Should the front sway bar be able to rotate in the bushings or should it be tight?
My 2011 is locked down tight and I was just wondering if this was normal.

Thanks,
Ken

 

Tight, otherwise you are losing the benefit of the sway bar.

 

Even "locked down tight", it will rotate slightly in the bushings.

I'd rather mine be free to rotate. The ride isn't as harsh and you'll never miss the tiny bit of roll stiffness that bushing stiction briefly provides.


Norm

 

The stock sway bar doesn't move freely in the rubber bushing, and it was my understanding that this was a compromise between a stiffer bar and a more compliant ride. Ford lets the rubber act as part of the spring. Aftermarket bars (if not connected at either end) do move more freely, I know that I can push on mine and move them up out of the way without too much effort.

 

When you compress rubber, it gets stiffer and compromises the bar's inherent stiffness by a smaller amount.

Poly (as used in the bushings for many aftermarket bars) is lots stiffer already and doesn't need to be clamped as tightly for the same or greater overall effective bar stiffness.


Norm

 

These are the stock rubber bushings. I can barely more move the end of the sway an inch. There's pretty much no movement at the bushing.

I'm going to take the sway bar out and see if I can free up the bushings and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the replies.

Ken