I hear some rattles when going over bumps and think it might be my sway bar links based on some posts I have read. I see they are really just a bar with ball joints at both ends. What causes them to go bad, and how can I tell? Is it just that the ball joints go bad on the bar? I've read from some that there are some sort of rubber bushings--I didn't really see any. What goes bad with these things?

thanks,
db

I had some front end noise and just unbolted the sway bar links to inspect
them. It takes about 10 minutes to get them off. The sway bar itself acts
like a spring and pushes up so you have to use a short pry bar to push
down on the sway bar to put it into position when replacing (slip one end
of pry bar under the A arm and place pry bar over the sway bar and push
down).

Mine did not have any real wear and the end joints were all tight. I did
end up driving the car with them off to see if the noise went away (it
did not, another story). Car drove like a 142 without the front sway bars.

OK, saw a drawing, the links have the ball joints on both ends. Has anyone ever replace the two sway bar bushings that mount the sway bar to the subframe? I heard these could also cause the problem and need to be replaced often also.

Thanks.

The bushings deteriorate over time. The best way to tell is to put the car on a lift and really lean on the swaybar and end link to see how loose the connections are. This is a little tough to do at home since most of us don't have lifts in our garages. You may try putting the car on ramps but I don't think you could get the leverage to tell if the links are bad. Any experienced Volvo tech with a lift will be able to tell in a few seconds. This is a very common problem with these cars. I just wish I didn't live with the problem for four years until I got it fixed.

When you say "bushings" do you mean the ball joints in the link bar? or is there something else that goes bad also?

thanks for your response!

bushings are the rubber thingys on the ends. over time they disintegrate. you will see 2 on each side (or remnants of them). i am thinking of upgrading to poly bushings myself.
regards

No, I believe those are the ones that go bad.