I have an 87 TDT and recently I changed out the sway bar bushings. About three days later it broke the bracket on the right side at the front. I welded it up and a few days later it breaks again. I welded it again really strong. A week later it breaks again. Anyone know what is wrong? How is it possible? Could the bushings be too tight? I don't think it will go on upside down, the bar I mean. I can't imagine I could have inverted the bar. Any other ideas on this?

Do the bushings allow the bar to rotate?

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www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

did you install the sway bar with the car on the ground, or jacked up on the front? if jacked up, both sides or one side at a time?

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On the ground. I think maybe the bushings are squeezing the bar too tight and not allowing it to rotate?

you are not supposed to install the swaybar while under load. the only suspension-related component i can think of that should be installed under load are strut braces front and rear. i recommend getting new mounts, and installing them while both sides are jacked up equally high.

i've read horror stories of swaybar brackets getting ripped out of the frame, but those were mainly from installing bars too big for the car without the proper brackets.

if you can reinforce the brackets with a piece of square tubing welded to the curve where it goes over the bar, and then to the vertical part of the bracket, that would still help out.

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Its hard for me to imagine tight bushings would break a bracket. I would take a very close look to be sure the bar is not upside down.

In a lifetime of driving I have never broken a sway bar bracket.

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Would it go on upside down?

not only can it be fitted upside down accidentally, but you could of reversed the brackets, too. on the w201, if you want to fit a w124 bar on it, you not only need the w124 brackets, but you need to reverse them. i know it's possible to successfuly install a swaybar with reversed brackets on a 190e, but not sure if it is on the w124. maybe

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i didn't say or imply tight bushings broke a bracket

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I did not remove the brackets from the car but the sway bar may have gotten flipped over some how. How can I tell which way is right?

the 'bump' in the center between the two inner-most bends in the bar, is meant to clear the oil pan. you might not be able to put a w124 swaybar upside down, but to tell if it's on the correct way, put it on the ground and make sure the lowest point in the center of the bar is touching the ground, and not lifted a few inches off it

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Does the car have to be jacked up with wheels hanging or should the car be sitting with the weight on them? I am getting conflicting reports, I always thought the load should be on the wheels but I cou;d be wrong I guess.

OK I removed the bar, it was right side up that is it can only go one way. I installed it again with the car on the ground sitting as normal so I cant imagine what the problem might be. Pretty straight forward. Are the bushings all the same size?

car should be jacked up equally on both sides for sway bar. trust me, people much smarter than me about suspension agree

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nope. bushing sizes depend on the part number of the sway bar. a 500e 27.5mm swaybar isn't going to have the same bushings as a 300e and you can't switch them around. also the two inner bushings are different inside diameter than the outer ones.

why you reinstalled it while on the ground is beyond me. i recommend jacking it up and reinstalling it not under load but it's your car

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