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Wanted to install these today but it rained here...
In any case Just looked at the price of the Sway Bushings and decided to order them and install everything together so I don´t have to do this twice.
Those Moog end links are great. I've changed over to 4 of those on my 02 TL-S, my 06 TL 6MT, my 08 MDX, and this weekend will changing to those on my 07 RDX when I do front KYB Excel-G struts and Moog end links & SB bushings.
Yeah my TL-S is also using front MOOG Links.. The rears are still in good shape with over 220K... Its the front links that always cause problems on these hondas/acuras.
yeah, and you can't tell how really worn they are until you unbolt them...then you go "damnnn". I pulled and pried and wiggled the old ones while still on the MDX and couldn't tell they were loose & causing rattling. As soon as I got them loose I thought the studs might fall out they were so loose
Andddd it is DONE!
Jesus it takes for ever for the company that ships my P.O. Box from SD to ENS! Bushings arrived at SD Thursday last week and they just arrived today to Ensenada....
Anyways...
Material seems soft enough but not too soft and they smell like my poly engine mounts in my TL-S.
Old Sway Links and Bushings:
Passenger side sway link seemed in good condition, Drivers side though was pretty curious.. Even with the entire front end lifted the sway link seemed OK. Pretty tight and no play. Once I removed it though?? The thing was a mess the lower ball end had so much play I could pop it out with little effort.. So in the MDX you cannot diagnose sway links without removing them for sure! do not give for granted they are OK just because they feel tight when moving them while installed.
As for the old bushings? DAMNNNN I think my MDX was riding on the OG bushings.. They are SOOO HARD they now feel like cheap plastic, like the plastic that you use to make keyboards for example.. They have absolutely NO GIVE:
Summary:
1.- Moog Sway Bar Links (Use 17mm Socket to remove old and install the moogs): Pretty damn fine, they are beefier for sure and the metal cage on them makes me feel confident they will last a good time. Installation was a breeze and having no stupid hex drive to install them makes them way easier to install or to remove eventually.. I used a tab of anti-seize on the threads and lower bolt flange so it doesn´t stick to the metal, The nut is self locking so no issues there. I soaked the link with Penetrating Oil before hand so it didn´t give me any problems to remove it.
2.- Sway Bar Bushings (Use 14mm Socket to remove the bushing bracket):
Both OG bushings were hardened to hell, I definitely needed to replace them.. Removing them wasn´t super easy specially the passenger side as it has a small budge on the rear nut which makes it hard to remove.. Drivers side was easier since there is no budge on top of the rear nut so removing the driver bushing is EASIER than the passenger.. The Moog bushings have less side tabs but once installed it doesn´t matter as it gets compressed. You will see that the gap of the bushing is open when the bracket is loose but when you tight them the gap disappears making it perfectly flush. So far I like the bushings, time will tell how they react.
Soo that´s it! I need to test it out and see if my small bump at low speed is finally gone.
In a 10/10 DIY scale difficulty I rate:
The links: 2/10 (Both)
The bushings: 2/10 (Drivers) 3/10 (Passenger)I took around 1 hour and 30 minutes to do both sides.. Taking the amount of time it took me to take out the tools and jack the car, remove the wheels Id say its a solid 2 hour job.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS FINALLY! No more knocking at low speed! I can even swear the ride was upgraded due to the softer sway bushings.. I went to a street in my neighborhood that is full of pot holes and small ridges and while driving at crawl speed before I could hear multiple knockings in my driver´s wheel only and the ride was harsh. Now I can go at the same crawl speed and no more knocking! but its also a lot smoother!!... Perfect for México Roads.
Torn? woahh mine where in good physical condition just incredibly hardened.. Perhaps they were changed before nats?
Yeah... Tried to attach a picture, but it's not working at the moment. I ordered the Moog sway bar links and will install with my pop's after Christmas.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS FINALLY! No more knocking at low speed! I can even swear the ride was upgraded due to the softer sway bushings.. I went to a street in my neighborhood that is full of pot holes and small ridges and while driving at crawl speed before I could hear multiple knockings in my driver´s wheel only and the ride was harsh. Now I can go at the same crawl speed and no more knocking! but its also a lot smoother!!... Perfect for México Roads.
Finally did this replacement with both Moog sway bar end links and bushing. My clunking over pot holes and speed bumps is gone. The lower end of the end links were really loose. I believe my sway bar was hitting the back of the engine and making the noise.
Terrible design with the hex on the end links to hold the nut from moving. I put pb blaster but it didn't help much. I had hex socket and hex allen wrench and it would just twist and not break loose. I finally got some vice grips and wedge them in the back to be able to break them loose. Out of the four nuts one of them came off pretty easy. The other three were tight from start to finish. Took way longer than it should have.
Only problem I had with the sway bar bushing was one of the rear bolts got cross threaded coming out. I swapped the bolts cleaned the threads on the bolt and added anti-seize before getting them back in.
Best $60 spent!
Does this require a wheel alignment? I need to get new tires so I'll get that done then.
Thank you for the info above, I should have done this a long time ago.
Currently have Bridgestone Dueler H/L 400. They have about 34K miles. They got noisy about 25K miles. Looking at getting Continental cross contact LX20 next.
Hey Everyone, thanks for the info! I'm thinking of doing the front and read end-links and bushings as well, but want to make sure it would all be good for an '04 MDX. @Skirmich, you said this is meant for 07-13, so do I need different parts for an '04? Thanks!
11-06-2017, 07:02 PM
