FD Tripoint front sway bar bushings and thrust bearings
 

I was replacing the hardware on my 1.25" Tripoint bar and ordered new bronze bushings for it. The Mcmaster-Carr part 7930K18 is available for $16.87 each and these are in fact identical to what Tripoint supplies. My car is daily driven and sometimes I notice a very slight rattling, usually when initially backing up or starting off. I always figured this was due to the fact that the split keepers around the bar wear against the bronze bushings and this makes a little slop left to right and the sound I hear is the keepers rattling against the bushings. I could always make the sound go away by adjusting the keepers again.

Inspecting the bronze bushings and the keepers very closely showed that they wear on the edges where they ride against eachother. No big deal performance wise but since I drive my car all the time I wear them more quickly and notice the noise. I decided to fix it by adding roller ball thrust bearings between the keepers and the bar bushings. This lets me take every bit of the slop out and I shouldn't wear out keepers and bushings as quickly now that I have a ball bearing between them. Mcmaster-Carr part 6655K24 at $6.20 each (2 required) fit the 1.25" bar perfectly and includes a nice nylon race with ball bearings and two hardened washers to sandwich the race between. So my car now has bronze bushing/ hardened washer / thrust bearing / hardened washer / keeper. It works beautifully as there is not a peep out of the bar. It's one of those things that I didn't really notice until after I did it. The sound wasn't loud but now that it's gone I don't miss it; only costs $12.


http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/111/...e/7930kp1l.gif

http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/111/...e/6655kp1l.gif

I'd wonder if anybody else were to notice a difference if they tried it? Should work whether you have the bronze or nylon bushings; anything that is "hard" and not soft like the stock rubber ones.

Good deal! Gotta love solving problems with McMaster-Carr :).

Dale

Just got a call that the laser cut brackets for my custom mounts are ready so all should be good soon!

Damon, thanks for the thrust washer part #. I just ordered a set, though I sprung for the stainless version, since it rains so much around Los Angeles ;) [See http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.as...4&pagenum=1025 for the stainless version (about $3 more).]

David Breslau (WidefootRacing) adapted the bronze bearings (thanks for that part number too!) so that I can use them with the Widefoot mounts, and I'm sure that the bearings and the collars on the Tri-Point bar will appreciate the thrust washer.

Whoa! Sweet! How did I miss this post of yours Damon? This helps me out a ton. Thanks!

-Rob

Just got a used Tripoint bar myself and have the Widefoot mounts and need bushings/mounts for the bar. This looks like a good alternative to trying to get them from Tripoint.

What do you mean, artowar, about adapting the bronze bearings to work with the Widefoot mount?

Mark

The bolt spacing for the bronze bushings is much larger than that for stock type bushings. Tripoint originally supplied extra braces which the bronze bushings bolted to and these were in turn bolted to the stock sway bar mounts.

You cannot fit these bronze bushings unless you have the Tripoint sway bar mount braces or custom built mounts. None of the off the shelf sway bar mounts, stock or aftermarket, will allow the bronze bushings to bolt on directly. Use the nylon bushings however and you can fit them to any stock or replacement mount as their bolt spacing is the same as stock.

I bent the stock mounts slightly (even with the extra braces) a few times from striking bad dips in the road. This one was pretty incredible so a while back I finally got around to building custom mounts that were indestructable and would allow me to bolt the bronze bushings on directly.

Thanks for the info, DamonB. I do have the Tripoint braces, but they won't work with Widefoot mounts (which are shorter than stock). I'll have to decide which way to go.

very nice.

I have that same tripoint swaybar and mine is bent a liittle bit. Will it effect anything? When it's off the car and laying on the ground(flat surface) one side is lifted up about 3/4 of an inch. The other side is flat. When I adjusted the Alluminum arm by 1 notch, it was still off. So I think the previous owner must have bent this at one time. I replaced all of the bolts and brass washers to compensate for the difference between the two sides. Do you guys think this is OK? Thanks, D

^ With the bar laying on the ground my arms aren't clocked perfectly either but it's very close. If you have a 3/4" difference you are definitely off more than one spline on the tube. Remove the bar from the car and remove the arms from the torsion tube. Install the arms on the splines with them as parallel as possible, then re-install and adjust for any difference with the drop links.

To adjust the drop links park the car on a level surface. Do not jack it up! Install the first drop link and adjust the length so the bar arms are parallel to the floor. Then install and adjust the second drop link so there is no preload in the bar. Always do this with the tires on the ground, not with the front end jacked up in the air.

Even when I adjust it only one notch, it's still off by that much or more. I have it as straight as I can get it. As for the installation procedure...Well I better redo the whole thing! lol I installed mine with it up in the air. And I set the angle of the bar with my gut feeling. Probably is'nt level as you said. Thanks for your help!

Using the replacement bronze bearings that DamonB found, WidefootRacing modified them to work with the WidefootRacing mounts. I'm sure that David will give you details if you are interested.

The splines on my Tri-Point bar, or perhaps the on the arm ends (or perhaps both), were not the same on both sides, resulting in the same thing that you and DamonB experienced. Just adjust as DamonB suggested and you will be fine. There is plenty of adjustability in the end links. If you are getting the car cornerweighted, adjust the bar at that time for zero preload.

leave it to you to fix those annoying noises no one else ever finds, the rattle from my TCA that I solved by reading your archived post . . . priceless

on a side note, does tri-point still sell this bar? Their website is quite minimal and the catalog is "under construction".

great find D!!!

I'm not sure but I bet they do. I'd give them a call if you're really interested.

DamonB,
Would there be any chance of pics of what you did? I've also had some noise for a while, mostly on the passenger side when initially backing out of the garage. I suspected it was somewhere in the sway bar, but wasn't sure. And I guess I'm just slower than the others, but I'm having trouble visualizing what you were talking about earlier in the thread.

do widefoot and tripoint have their own websites?

if so can someone pm me them. thanks

http://www.tripointengineering.com/index.html

Don't know about widefoot.

http://www.tripointengineering.com/C...suspension.htm
They do, it's under suspension. Sway bar and braces/brakets sold seperately.