Last week I received my new Z06 swaybars from Fred Beans. This weekend I decided to put them on the car. I used the instructions from ls1howto.com. I drove the car up on Rhino ramps to do the install (car not suspended).

After installation, I took the car for a test drive. During a test drive everything seemed to be ok, but later in the day I started hearing a lot of clanking and rubbing.

After installing the new front sway bar, I noticed that there is verry little room between the sway bar and the suspension arm. The pictures below are of the stock setup where there is about an inch gap. The stock swaybars had some scratches where the bar comes close to the suspension. With the Z06 swaybars (sorry no pictures), which are significantly thicker, the clearance is very small (~1mm).

Is this the probable cause of the clanking? Is this the car, the bar, or my stupidity? The installation is fairly straight forward so I don't know where I could have gone wrong. Out of frustration yesterday I put the stock front swaybar back on and now there are no problems. All advice appreciated. I will try again next weekend.

Passenger side front suspension


Drivers side front suspension:

 

I did mine with no clanking.

One thing is to make sure they are in the correct way. I guess people put them in backwards. Another point is to make sure they are at the right torque. Many people have noticed a clanking noise with either a far left or far right turn and the solution was the sways bars were not tight enough.

Still others had to use grease.

 

I'm confused too
I just went out and looked at mine and without jacking it up....it looks like yours
Everything good and tight? Your bolts that hold the bushing brackets didn't come loose did they?

 

I torqued everything to spec (maybe the endlinks need more than spec?!). The pictures are of the stock setup. I took those for reference before I started. Maybe the end links came loose or something after some "spirited" test drive time.

When I went to take the Z06 swaybar off, everything seemed tight.

 

I have the Z06 bars on my car and have had zero problems. I know this doesn't help you out at all but maybe you should have a look at the new bars and see if they have been bent in any way. Keep us posted. And good luck I hope someone here has a fix for you.

 

I just installed pol

 

I just installed Poly U bushings and used the special lube that came with it. I also bought a 6 oz container of Poly U lube from a shhhhhh,, Mustang specialty shop.

performanceunlimited.com

There is a specific lube for the bushings. I had a groaning sound without the lube. Examination of the sway bar when I put the lube on showed heavy wear on the paint on the bar. With the lube the noise is gone.

99 Nassau Blue

 

I ordered from FB (haven't received 'em yet).

I thought I had the correct part numbers for the rear bushings (10431951) but was told that number has been superceeded by (10333410). Seems odd to me the newer number would be a lower value (ie. '103...' vs. '104...).

..rickko..

 

I put Z06 bars on my '04 CE, and because I hadn't torqued them tight enough (at the end links) they "popped" (just a sounds - nothing else) every time the car rolled. I got back under it and tightened the endlink connections and everything is fine. P.S. mine came from Fitchner.

 

Mine had the same clunking noise until I went back and tighten the heck out of the endlinks. It doesn't make that noise any more but now it sqeaks. I had used silicone lubricant and probably not the right type to use. I will try lithium white to see if that will stop the squeaks.

 

I used litium white and that seemed to help though I used it at the beginning so I am not sure if there was any noise....

 

Verrrry interesting, did the sway bars and Z06 shocks last week. I too, have a clunk in the front on initial "take-off". Thought maybe the top mount of front shocks was too loose, have 4 threads showing on the stud. Now I'll check the links also. Had 18 inches of snow this weekend, now rain all the rest of this week. I.ll inspect it probably next week.

Oh,by the way, one hell of an improvement over FE1.

Question... since all you can get is a box wrench on the front shock top mount, how tight should it be. I was reluctant just to crank the nut down.

 

....guys, I hear ya...... I have had my Z06 sways on and off a few times in the past months. First, let me say the difference is night and day as far as ride in concerned. But, the creaking noise problem always seems to come back......
I started out with powdercoated bars and silicone grease......
Then I re-greased them with lythium white grease......after a few days same noise.....Checked end links but they were fine, as tight as they can get....
Next, a forum member Bill C. mentioned my problem might be with the powdercoated bars. They are thicker after the process and might be causing a binding noise....So off came the bars and I removed and sanded smooth everything that comes in contact with the rubber bushings. I also bought some new bushings because the woven material inside the old one's were frayed......
I re-installed the bars and new bushings using white lythium grease and double checked all the torques. It was great for a couple of weeks but the noise is comming back......
My next try might be poly bushings but, I have heard they have the same problems......
Could it be something as simple as the wrong part number?....I got everything in a kit, I read there is a superceeded part number for the bushings. I never expected this much trouble from such a simple mod. My old bars are hanging in the garage and my wife says just to put the old ones back on and be done with it. But, I can't.........I have driven with the Z06 sways and I can't go back.......
If I go poly, I'll post my results...I'm not givin in..........

 

Damm this is my next mod ,now im not sure dont want a hassle

 

I installed the Z06 swaybars from Fred Beans on my 2004 CE Coupe, and had no problems. I'd bet the endlinks need torqued a little tighter.
I used Amsoil synthetic lithium grease to lubricate the bushing and have not had any squeeks yet.

 

My Z06 front bar and bushings are setting here beside me and I sure didn't like what I've been reading, guess I'll go see if there is some place on line sells Amsoil synthetic lithium grease.

 

I believe there are many people, including myself, that don't have any problems with the sway bars. I am not sure why some people have problems, but I would say it is not the majority.

 

humm.... be careful what grease you use. i've always used a bit of silicone grease on rubber suspension bushings (it won't soften/break down the rubber like the chassis greases )..... and have never had any issues with bar/bushing noise.

 

I put on the Z06 sway bars front and rear last summer/fall and didn't grease anything. Haven't had any problems so far. It's one mod you have to do!
jeff

 

Here's a picture of two products I have. The one on the right, is silicon dielectric grease. I have seen it in swaybar how-to's that it is a preferred lubricant. I have seen others say it didn't do a good job, and when the bushings were removed to regrease them, the di-electric grease was in a nearly liquid form.
Others swear by lithium grease. I looked all over for a lithium grease that was a non-petroleum based product. Many have said not to lubricate the bushings with a petroleum based grease as it will break down the rubber.
So, the Amsoil, fully synthetic lithium grease seemed to be ok. It's label does not list petroleum distillates as an ingredient. So I used it to lubricate my Z06 sway bar bushings, and it seems fine...no squeaks so far. I imagine that there are many similar products out there, and most will work just fine.

Always fun to get other opinions...