Finding Ford Festiva Sway-Bar-to-frame Bushings

[mintFestiva]

Hi everyone,

Another repair project has come up and I can't seem to find the necessary parts!

About a month ago, I took my festiva in to get the front tires balanced and I asked the mechanic to do a quick inspection of the front end.
He pointed out that the front sway-bar bushings should probably be replaced in the near future because of excessive play up there.

As usual, I take out my repair manual to determine how to do it and it doesn't seem to difficult provided I don't break any bolts

However, I went to look for the bushings and while everyone sells the sway-bar-to-control-arm bushings. I cannot find the sway-bar-to-frame bushings. I have checked every auto store in town(O'Reilly, Advance Auto, Autozone, Carquest) and no one sells them. JCWhitney seemed to have the whole thing, but when I ordered the parts from them, I came to find out that their pictures were wrong.
The only manufacturer that seems to sell any sway-bar-bushings for a festiva is MOOG, but they only have the sway-bar-to-control-arm bushings.

Just wondering.....does anyone know of a place to get the sway-bar-to-frame bushings?

[hotfordcat]

I have the same problem....good luck!!

[Christ]

Measure your sway bar, then go to McParts and look for a set of Energy Suspension bushings.

If you can't find them that way, grab an Aspire swaybar at the junkyard. I know Energy has bushings that fit those, because they were on my other car.

[Bert]

I would think you could craft a set of bushings from 1 inch ID (inside diameter) radiator or heater hose. Aspire sway bars are 1 1/16 dia whereas Festys are 7/8. The originals are merely split tube rubber and I don't see why you couldn't 'fake' new ones out of something that is made of rubber, or even plastic. Speaking of which maybe you want to check around for PVC or ABS that is 1 inch inside. Wrap the whole business in hockey or electrical tape before reassembly so as to ensure a snug fit. You can always drive pins or come up with some other scheme at the ends if you think they'll work loose over time.
And...Good luck! My Festy/Aspire swap last year yielded lousy bushings from the Aspire so I used the Festy rubbers. They weren't quite as long and were designed to fit over a 7/8 bar instead of a 1+" but a year later I still have no complaints.

[Safety Guy]

Just be careful with Energy Suspension bushings due to fit. IIRC you need to fit these harder bushings to the sway bar brackets or else the bar slips and affects your front end alignment somehow. Hopefully someone who knows for sure posts here to explain it.

Karl

[getnpsi]

Anything touching the control arm that moves will make the control arm feel like it is moving. This also can wear out components attach to said control arm quicker. If there is enough play you will feel like you were going to crash the car simply changing lanes over the reflector bumps in the road. B very careful on your ingenuity approach on the front end. Cutting corners can very well leave you with the car that you are not confident taking corners in.

[william]

this might help http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3000

[Christ]

The front bushings are rounded squares, bud. You can FILL the original bushings by using cut radiator hose, but it's a temporary fix, and is not the way to repair a vehicle, by any means. Saving a buck doesn't have to endanger your life or safety.

The new bushings from ES are only $20. If you can't spare that, you should consider other means of transportation.

When you buy ES bushings, you have to make sure they fit both the sway bar and the retainer. ALWAYS size them to the bar, then get/make retainers that fit them. The retainers aren't hard to make, but it's also very easy to find them in junkyards. When you install the bushings, drill a hole in the retainer and insert a grease zerk through the bushing. Every once in awhile, pump a little grease into the zerk (when you do maintenance) and it'll keep the flexing of the bar from wearing the bushing into an egg shape. White grease is fine, but I think you're not supposed to use petro-grease on them.

Fortunately, there are a set of ES bushings that fit stock retainers and Aspire front bar.

[mintFestiva]

Problem Solved

Hi Everyone,
thanks for the input. I finally got it done a couple weekends ago. Yes, Energy Suspension has bushings that fit a stock Ford Festiva Swaybar. I measured the swaybar with some calipers and it came to about 0.864 inches or 21.9456mm. When ordering, remember to measure the distance between the mounting bolts as Energy sells two different sizes. I ordered 22mm greasable bushings through Autozone and put them on. I also replaced the Swaybar-to-control arm bushings with stock ones from MOOG.

Here is a pic of the finished job (I took the opportunity to paint my swaybar too):



Howevever, the new swaybar bushings are flat on the top while the stock ones have a curve. See picture below:


Car drives just fine at 60mph on the highway even on bumpy curves and I don't believe the bar has any upward pull on it anyway so this mismatch doesn't seem to be an issue.

Overall, the whole job went very seemlessly. No Bolts Sheared off and provided you have the parts you need and have applied some penetrating oil, I could see this being finished in an afternoon.

[fastivaca]

The problem with this setup is that the brackets have slotted holes which allow forward and backward movement. The sway bar locates the lower control arms which in turn affects front end geometry. Under hard braking its possible for the sway bar to be forced towards the rear of the car which would push the LCAs in the same direction.

Check out the link a few posts up for a solution.

Ian

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