Hotchkis sway bar grease

[Dupie24]

Gonna do the front/rear sway and KW V2 install this weekend. The rear sway bar bushing brackets have grease fittings. Do I need to use special grease? There is special grease that came with the kit, no way to get those little tubes into the zerk fitting though! haha.
If needed I will purchase new gun as I do not want to clean the old one, I'm sure they are cheap. My old gun has just plain ol black grease, I do not want to harm the new bushings with the wrong grease.

[RobAGD]

Just get something thats no harmfull to the Urethane bushings and you should be fine. Hotchkis was supost to send me out several packets of grease so I could relube my front bar, its squeaking liek crazy now when its cold.

Enjoy the ride :)

-R

[American Muscle]

Just get something thats no harmfull to the Urethane bushings and you should be fine. Hotchkis was supost to send me out several packets of grease so I could relube my front bar, its squeaking liek crazy now when its cold.

Enjoy the ride :)

-R
Glad I'm not the only one with the squeaks!! I have already relubed my fronts once and it's time to do it again.

[RadarmagneT]

I seem to have squeeking too. The first time, it was the front bracket bolts where loose... BAD squeeking. Tightening them only reduced the squeek. Relubing a few months ago, helped but it is back now (I need to check the bolts again).

BTW, anybody relubed the rears? any tricks to make it easier to get to them them?

[lmbcfls]

I haven't had any squeaking problems (to date), but I used LOTS of the Hotchkis provided grease and synthetic grease inside the bushings before the bars went into them. If the bars are still prone to squeaking, try wrapping the portions of the bars inside the bushings with teflon tape; grease the bushings up well before you put the bars in; and lock them down. Should eliminate the squeaking once and for all.

[Super T]

lube the new bushings up w/ your fingers and then install 'em. use all the grease they give you. it'll ooze out all over after you pop the bushings onto the bars, but that's better than squeaks. The zerks are there in the back because it's so hard to get to the bushings to reapply grease later... you'll eventually need the gun. The fronts are ridiculously easy to reach so they don't give you the fittings there.

[Dupie24]

Sounds like squeeking is a problem, I will do as told, use all the lube provided. I am gonna get a grease gun and grease for poly bushings for the rears. Is access a problem even with the rear zerks? Thanks for the replies, beans to ya all!!!

[Super T]

i didn't have the other car long enough to have to regrease them... but make sure you install the rears so the fittings face out, and you should only have to remove the wheel to get to them...

[RobAGD]

Dupie - I put a 90* zerks on mine before installing so they would be a little easier to get at with a grease gun. If you havent installed yet look into that option.

-R

[Dupie24]

Dupie - I put a 90* zerks on mine before installing so they would be a little easier to get at with a grease gun. If you havent installed yet look into that option.

-R

The brackets came with 90 deg zerks, just gotta make sure they face out like SuperT suggested. Thanks again, the install happens in a few hours, gotta get to bed so I can make it to the shop by 7:00. I'll post the results. Thanks again to all.

[Dupie24]

Many thanks to all who replied here, it made the install successful! Here's a link to a thread about the install, again, thanks to all!!!:thumbs_u: :rock: :not_worth
http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?p=826573#post826573

[RadarmagneT]

FYI,
I contacted Hotchkis and they are sending me a "fix"... Hopefully they will send new bushings for the front and... drum roll please... washers!

They sent along revised install instructions that have you putting TWO washers on each bolt between the brackets. Although it seemed to fit nicely when I put my front sways on, the brackets could be too tight and cause damage to the bushing?!?
Instead of washers.. couldn't they have made the bushing smaller?

I'm not sure, but after about 15000 miles on mine, they are BOTH groaning...
Hopefully, with new bushings and the washers/spacers, I wont be embarrassed to go over speed bumps any more ;-)

[Dupie24]

FYI,
I contacted Hotchkis and they are sending me a "fix"... Hopefully they will send new bushings for the front and... drum roll please... washers!

They sent along revised install instructions that have you putting TWO washers on each bolt between the brackets. Although it seemed to fit nicely when I put my front sways on, the brackets could be too tight and cause damage to the bushing?!?
Instead of washers.. couldn't they have made the bushing smaller?

I'm not sure, but after about 15000 miles on mine, they are BOTH groaning...
Hopefully, with new bushings and the washers/spacers, I wont be embarrassed to go over speed bumps any more ;-)
Very intresting. When I installed the sway bar all went fine, lots of grease and teflon tape on the bar. Washers make sense if bushing too tight, cheaper to make washers than to make new small bushings? Will keep this in mind if squeeks start up, so far no squeeks.:banana: Thanks for the heads up here, I'll bet there are quite a few people intrested in this, thanks again.

[viper]

I had my Hotchkis sway bars and tires installed 2 weeks ago. The front of my car makes some kind of noise; I guess it sounds like a squeak. I can only here it going over bumps, never in a corner. Is this what you guys are talking about?

[Dupie24]

I had my Hotchkis sway bars and tires installed 2 weeks ago. The front of my car makes some kind of noise; I guess it sounds like a squeak. I can only here it going over bumps, never in a corner. Is this what you guys are talking about?
Very possible this your squeek, lube the bushing real good, have to remove the bushings to grease them, when they are out put teflon tape around the bar where the bushing ride.
Washers on the brackets may help also, the washer would go between the bracket and the frame to bring the bracket out a little and not so tight on the bar.

[RadarmagneT]

Mine where quiet right after install... Check the brackets and make sure they aren't loosening.

I'm getting a very very low tone "squeak"... It's more like a groan...

Speed bumps and slow speed really do it. (ie, both tires moving up/down in unison)... I could also get two people to push down on each fendor over the tire...

One tire moving really doesn't produce the "groan".

Now that I think about it, the grease that oozes out of the bushing seemed to have more "black" stuff in it. I was attributing this to road grime, but I think it may actually be the bushing wearing.

I'll let you know more about the washers when I receive the "fix" from Hotchkis.

[viper]

Thank you Dupie24, I will re-grease theme this weekend to see if the squeak goes away.

[monty1269]

Time to re-lube again... What off the shelf 'lube' is the best to use??.. FOR THE SWAY BARS. :roll:

[Dupie24]

Ours has been quite since install, just a little noise lately, time for lube, and change the teflon tape. I too am interested in what kind of grease is best.

[gooeytek]

This thread might help:

http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=187862

[richierevs]

Check this link out for a lubricant designed for poly bushings.

http://www.polybushings.com/pages/bushinglube.html