Greasing of Hotchkis Front Sway Bar

[FoolioABC]

Recently I finally removed the Hotchkis front camber plate/strut bar from my car because they wouldn't stop making noises with my Tein SS'es. The car drove great for a couple of days, but soon the front of the car started making weird bumping noises. At first I thought it was the endlinks loose, but they are tight as hell, so I did a search on this problem, and it seems like another thing that could solve this problem is to grease up the bushings holding the front strut bar in place (correct?) I went to the Hotchkis website and read the instructions for the install of this bar again, and it says at the end of the instructions to regularly grease the bushings on the front strut bar by injecting grease into the "zerk fittings."

So, my question(s) are as follows: first of all, is the zerk fitting that little hole at the top of the bushing? If so, how do I get energy suspension polyurethane grease (which is thick and sticky as hell) into the hole in the first place? Secondly, can I/how can I get to this bushing without having to lower the engine cradle out again like during installation?

Thanks in advance for the help I know (prays) I will get

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by FoolioABC
first of all, is the zerk fitting that little hole at the top of the bushing? If so, how do I get energy suspension polyurethane grease (which is thick and sticky as hell) into the hole in the first place?

Yup, you use the fitting on top of the bushing mount. You need a grease gun to inject the grease into it.

Originally posted by FoolioABC
Secondly, can I/how can I get to this bushing without having to lower the engine cradle out again like during installation?

The grease gun has a hose attachment that should reach into there just fine.

[cvt]

wow....i was about to ask this question myself...

[xkrnplayboyx]

what kind of grease do you use?

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by xkrnplayboyx
what kind of grease do you use?

Originally posted by FoolioABC
energy suspension polyurethane grease

[FoolioABC]

Before I go out and potentially waste my time buying a grease pump and doing this whole thing, do my symptoms sound like I need to grease up the bushings? When going at slow speeds it sometime sounds like something is bumping in the front of my car. It's more of a "knock/bump" then a "squeek" or "click". Does this sound like I need to grease? If so, why does it make that noise when it needs to be greased (just out of curiousity.)

[sm4k]

A friend of mine just had a custom adjustable rear sway bar fabricated for his 2002 sentra specV and he has the "knock/bump" noise at slow speeds, and if I remember right it was because he had too much tension on it.

[FoolioABC]

How would you reduce tension on the sway bar? Is it because I tightened the bolts holding down the bushings too much? Should I loosen those some? (I think I read somewhere else that it would be advisable to loosen those and then torque them to 20 ft.lbs) If I have to do this, is there anyway to do it without having to lower out the cradle again? Or should I simply "turn down the setting" of the sway bar, eg move the endlink's to the "other hole" (people with the hotchkis fronts should know what I'm talking about.)

However, if this is indeed a result of tension, why didn't this start 1 yr ago when I first put in the sway bar, but instead now?

[sm4k]

Well he fixed his by doing the 'other hole' thing, but he had this problem from the start, so yours might be caused by something else.

[FoolioABC]

The hotchkis does have multiple mounting points, assuming mounting points = the holes the endlinks attach to. It has two.

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by FoolioABC
How would you reduce tension on the sway bar? Is it because I tightened the bolts holding down the bushings too much? Should I loosen those some? (I think I read somewhere else that it would be advisable to loosen those and then torque them to 20 ft.lbs) If I have to do this, is there anyway to do it without having to lower out the cradle again? Or should I simply "turn down the setting" of the sway bar, eg move the endlink's to the "other hole" (people with the hotchkis fronts should know what I'm talking about.)

However, if this is indeed a result of tension, why didn't this start 1 yr ago when I first put in the sway bar, but instead now?

The only way to reduce tension is to get adjustable endlinks (Hypermotive and Hotchkis sell them). The stock ones should be fine, though. Mine bars haven't made any noises except in the rear, where the thicker bar hits against the exhaust heatshield. That went away after the bar dented the shield enough to make room.

[xtccrush]

I had the knocking noise coming from the front right of my car. Well today i just had my hotchkis front stut bar installed and the knocking is gone. I believe the knocking came from the strut not being tight. There was another post on this before, about 2 weeks ago tops.

[blackmica]

i have the same problem, the same damn sound at low speed.
plsss where do i have to put the grease??
in the bearings that hold the strut (located in the upper tower of the engine bay)???

any pics? i have bad english.
thanks

[Hungster]

my **** doesnt fit in the front, with my grease gun, its still too small in there

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by blackmica
i have the same problem, the same damn sound at low speed.
plsss where do i have to put the grease??
in the bearings that hold the strut (located in the upper tower of the engine bay)???

any pics? i have bad english.
thanks

If you mean you have noise coming from your struts, pop the hood and remove the rubber center caps on the tops of the struts. Tighten the nuts on the centers. No lubing of the bearings necessary since they're pretty much sealed in.

If you're talking about greasing Hotchkis sways, you need to get under the car to be able to get to the fittings. Find the sway bar and follow it up through the suspension till you find the mounting brackets. The fitting is on the top of the bracket facing upwards. If you have stock sways, you need to unbolt the brackets and put the lube in by hand, since the stock brackets have no grease fittings.

[KSilver2000]

Can this noise beacause from the strut bolt being not tight enough or also because of the front upper pillow ball mount nuts not tighten enough. One of my nuts don't sit tight because I think it's kind of stripped since the RMM bar makes the damn things sit so high and I had to keep on trying to get that thing tightly on.

[FoolioABC]

I have Tein SSes, which came with adjustable endlinks. When adjusting the endlinks, you're supposed to line them so they are "parallel" to the ground when the car is off the ground correct? By that I mean the screw bolt thingy that actually connects to the strut fits perfectly into its hole (no need to force it in)
Thanks for all the input thats been coming so far its really really helpful

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by FoolioABC
I have Tein SSes, which came with adjustable endlinks. When adjusting the endlinks, you're supposed to line them so they are "parallel" to the ground when the car is off the ground correct? By that I mean the screw bolt thingy that actually connects to the strut fits perfectly into its hole (no need to force it in)
Thanks for all the input thats been coming so far its really really helpful

That would probably be ideal, but you're actually supposed to tighten them until there's no free play in the sway bar, but not tight enought that they're pulling on it. Not sure what angle the endlinks will be at once that's done. The best way to tighten the endlinks properly is to simulate your weight in the driver's seat, so the sway bars will be perfectly balanced for when you get in the car.

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by KSilver2000
Can this noise beacause from the strut bolt being not tight enough or also because of the front upper pillow ball mount nuts not tighten enough. One of my nuts don't sit tight because I think it's kind of stripped since the RMM bar makes the damn things sit so high and I had to keep on trying to get that thing tightly on.

Yes, that's definitely possible, though the center nut is much more likely to cause the knocking noise. Just get a new nut at Toyota or Home Depot.

[FoolioABC]

Originally posted by Blue Bomber
That would probably be ideal, but you're actually supposed to tighten them until there's no free play in the sway bar, but not tight enought that they're pulling on it. Not sure what angle the endlinks will be at once that's done. The best way to tighten the endlinks properly is to simulate your weight in the driver's seat, so the sway bars will be perfectly balanced for when you get in the car.

Ah this could be it then. How do I "simulate" my weight in the driver's side seat when my car is on jacks? (the only time the endlinks are really exposed) Also, what do you mean so that there is no free play on the sway bar? Should the endlinks be set "longer" or "shorter"? (I'm not sure if I'm interpreting "free play" right)
Thanks for all the help!