General Tips/Suspension Issue - Just Bought 2001 LS Sport w/5spd Manual V6

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nastynaters

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Just bought '01 Lincoln LS with the 5spd manual transmission. Also my first post on this site. Really starting to enjoy this car. It was actually just listed for sale here about a month ago, and can still be seen here - http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/fo...nual-136k&highlight=2001+lincoln+ls+v6+manual . Anyway, I have been experiencing a clunking or thunking noise coming from the front end when i hit a big enough bump, I believe driver side. I've read up on this, and the most likely cause I've seen is the sway bar bushings. I just need a clear answer on whether the bushings are available alone, or if I need to buy the whole new sway bar kit or whatever. BTW, it has the sport package, I believe euro-style suspension. I think i remember seeing bushings online from Energy Suspension, though have also read bushings are not available alone. Any help to clear up this confusion would be great. And maybe any tips you have to pass on for a stick-shift LS owner. Thanks alot, Nate.
 
nastynaters said:
Just bought '01 Lincoln LS with the 5spd manual transmission. Also my first post on this site. Really starting to enjoy this car. It was actually just listed for sale here about a month ago, and can still be seen here - http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/fo...nual-136k&highlight=2001+lincoln+ls+v6+manual . Anyway, I have been experiencing a clunking or thunking noise coming from the front end when i hit a big enough bump, I believe driver side. I've read up on this, and the most likely cause I've seen is the sway bar bushings. I just need a clear answer on whether the bushings are available alone, or if I need to buy the whole new sway bar kit or whatever. BTW, it has the sport package, I believe euro-style suspension. I think i remember seeing bushings online from Energy Suspension, though have also read bushings are not available alone. Any help to clear up this confusion would be great. And maybe any tips you have to pass on for a stick-shift LS owner. Thanks alot, Nate.
Click to expand...

You have the sport suspension. No LSes were sold with the Euro suspension. That option was for the European market which Nasser killed. I would (and did) get the updated stabilizer bar with the molded-on bushings. That bar was installed about 7 years ago and the front end is still quite.
 
hite337 said:
The Energy suspension bushings will work but they allow the stabilizer bar to slide side to side about 3/4".

I used these bushings with the factory brackets. The site says they do not fit the LS but I have them on my LS with the sport suspension (30mm stabilizer bar) and they are exactly the same size as the factory bushing.

http://www.amazon.com/URO-Parts-XR819697-Front-Bushing/dp/B0066T7I1I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363547377&sr=8-2&keywords=uro+xr819697
Click to expand...

It might be sliding side to side because there are no 30 mm front sway bars.

Base suspension LS6 Front Bar 29.5MM
Base suspension LS8 Front Bar 28MM
Sport suspension LS6 Front Bar 32MM
Sport suspension LS8 Front Bar 31MM

Has anyone found bushings for the sway bar that fit and do not require you to buy the entire sway bar?
 

100_4175s.jpg

It's actually sliding side to side because there are ridges on the Swaybar, where the stock bushings line up
and the newer brackets from Energy Suspension are too narrow and thus has play, room to move about.







It's advised as Hite mentions, to retain the old brackets, clean them up ...

20130808_223004.jpg

.. and use the OE Jag bushings for a tight and perfect fit.

jagbush.jpg

Jaguar Sway Bar Mount - Rein XR819697
http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/jaguar-suspension-stabilizer-bar-mount-xr819697






~ Up to you of course!

100_4175s.jpg


20130808_223004.jpg


jagbush.jpg
 
craigh said:
It might be sliding side to side because there are no 30 mm front sway bars.
Click to expand...


Its like bigrig said, the ES bushings are too narrow and there is a gap between the bushing rest and the bushing itself. The link I posted above is the best option if you have a sport suspension with the removeable brackets. I have had both and the ES bushings will work but they are not as good IMO.

As far as your stabilizer bar size info...I never heard of the V6's having a different size stabilizer bar than a V8. But I have never owner or worked on a V6.
 
hite337 said:
As far as your stabilizer bar size info...I never heard of the V6's having a different size stabilizer bar than a V8. But I have never owner or worked on a V6.
Click to expand...

Here are the specs......

The BASE REAR STABILIZER BAR is 13 mm LS 6 and LS8
The SPORT REAR STABILIZER BAR is 18 mm LS6 and LS8

The BASE FRONT STABILIZER BAR, LS6, 29.5MM
The SPORT FRONT STABILIZER BAR, LS6, 32MM
The BASE STABILIZER BAR, LS8, 28MM
The SPORT FRONT STABILIZER BAR, LS8, 31MM
 
So the V6 sport bar looks like the one to have. I wonder why its the thickest bar....and if the tensil strength of the bar is the same as the V8 sport.
 
hite337 said:
So the V6 sport bar looks like the one to have. I wonder why its the thickest bar....and if the tensil strength of the bar is the same as the V8 sport.
Click to expand...

To compensate for the ~100# lighter engine????
 
