broken sway bar, help.

[tarralb]

Well goodie...I turned a bend today and heard loud noises...took it into firestone...they had me look at it. The sway bar is completely broken in 2 on the driver's side front. They pulled off the ball looking thing it attaches to so it won't make noise. They want $500! Is that rediculous or is it just me?

They say I will new sway bar links and frame bushings also, is that necessary?

Most important question...from what I know this bar controls the opposite wheel so if you go fast around a bend you don't tip. Next Tues. I am going home to Pittsburgh and my uncle said he can do it and it should be no more than $200. Being that that's $300 cheaper, is it ok to drive till then, and drive 250 miles home as long as I go slow around bends and whatnot? All opinions would be great. THANKS! Just my luck :( STUPID cheap GM PARTS

Tarra

[rixGAphx]

You are correct, that the anti-roll bar works by each side 'fighting' against the other.
But, the stiffness and anti-roll nature also works with the REAR suspension to control the overall handling of the car.

The GA's design is such that the antiroll bar doesn't do anything else: Nothing mounts to it, and no other suspension geometry is dependent on it.
So technically, it COULD be fully-disonnected, and it won't affect anything but handling.

But the handling will be AWFUL, and you don't want to go anywhere NEAR the cornering limits that you normally would.
I would not drive 250 miles without that bar, unless I was stuck beyond nowhere and my life depended on it.

Frankly, you won't be safe on the highway at anything over 45-50 mph, since you would completely lose control and spin-out with even a minor 'emergency' swerve.

Have you priced the new bar?
Gonna be more for the part than the $200 bucks the uncle quoted.
You MUST have new bushings; I don't doubt the old one's are destroyed by now, and soon will be during the removal process.
The end-links might easily be re-usable for many thousands of miles, or they might be toast right now.
Only an experienced mechanic can tell.

Finally, it isn't a quick-and-easy job to replace the GA's antiroll bar.
It's located between the engine and the firewall, kinda hard to access.
On many other cars, it's located in front of the tires, low in the chassis or even under it; thus very easy to get to and therefore cheaper to replace than the GA's.

Good luck,
-Rick

[Shadow-D]

Well you are right about the roll stopping part, I'd say see how it feels on short trips. I don't think it will hurt to drive it but I've never driven a GA with a broken sway bar before.

[tarralb]

Rick,
All the estimates around here that I am getting are around 500. Do you think that is normal? It just seems insanely high for a stupid bar...I know the labor is around $130 everywhere it seems though. They are saying I should get a front alignment also, is that necessary?

[tenspeed]

I would think that you could find a used bar cheap. It's not the kind of thing that gets replaced.

Someone that installed a bigger bar might have one leaning between the studs in the garage. Check ebay, junkyard and post a "Wanted" ad.

[infernus]

I got rid of my last car for that very reason...

Seriously, my '55 Chieftain handled better than that car. But, I only found out after I put $300 worth of struts, ball joints and tie rods on it. But then again, the car wasn't worth much more than the parts I put into it.