb with the palm of your hand. If you hear a knock, see where it comes from, but any movement is too much in my experience
 
Replace them! I did REAR sway bar bushings on a co-workers Camry several years ago to correct a knocking sound. Dealer said it needed struts to get rid of the noise.
 
No play at all. with the car on ramps so the bar is as close as possible to the normal position, hit the arb with the palm of your hand. If you hear a knock, see where it comes from, but any movement is too much in my experience
Don't have ramps so I stacked a couple of 2x's and got up high enough so I could get under it. Both sides have a good amount of movement; I could see how these would "clunk". Not sure about rattle but it looks like they might be easy enough to replace. I *think* have taps so as to chase out the nuts (I hope they're captive) and maybe this is a quick & easy fix.
 
What would be a good bushing to buy? Moog? I'm guessing that, once I get it replaced the first time, any subsequent replacement should be easier (anti-seize will be used!). It's a daily driver and apt to get 25k/year, unless if another pandemic hits.

camry_bushing.PNG
 
Finally back to this, went to order and realized: Moog doesn't make a bushing for base model. Oops.

Oh well. I looked and it's not that much more to get OEM parts.
 
I've always put ceramic grease between bushing and bar. The bar often has some wear aswell, I did it mostly to avoid squeals in humid weather and secondly to not have to do it again.

Didn't get complaints about squeaks and never had to do the bushes again on the same car.

Also, we had the grease and it wasn't much good for anything else either...
 
Just get OEM bushings. Usually the same price a the dealer. There can be minute differences in aftermarket. The extra $5 is worth it.
 
Replace them! I did REAR sway bar bushings on a co-workers Camry several years ago to correct a knocking sound. Dealer said it needed struts to get rid of the noise.
Same on my sons’ car, but I did struts all around anyway because it floated like a boat.....198k miles on original struts will do that I guess.
 
Are you referring to the dull, dried-out rubber type noise that happens over road dips?
 
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