Front Torsion Bar Check-up

[barrie]

I noticed today that the outside rubber mounts on my front torsion bar are really not very snug. The MB service manual provides no indication of tolerances on this, but I assume that new rubber mounts would be tight. Also, I never really understood the affect that 'play' in the torsion bar has on front-end handling. Can someone educate me on this?

My tendency is to replace all four mounts due to age alone, but I'm wondering whether to also replace the center brackets... (or am I just wasting money?) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

And finally, will I need to do a realignment after replacing the mounts?

Thanks to all,
Barrie
86 300E

[mbdoc]

New bushings should take the play from the bar. New (steel) mounts aren't needed. Anti-sway bay has no effect on alignment.