C5 Stabilizer bar swap
E-mail jmX with corrections
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Parts: - Front and rear swaybars (Z51, Z06, T1, and hotchkis bars are popular) - New bushings for the front/rear bars - Grease for bushings - 4 endlinks if you have plastic endlinks stock (97-00 C5s?) Tools: - Floor jack - Ramps - 2 jackstands - Socket wrench - Torque wrench - Deep 18mm socket - Torx - 40 bit - Hex 6mm bit - 15 mm socket or 15mm wrench - 18 mm wrench (gear wrench preferred) - 13 mm socket - 6" extension for socket wrench - Adapter to fit sockets onto your torque wrench (incase torque wrench is 1/2" drive, and sockets are 3/8") Part #'s of Interest: - GM OEM Z06 Front Swaybar: 10419094 - GM OEM Z06 Front swaybar bushings:10419095 (2 needed) - GM OEM Z51 Front swaybar:10424741 - GM OEM Z51 Front swaybar bushings:10424742 (2 needed) - GM OEM Z06/Z51 Rear Swaybar: 10424743 - GM OEM Z06/Z51 Rear swaybar bushings:10431951 (2 needed) - GM OEM 2002+ Z06 Aluminum endlinks:10435298 |
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First, lets tackle the front swaybar. Drive the car up on ramps (or jack it up and place jackstands under it) and chock the rear wheels to keep the car from rolling. Get under the front of the car and look at the suspension on the far left and right, towards the wheels. You should see something like what's in the picture. The black bar thats connected to the suspension near each wheel is the stabilizer bar. Each side has an end-link that attaches it to the suspension. Now that we know what we are looking at, we can move on. |
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Each end link has 2 nuts on it. The nut on the front (the one easily visible) needs to be removed. This requires a T-40 torx bit on a socket wrench and an 18mm gear wrench (or normal wrench if its all you have). If you don't have the black plastic style end-links, you will instead need a hex-6mm bit on a socket wrench and an 18mm gear wrench (or normal wrench). Put the wrench on the nut, and insert the bit into the tip of the bolt to keep it from spinning. Undo this bottom 18mm nut on both sides of the car. Leave the top one attached. |
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Now that the swaybar is detached from the suspension, we need to remove the brackets that hold it to the crossmember. Each one is held on by 2 13mm bolts. As you undo these bolts the stabilizer bar will start to drop down so be ready to support it if needed. Once both brackets are removed, work the stabilizer bar out from under the car making sure to remember the orientation it was installed in. |
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Now, if you have the old plastic style endlinks on your car you can see how the new 2002 style endlinks compare to the old ones. The new stuff looks MUCH nicer. The part number on these aluminum endlinks is 10435298 Remove the nut holding the endlinks to the old swaybar, and using that same nut, install the new endlinks in the same orientation onto your new stabilizer bar. BE SURE to keep the orientation correct, you don't want to bold the endlink on the wrong side. On the new endlinks, you can use an open ended 18mm wrench to hold the threads still, and then use a deep 18mm socket on a torque wrench to tighten the nut. The torque spec on the nut is 53lbft. |
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Now that the old bar is removed, set it next to your new bar for thickness comparison. Here I show the stock FE1 suspension stabilizer next to the Z06 swaybar. The FE1 bar measures 23.2mm while the Z06 bar measures 30.0mm in diameter. Put the new supplied bushings onto your new swaybar in the same orientation your old ones are on the old bar, making sure to put a little bit of lithium grease on the contact point inside the bushing. Now, re-install the new bar in the reverse order. I suggest orienting the threaded shaft of the endlinks into the hole on the suspenion first, then bolting up the brackets. The bracket bolts need to be torqued to 43lbft using a 13mm socket, and the endlink nuts will once again need to be tightened to 53lbft, this time using the Hex 6mm bit to hold the threads and an 18mm wrench to tighten the nut. Since you're using the hex bit, its going to be impossible to torque these to spec, so just use your best judgement and get them very tight. You can try a torque wrench on the nut afterwards as sometimes once its tightened down the threads won't spin. Lower the front of the car down and you're done! |
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Now, lets do the rear bar. This can be done with the car on the ground, but I really recommend either backing it up onto ramps, or jacking the rear up by the crossmember and using 2 jack stands to support the rear of the car. Be SURE to chock the front wheels to keep the car from rolling! Once the rear is up, get under there and look around. You'll see we have a very similar setup to the front. Unbolt the bottom nut on the endlinks first, using the torx 45 (black plastic) or hex 6mm (metal endlinks) to keep the threads from spinning and the 18mm wrench to loosen the nut. Now, undo the 2 brackets holding the stabilizer to the crossmember. The bottom bolt is actually a nut threaded onto an A-arm bolt. Use a 15mm wrench on the back of the bolt to keep it from spinning and then use an 18mm on the nut to loosen. On the top bolt, just unbolt it as normal, using an 18mm socket. Now remove the bar, remembering its orientation. |
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Here's the old FE1 stabilizer bar laying next to the Z06 stabilizer bar. The FE1 rear bar measures 19.3mm in diameter, while the Z06 rear bar measures 23.9mm in diameter. Install your rubber bushings on the new bar in the same orientation that the old bushings are on the old bar, putting a little bit of lithium grease inside the bushing where it contacts the bar. Then, if you have new endlinks, install them onto the new bar in the same orientation the old ones are on the old bar. You'll need to re-use the old nut off the old endlinks. if you didn't get new endlinks, transfer your old ones to the new bar. The torque spec for the nut on the endlinks is 53lbft. |
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Now, hoist the bar up into place, trying to get the endlinks generally in the right place, and bolt up the brackets. The top bolt should be tightened to 49lbft, while the bottom nut should be torqued to 70lbft. Tighten the nut on the end link to 53lbft. An 18mm open ended wrench may be able to be used to keep the threads from spinning, allowing the use of a torque wrench here. If you find you need to use the hex6mm and an 18mm wrench rather than a torque wrench, just try to get it as tight as possible. Lower the car, and you're done! Go on a test drive and listen for any clanking. If you hear any snapping or clanking noises, you probably didn't get the swaybar endlink nuts tight enough. Recheck the nuts. Thats it! |