either or i think when i did mine i was on ramps can't do that anymore though since i'm so low.

 

If you can fit under there and dont mind working in a cramped spaced, its possible to do without jacks or ramps.

 

I did this recently and a couple of points come to mind:
-What was Toyota thinking with the rubber on the OEM? Seriously! I’ve seen better looking rubber on 50 year old Plymouths.
-It is smoother. Of course it would be. The function of the part is now incremental throughout the full range of motion without the “take-up” and “dead-zone” of the OEM.
-The sway bar is now functioning as a sway bar and not as a “slap” bar or “swing” bar. Traction is improved; especially on rough, ripple or chatter surfaces. I’ve noted a return of the torque-steer that disappeared somewhere around month six of ownership. (probably the point at which the OEM rubber croaked).
-Mine is a 2004 with 66,000 miles. The OEM were completely rust seized. Vice-grips, sockets and cheaters just stripped the parts round. It’s tight under there even for a Dremel. I cut the OEM POS out (remember to wrap the CV joint with a shop rag; there’s no upside to impregnating the CV boot with Dremel dust and filings.)
-To ensure that both sides are equally compressed I used two nuts with the bottom being flush to the bottom of the bolt. By not over-tightening, the dimensions of the OEM were approximately maintained.
-I consider it the moral obligation of anyone who has done this up-grade to tell all other XB owners to immediately get this done. (Friends don’t let friends drive OEM link end bushings.) Your time in purgatory or the waiting line at the pearly gates will be substantially reduced for sharing this information.

 

How necessary are the 1 inch spacers?

Seems almost impossible to put on with it.

 

you can cut 'em in half or not run 'em, which i'm doing now have have been fine w/out running the end link bushing spacers for 3 years now

 

Oh hey, I was just about to update my post.

It mentions it about 5 times here...I am thick.

Thanks

 

I bought these and replaced the black rubber pieces with the red energy suspensions.

Very nice quality, even with the rubber. But too tight with the spacer and the reds.

http://redirectingat.com/?id=42X122&...IBSA%3AMT%3A11

 

i put on some end link bushings some time ago... spring last year i think?

they're still alive ad kicking... even after a wreck involving me, two others, a butt ton of snow, a hair pin turn, getting white washing, improper timing for VSC to trigger AND last... a tree. 90% of the hit was on the wheel, steering linkage and suspension. not one problem at all.

my setup uses actual GRADE-8 bolts with with the bushing washers and 2 nylon locking nuts per side.

in order for it to fit, you have to keep your wheel on the xB and gotta play with the jack back and forth to get it in the right positions to put the parts in. then again, i'm a small guy 5'9" at a buck 30 in weight so... but i did it...

i had more trouble taking the stocks out than putting the new ones in. i actually CUT the passenger side with a drumal to save me the trouble i had on the driver side. 30 minutes of bull poo turns into 5 minutes of piece of cake .

rather noticeable handling difference. i need to get the rest of the bushing sets for the xB as a small increase in performance. the rest of the cash is being built and saved up for "Project RS"

 

I just did this mod, but on the drivers side it started to make a popping noise. What should I do?

 

check the nuts on each end link of the sway. i would also check the rear structural bolts around the mid section of the sway bar area. see if anything is loose

after that, check your wheel lugs, see if they are torqued down or not.

 

Thanks. If the nut is not lose should I tighten the nut more?

 

take a pic...there are like 3 or 4 ways to do this and it may have something to do with the WAY you set it up

 

Ok will do when I get some time.

 

im postin the pictures up for shrek i have the same problem here is how it looks installed

 

does Shrek have the Hotchkis sway too or no? I have the front sway bar, and my bushings are set up in the same manner as you guys(back to back) and I don't have any problems. Let me think... I originally installed the bushings with my stock sway bar ~2K miles. When I disassembled everything for the Hotchkis install, I greased all of the bushings with wheel bearing grease. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Q: are all of your bolts, nuts and nylon grade 8? the bottom one doesn't appear to be.

 

The popping noise is either it hitting the axle or slop. Did you crank them down? Seems the red thingies should be squished, not the same shape as they were in the package. I installed mines when I installed springs and put the head of the bolt in the top so its lot of clearance to the drive axle and extra sticks down to the road.

 

yea the bolts and nuts are grade 8 accept we put two on the bottom a grade 8 and a locking bolt just in case. i don't think it could be hitting the axle because there is at least a 4-5 inch gap between the two sway bar and axle could it still hit? i may be wrong and i will try to tighten them down more. one last thing if it were hitting the axle that would cause a jolt to the steering wheel correct because it isn't doing that. thanks

 

Its a tight fit fromn the top of the bolt head and the axle. I too heard a sound when I busted my bolt and felt the car move more like it was very windy out. When I checked, the link was GONE and the bar was hitting my axle when I turned one way and the lower control arm the other.

I wrenched my links down with 3/8 rachett til it was hard to move. I had like 1 1/2 inch of bolt sticking out the bottom.

To check clearances, just place the jack under the control arm and start jacking.

 

Well what was the length of the bolt you used because this morning I looked under the car and turned the wheel one way then the other and it wasn't hitting anything and if you look at the picture it is about as tight as I can get it with a socket wrench. And I messured the gap between the top of the bolt and the sway it is 3 1/2 inches could it travel that far I also looked at the axle and noticed that it didn't have any signs of something hitting it. I'm not saying your wrong just that this is what I noticed. You said that you felt it when it hit the axle but I haven't felt anything like that.

 

We tightened the bolt up some more and now there is minimal to not knoking noise. So thanks everyone for posting up.