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Sway Eliminator Shaft


Shaman

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I’m working to cleanup the front suspension and was looking at changing out the bushings and springs.  One thing I haven’t been able to find is a way to disconnect the sway eliminator shaft so I can change those bushings.  Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do that?  I haven’t really started removing things yet, but I plan on tackling it this weekend.  

 

On another note, if you have suggestions on changing the springs, I’d take advice there too.  I’ve at least found instructions in the shop manual for that, but if someone has some gotcha’s to watch out for, that would be great.  

 

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Removing the coil springs on my 48 DeSoto was very easy.  You just need a good floor jack to relieve the pressure on the spring and it will just fall out.  That is after removing the necessary nuts and bolts.  Easy to install the new spring too.  You don't need a spring compressor.  

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Shaman..........my Oz 1940 Dodge is essentially a 1940 plymouth but as far as I know both the front ends of the Dodge & Plymouth are essentially the same.........exactly which bushing are you referring to?....the original sway bar goes thru a bracket with rubber bushings mounted on top of the front of the frame..........the end of the sway bar inserts into a rubber encased steel "tube" that has a small bracket inserted into the bottom of the steel/rubber link and bolts onto the front of the lower shock mount which goes thru the vertical link or spindle............undo the nut at the front of the lower shock mount which lets the link be loose, most of the upper link attachment points where the end of the sway bar inserts I've seen are extremely worn & loose allowing the upper end of the vertical link to just about fall off.............then undo the bolts & nuts holding the sway bar brackets to the frame, the rubber bushes/blocks usually have either a cut to allow them to be pushed over the bar or if no cut then they would have to be slid along the sway bar before the vertical link is attached..............

..........heres a pic of my 1940 Dodge......I have a custom made 1" thick chrome plated sway bar, adjustable Heim Joint vertical links and a custom made lower shock mount pin, mid 50's Ford coil springs also 11" vented Oz PBR disc brakes, 9" narrowed Austin 1800 rack & pinion........318 poly, etc.........lol.............regards, Andy Douglas

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My 49 Coupe didn't come with a "sway eliminator" bar, so I had to find a used one and all the hardware.

The bushings should just slip off.

 

The question is where do you get new ones?

 

I am thinking I'd like to make a new heavier bar for this car.

The bar I have is very corroded but will make a good pattern. 

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Right now I’m focusing on the bushings that are under the bracket that is connected to the frame.  If they have those cuts in them, that will make it easy, if not, then I’ll end up getting into end of the sway bar.  I didn’t realize those were rubber inside as well.  As usual, always fun to find things as you work on the cars.  

 

AndyDodge, that looks really nice, what you’ve done.  I haven’t done any upgrades and right now, I’m not planning on it.  

 

So far, I’ve been fortunate in finding what I need.  I’ve been using oldmoparts.com for most everything.  Every once in a while I run across some parts on e-bay or other places, but the oldmoparts.com seems to be competitive with the pricing I’ve found.  

 

Thanks for the advice.  

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I just did a US ebay search under "1940 Mopar Sway Bar Link" and a couple of listings came up.......they show a pair of original NOS links at about $90 the pair which i suppose is not too bad.........the rubber bushings should be relatively easy to get..........measure the sway bar diameter and using the bracket take the measurement and bracket to a parts shop and you should be able to get a replacement rubber bush or one made from the harder plastic or "nylothane" crap that is now more likely.......its that "blue" coloured one in my pic.........also I don't use the stock bracket any more either due to the larger diameter of the sway bar which meant I had to use a different from stock way to attach the vertical links which in my case I used the large heim joints and a custom made right/left hand threaded hex bar adjuster...........but you should be able to get the rubber bush ..............andyd 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right now I’m focusing on the bushings that are under the bracket that is connected to the frame.  If they have those cuts in them, that will make it easy, if not, then I’ll end up getting into end of the sway bar.  I didn’t realize those were rubber inside as well.  As usual, always fun to find things as you work on the cars.  

 

AndyDodge, that looks really nice, what you’ve done.  I haven’t done any upgrades and right now, I’m not planning on it.  

 

So far, I’ve been fortunate in finding what I need.  I’ve been using oldmoparts.com for most everything.  Every once in a while I run across some parts on e-bay or other places, but the oldmoparts.com seems to be competitive with the pricing I’ve found.  

 

Thanks for the advice.  

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So I thought I’d put an update out here for others to see.  I was able to get the bushings replaced.  With the advice here, I was able to get everything apart.  I ended up just taking one of the links off on one side.  I just rotated it parallel to the sway bar and worked it off.  It messed up the metal a little because I didn’t have the right angle, but it still looks ok.  I may replace both of them later because the rubber was definitely not great, but it did hold when I put it back.  I only took one side off because I didn’t want to mess up the other link at all.  

 

I then took the brackets off the bushings and pulled the bushings off.  Took at little WD-40 to it as it came over the end of the sway bar.  To get the new bushings on I ended up using a little bit of gear oil after sanding down the entire bar to get the old rust and dirt off.  It was still a challenge to get the bushings pushed into place.  I ended up using a large washer and either tapping them along or using come squeeze clamps and a vice grip to slide them along.  Once I got past the last curve, it actually moved all the way to the other side, so that way I didn’t have to remove the link on the other side.  

 

Here are a few pictures of the link and the end of the sway bar, in case anyone else is trying to figure out how they came off.  I know I was sure wondering how they came apart.  

 

Thanks for the advice.  

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A14A75CF-9E05-4F04-B6B8-1AE702141FA5.jpeg

87806B28-A0DD-44F0-9DA3-1DBBAE05BAE1.jpeg

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