Thanks alot Hite and BigRig for clearing that up for me. I'm not completely sure if the bushings are the problem, but I might as well try for the price. So all I would need to order is the Jag sway bar mount (which are the bushings?), then clean up the old brackets and re-install? Also, with the clunk I've been hearing, are there any other possible cheapish fixes it could be, or any parts I may as well replace if I'm doing the bushings anyway? Thanks again for the help, Nate.

And that difference in size of the stabilizer bar between the V6 and V8 seems pretty odd to me too...
 
nastynaters said:
Thanks alot Hite and BigRig for clearing that up for me. I'm not completely sure if the bushings are the problem, but I might as well try for the price. So all I would need to order is the Jag sway bar mount (which are the bushings?), then clean up the old brackets and re-install? Also, with the clunk I've been hearing, are there any other possible cheapish fixes it could be, or any parts I may as well replace if I'm doing the bushings anyway? Thanks again for the help, Nate.

And that difference in size of the stabilizer bar between the V6 and V8 seems pretty odd to me too...
Click to expand...

99.9% sure it's the anti-sway bar bushings. Also, I tried on (then) my V6 and gave up. The top bolt on the passenger side is very, very difficult to access. I took the new bar with the bonded bushings to a local alignment shop and gladly paid the ~$150 to have them install it and deal with that problematic bolt!!! That bolt will also be a problem if you change just the bushings.
 
@Nate,

if it's a low thump- thud-thump sound you are hearing over small uneven roadway at lower speed, coming from the front end, it's pretty save to assume it's the sway bar bushings, was my very first repair on my Ls when I took possession of it.

and the credit goes to Hite, he posted his findings of the perfect fit JAG bushings with the split in the middle to replace 1st GEN LS sway bar bushings.

Please note,
2nd GEN sway bar bushings are not split and removal requires cutting off the entire bracket and bushing as it's molded around the bar.
1st GEN has a removable bracket and split bushings and does not require cutting out, bracket can be reused.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's what I learned when I went through this.

oh and this work is gonna require several swivels, couple of short extensions and one very long extension. (3 feet)
Your going to be accessing the bolts from the top side and may have to crawl underneath to position the socket then from the top click in the extensions to work the bolts.
 
So how do you test for bad bushings? With the suspension loaded and the car on ramps, or hanging free on jack stands. My 2000 clunks in front and the back.
 
Unhook the stabilizer end links and move the stabilizer bar. You will notice alot of play. Also if you have a lot of miles on the car they are probably bad.
 
... and like most, if you're in there replacing sway bar bushings, it's probably time for some fresh front sway bar end links as well.
Different P/N for left and right, MOOG are the preffered upgrade part, greasable and available from Rockauto.com
 
The part numbers for the front end links are the same left to right. The rear end links are different part numbers left to right. Moog is the brand I recommend for end links. They are built stronger and are greaseable.
 

Ugh pardon me, thanks for the correction Hite!
Fronts are identical P/N's same on both sides, it's the rears which I've been involved with lately which are L & R different P/N's

sorry.gif






hite337 said:
... the ES bushings are too narrow and there is a gap between the bushing rest and the bushing itself...
Click to expand...


attachment.php
 
I just ordered the Jaguar bushings for my '00 5 speed. They could not tell me what diameter sway bar these would fit but i will spec them out when I get them and update the thread.
 
Update, Jag bushings fit perfectly. Clunk is gone. No problems with installation. I took my time and only took about 3 hours. Reached all the bolts from the bottom of the car. 13mm swivel and 13mm ratcheting wrench is the way to go.
 
craigh said:
Update, Jag bushings fit perfectly. Clunk is gone. No problems with installation. I took my time and only took about 3 hours. Reached all the bolts from the bottom of the car. 13mm swivel and 13mm ratcheting wrench is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update craigh, always nice to hear another confirmation of those Jag bushings fitting. Im just finally about to order them for myself as i havent had any free time lately. Ill also update when im done with that. Just swapped out my set of winter wheels and now im having some vibrations in the steering wheel when at freeway speeds. They are the stock wheels and the tires have been on/off the car for the past few seasons. Hope they just need to be balanced, but ill find out soon, Nate.
 
Update, Jag bushings fit perfectly. Clunk is gone. No problems with installation. I took my time and only took about 3 hours. Reached all the bolts from the bottom of the car. 13mm swivel and 13mm ratcheting wrench is the way to go.
 
Just a reminder, I have a V6 with Sport Suspension, so the sway bar is 32MM. The Jag bushings I bought would not work on the non-sport or the V-8.
 
It does fit the Sport V8 just fine.
 
Can someone clear something up for me?

I'm looking at the Amazon and fcpeuro links. Amazon shows 1 bushing at what appears to be a price for 2 bushings, and the fcpeuro link shows 2 bushings at what appears to be a price for 1.

When I buy - and I really need to buy - what am I getting?

EDIT: The price isn't an issue... I just want to make sure I get 2 bushings!
 
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