Was replacing the front sway bar links yesterday, as they were rather noisy. Took the front bar off the car, pulled the old links off, pushed the new ones on, easy-peasy. Go to bolt the bar back onto the car, and one of the little mount bolts snaps off as I'm tightening it. It broke flush with the body. So now the front sway bar is being held to the body with only 3 bolts instead of 4.

Took it for a drive, the knocking noises indicative of worn links is gone, nice and smooth sounding over small bumps. Took some faster turns and didn't hear any noises there either, so I think it's secure enough.

What would you do? Remove the sway bar again and try to drill out the broken bolt? Or just drive it? I'm leaning towards the latter.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

It has 4 bolts for a reason, if 3 would suffice then they'd have used 3.

Yeah, I would second POD's sentiments and recommend you do what needs to be done to get the stub out and replace it. Those bolts are pretty beefy...how much torque were you putting on it to break it clean off?

You can probably get it out with an "easy out" and replace it without having to disassemble it again.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Lupin,

Those bolts were designed to work as a team. With one missing, the way they're arranged puts more than twice the load on the remaining bolt. I'm sure it's flexing every time you take a corner and after a while, you'll end of with two snapped bolts instead of just one.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Actually, I thought just the opposite - they looked rather wimpy to me; they're not big bolts, I think they're M8 size. I wasn't using a cheater bar or anything to tighten them. I did use the impact to remove them, maybe that weakened it?

Next weekend I'll put it up on the ramps and see if I can extract the broken bolt.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

I'll admit it has been about 2 years since I touched mine so you're probably right. Did you do the bushings too or just the end links? I did my bushings because they were creaking and had shrunk.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

I think what he broke was one of the 4 bolts attaching the bushing bracket, not the single bolt attaching the sway bar link.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Just the end links. No noise from the bushings and didn't notice any cracks, so left them alone.

Correct. The single bolt for the end link is very beefy indeed, it'd be a real challenge to break that one!

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

Yep....I snapped my torx bit trying to get that one loose.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

If you do have to remove the sway bar to get he broken bolt out, I'd sure consider replacing the bushings too if they are original. At this age, they probably don't have much life left.

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Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

If you do I, mine came with new and improved bolts. I messed up one of those replacing mine also.

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raMBow

1999 E300DT Obsydian Black Metallic, Heated Full Leather Parchment options, E2, K2, 136,000+, best 36.5 mpg - GP's 12-04 & 11-12 Zero Stuck
2010 Honda Odyssey - The BrideMobile - best 26.5
(2) 2005 Honday Accord- (1 -Corporate 1 - Personal) - 110,000 4-cyl 30mpg
2000 VW Golf GLS TDI, Upsolute Chip (sold to Brother, now 300+k on it) 48.5 mpg like clock work
1987 Honda CRX HF - Sold 87,000 always over 50 mpg Max 67 mpg