Thread: Sway bar broken

So, my 16 yr. old kid drove over a curb while turning a blind, sharp corner. Anyway, where the sway bar connects to the "rubber dampener" at the end of the bar, it broke. Well, no big deal to me since I'm not auto crossing this car - I'll just continue to drive. But now, I'm thinking about getting new tires for the car and begin to wonder if this would have any effect on my tire alignment. I'm thinking no but am not too sure. Any thoughts?

it wont, but it will make clunking noises.

and you wont be able to get an alignment.

and if you dont get one then you might not have any warranty on your tires.

Perfect excuse for an upgraded sway bar IMHO. Get a Dorman front bar, new end links and get the alignment. Done, and your car will handle much better to help avoid those sneaky curbs that try to commit suicide by jumping out in front of moving vehicles

I got stock sway bars downstairs 70,000 miles perfectly fine if anyone needs them for cheap!

You may want to remove the stabilizer link so when you drive it it will not rub on your half shaft boot. The replacement for the stabilizer bar is heavier and shaped a little different, but is much better (I assume that this is a 1997 to 2003 GP).

It's a '99. It broke where the sway bar attaches at the end to the rod that goes down to the a arm. The car is a daily driver, 165k miles on it. I'm not sticking $ into it unless needed and I'm thinking this bar broken doesn't affect too much. If I was auto crossing the car, then it would matter. The tires need replacing so I want to get an alignment done also. I just recently replaced the tie rod. I just wasn't sure if the alignment shop would say that this bar needs to be hooked up before alignment. Thanks for all the feedback.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

did you get an allignmnet after the ti rod replacemnet???

that will cause your wondering then, because you need an allignment after you do suspension and sterring component replacing.

Not yet - that's actually the reason I'm asking the question. I just didn't want the alignment shop to say "we can't align it due to the broken bar connector".
When I changed the tie rod, I marked the jam nut and backed it off 1 turn but it does drive a little squirelly on the snow so I do indeed need an alignment.

Good point! But it is more "Squirrelly" than years past. We got 6-8" of snow last night and on my drive into work today my ass puckered up a few times when I hit some slippery patches. The car just drives different.