I'm looking for a reference of sway bar bushing dimensions. Does anyone know if this exists anywhere? I'm trying to find bushings, either generic aftermarket or from some other application, that will work with the aftermarket front sway bar on my Chrysler Conquest. The ones provided by the manufacturer are the wrong size, and they aren't much help. The other company that makes bars for this car (Addco) provides a generic aftermarket mounting bracket and bushing setup with their bars, but from what I've seen, it doesn't fit the car very well either.
The stock bushings are pretty small--about 30mm x 30mm square on the side that the bar goes through. The stock bar is 13/16" (21mm) and the aftermarket bar is 1" (25mm). I've hunted down several bushings from other cars with 1" sway bars, and bought a couple on RockAuto wholesaler closeout for cheap just to try them out, but they're all too big to fit in the stock bracket.
No pictures at the moment, but I could post some if it would help. My only other idea, short of having to make my own new mounting bracket setup that's better than Addco's, is to try putting some stock bushings on the drill press and hog them out with a hole saw...but I'm not sure whether that would just make a mess. Maybe the magic bushing is out there? Let me know if you guys can come up with anything. Thanks.
Your problem may be that you're trying to find a bushing with only 2.5mm of material. That's why the bar came with oversize bracket. I'd concentrate on finding some bushings for a 1" bar and then modifying the bracket they come with.
I know we carry some. Let me know if you need dimensions of those brackets.
Energy Suspension has a "Universal PArts" section and then you can look up sway bar bushing by size.
https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/universal-sway-bar-bushings.asp
Thanks guys! Keith, yes, I would be interested in the dimensions of those Miata brackets. Scott, thanks for the Energy Suspension link. Looks like the narrowest point of the bolt holes on their smallest bracket is 2-1/16". Here's a picture of a factory bracket with a caliper set to 2-1/16":
The bolt holes in the factory bracket are about 1-7/8" apart at their narrowest point.
Here's a picture of the Addco setup on somebody else's car. It's too wide--see how crooked that bolt is? Looks like cross thread city to me.
I also checked the Prothane bracket dimensions and their smallest one is 2" wide at the narrowest point. With some socket head cap screws, I bet that would fit on the car okay. But if the Miata bracket is narrower, that would be better. Actually, according to the dimensions of both the Energy Suspension and Prothane brackets, the bushings can't be much more than 30mm wide. So maybe it would be possible to stuff them in the factory bracket, then I get to keep that other mounting tab, which is what the engine under-tray/splash shield bolts to. If I end up using an aftermarket bracket, I'll cut that tab off the factory bracket and sandwich it between the bracket and the body so that I can keep that mount for the shield.
Consider front swaybar brackets and bushings from an Escort ZX2 (2000 Ford Escort 2.0 DOHC). The front bar is 1" in diameter and the brackets are pretty compact.
Unfortunately I don't have anything kicking around right now, so I can't measure the bolt hole spacing for you. Getting the brackets out is a pretty big pain due to the location, but it is possible to remove the bolts without dropping the K frame.
Thanks to the Escort ZX2 S/R, you can also buy an Energy Suspension version of this bushing. Here's a photo of a standard rubber one from Rockauto:
Edit: I may actually have a set of these stock/rubber replacement bushings at home. I'll check this evening. If so I'd be happy to take measurements and/or mail them to you. The car died of rust a while back and was scrapped earlier this year.
In reply to therieldeal :
Thanks! The Escort ZX2 sounded familiar, so I checked, and that's one of the bushings I already bought from RockAuto, but it didn't fit. I'm glad you posted about it--I went and grabbed the box to take another look at them, and I definitely got the wrong bushings. The bag inside the box was cut open, the bag has a different part number than the one on the box, and the bushings have a 1-5/16" ID. Somebody bought the Escort bushings, stuffed different parts in the box, and returned it to RockAuto. It's barely worthwhile for me to return them (the parts cost less than shipping) but I'll give it a shot and see what they'll do for me since this is 100% RockAuto's fault.
If it's not too much trouble to find your bushings and throw a caliper on them, I'd like to know how wide they are. If it's in the neighborhood of 30mm, we might have a winner after all. Thanks again!
I'd say that's 100% the fault of the shiny happy person who returned the wrong parts.
I'll try to get you those measurements shortly. The picture you showed looks exactly like someone trying to shoehorn in a wide bar with a wide bushing and a factory bolt pattern that was the perfect size for a stock bushing. Going to a socket head screw can help there, and our billet sway bar mounts might actually work.
Rockauto's returns department does not do a great job of inspecting things, that's for sure. I once received and returned a set of brake pads that had already been returned at least once. The pads were the wrong shape vs. the p/n on the box *and* there was a hand written note in the box from the person who returned them before me! Their note even included a traced outline of the correct pad shape that should have been in there.
I put all of the leftover Escort parts in one box during a recent organization frenzy, so if I have the bushings they should be pretty easy to find at least 
. Fingers crossed!
Valid points, let's say it's 50% on the SHP who returned the parts and 50% on RockAuto for leaving the QC to the customer. I guess the adage "if it's free, you are the product" can be amended with "if it's cheap, you are the QC."
Thanks Keith. I found those billet brackets on the FM site. Sew fawnseh! I want to keep the factory brackets if I can, but if I can't, and the billet brackets would allow a little narrower bolt spacing than the stamped steel ones, they would be a great solution.
Thanks again therieldeal for checking on the Escort parts. I love this forum. You guys are great.
Here are the main/important dimensions, ignoring the ribs on top and on the ends. I've rounded to the nearest 0.5mm.
The top locating ribs which secure the mounting bracket are 24mm apart.
The overall length including the ribs on the ends is 37mm.
If you don't have any luck with Rockauto I'd be happy to send you these; let me know.
With the rounded top I am not sure I'd trust your stock brackets to hold these in place, although with a little shaving they would fit.
If you can get your hands on a pair of Escort brackets I am certain you could make them work for your application, even if that means enlarging or slotting a hole or two.
If you'd prefer poly, here's the ES version: https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/4.5168
Thanks! Hmm, only 24mm between the ribs? Yeah, my brackets would have to be shaved down to fit those, but they're pretty much perfect in every other way, so I'm still interested. The nearest U-Pull yard also has a '99 ZX2 if I want to grab the Ford brackets. Could you send me an e-mail through the forum? I'd be happy to buy a flat rate label or pay you back for postage.
RockAuto gave me a refund and told me to keep the wrong parts. Looks like the ones I got are K80097, which fit a 1-5/16" or 33mm front bar on Super Duty trucks or Fox bodies. I have no use for them, so I'll see if I can pay them forward by sending them to someone else on the forum. Rieldeal, you get first dibs, of course!
In reply to obsolete :
Email sent!
I have a friend locally with a super duty, I'll ask him if he has any interest in those 33mm bushings.
Edit: My friend just redid the front end on his truck so no need for them; hopefully someone here will be able to use them.
