My car was making annoying "chunking" sounds on bumps and right turns and I thought the wheel was loose or something. Jacked the car up and the bolts were tight and all and then I looked around and saw that the bottom bushings attaching the sway bar were broken/dry-rotted off.

Obviously they need replacing, but will the lack of bushings cause a vibrations? I'm talking the whole car at around +/- 80mph? Or would it strictly be from out of balance tires?

Thanks.

 

I believe you're talking about the endlinks and not the swaybar bushings; correct me if I'm wrong. I honestly can't see them causing much of a vibration if they were broken. They will cause some pretty bad body roll though.

The vibration could be from your wheels, but I would think it's more likely your driveshaft if you don't have an aluminum one. Think about getting it replaced. An aluminum driveshaft from any third or fourth-gen f-body should work.

 

My car came was born with an aluminum DS, I was so happy to read that RPO code when I bought it. As for the endlinks, I didn't think they would cause a vibration, but just wondered what else other than crappy body-roll it would cause.

Does GM sell them individually or as a whole set? I'll find out tomorrow when I go to my GM dealership.

I need a tire balancing anyway.

 

Check for simple stuff like broken wheel studs or missing lugnuts first. Just check that everything is tight in the steering components and suspension.

Then I would get your wheel balance and alignment checked/fixed. If that's not it, get the driveshaft balanced. Still vibrations? Get the rotors cut. Still problems? Push the car off a mountain.

You can get polyurethane endlinks pretty cheap from spohn.net: http://www.spohn.net/category.cfm?categoryid=1069

 

I say if one bushing actually rotted off, good chance there are others that are no good. I think it would be a good idea to consider replacing all your bushings regardless of how they look. Then once you got that taken care of, then look into something else if the vibrations or noises persist. I dont usually recommend replacing stuff before identifying the problem, but in this case it would be a good idea either way to ensure all your bushings are in good shape.