02 Caravan sway bar bushings

The factory has changed this part design twice and it still is not dependable. Stick with a good aftermarket part.

Richard.

Rick,

Dealership sway bar bushings are available at less than $10. Change them out first before the links. There are several links in the aftermarket some with zerk grease fittings with lifetime guarantees. Shop around.

Chrysler as of late 1999 updated the headgasket design with a "multi-layed steel" part which seems to hold up much better.

My 2.4 liter gasket failed at 60,000 miles and now I have 120,000 with no leaking.....knocking on wood.

M> I'm convinced that the knocking sound is coming from these things, but the

I ordered some MOOG bushings for the front bar. Oddly, they offer front bushings, and rear sway bar links, but no front sway bar links in their line. Do the rear ones go bad as quickly as the front links? As mic canic suggested, I'll do the bushings first and see if that fixes the knocking. Rick

Rick,

Installing the front bushings is a breeze, just remove BOTH brackets to drop the bar for access to insert new ones. Note the shiny part of the bar from the rubbing of the old ones as reference for location of new parts.

Sway bar links are easily installed with the help of a pneumatic driver to loosen the bolts. It's a pain to use standard wrenches and a large star nut or allen wrench to loosen. Hopefully, the sway bar bushings are the source of problems. Good luck.

M> I ordered some MOOG bushings for the front bar. Oddly, they offer front

I had my 1999 Dodge Caravan Sway bar bushings replaced last week and all the weird thumps and creaks coming from the front of the van have gone away.Many thanks to this newsgroup for your knowledge.

Rick Yerke

That's great news. You should attempt to disguise your email address, unless you want spam. Rick

Do you know who make aftermarket greasable links?

Thanks, Kevin

Chrysler engineering did it to the backyard mechanic again. The sway bar bushing bracket on the passenger side is barely accessible thru holes in the bottom plate, forget the one on the drivers side. They mounted some device behind that one, and they suggest removing the bottom plate - 10 bolts to access it. The bushing brackets on my 96 van were in plain view, right up front. The 2001 bracket is held by only one bolt and a nut. I'll see if a garage will install these Moog bushings for me. Rick

You were right, it took about 45 minutes. Fixed the knocking problem, too. Cost, about $15. Rick

I finally got the Moog sway bar bushings installed. You were right, it wasnt that hard going over the cradle. I did move the pump too, and getting that bolt back into the hole on the drivers side was a real bear. Took all of 45 minutes. You need a 15mm deep socket, some long extensions, a 15mm box wrench, and a 10mm wrench to move the pump. Thanks for the encouragement. It fixed the banging noise.

I now know of four people who own DC vans or durangos around 2001 year that need bushings already at 50-60k miles. DC probably didnt do any testing for durability here. Rick

Hi I have an 03 Grand Caravan and I am getting the knocking in front over bumps. I believe it is the sway bar bushings also. Were did you buy the Moog bushing and what type are they. What diameter for the sway bar did you specify. I think it is 1" 1/8. Thanks