Escape Sway Bar Free Play

Dec 24, 2003 2 Replies

I have an occassional slight "creak" or "groan" from the front end when I come to a stop. A minor annoyance.



I re-lubed the disc caliper pins to rule that out as a cause.



While the tires were off, although I could not duplicate a "creak" or "groan", I noticed that the sway bar has some free play.



I couldn't find any specs on free play tolerances but I'm thinking maybe the bushings need to be replaced.



Since this [for me] will be more involved than a re-do of the brakes, I was hoping to confirm my guess by comparing the free play against real specs.



Does anyone know how exactly much free play should exist or otherwise how to determine the condition of the bushings?



Thank you.


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i dont think you have any free play on any sway bars.. they should be firm and not move at all... if you have a noise you can buy a small can of Rubber Lubricant(the kind that they used to spray under your car at service stations).........put a few drops on each bushing and your noise will go away if the bushing is in good condition.... thats what they used to do in full service stations when someone got an oil change and grease job...

I don't think there should be any free play at all. If it wasn't rainy and wet, I'd go check my '02 Escape to find out for sure. An excellent site for finding out things like this and how to diagnose/fix them is

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Lots of folks there that shoot straight on Escape and Mazda Tribute issues. Good luck, Tom F.

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