CSX 4000 Series Rear Sway Bar Mod

[rokndad]

I don't know how many of you CSX 4000 series owners routinely get under the car and tighten up things and just do a general inspection. Everything was fine on my car until about 3,500 mi when I noticed the rear heim links from the lower rear A-arms on both sides were flapping in the breeze!! Looked a little higher and the sway bar had sheared....both sides.


Ordered a new one from SAI and pulled the rear tires. After removing the broken sway bar pieces, the links and the keepers that prevent lateral movement, I discovered the two piece metal mounting blocks would not come apart easily off of the center section of the bar. What had happened is that the powder coating on the bar was just thick enough to prevent the bar from rotating smoothly in the mounting blocks, so it froze and eventually snapped. I never heard it when it went either.

The fix was to remove the powder coating in the mounting area, burnish it with a fast wire wheel, and add some nice white lithium grease. There are no zerks in these pieces, so I may have to get up in there every 5,000 mi or so, to re-lube.


The bar now rotates freely and there is no slop. You would think there would be some kind of hard nylon blocks or babbit type bearings that would surround this bar. Just a heads up for one of your Saturdays when you don't have anything else to do.