Robbiescd

Hey folks! New to the site and I've enjoyed reading all the info!

My wife drives a 2009 Maxima and was having a "whomping" sound coming from the rear of the car when she went over speed bumps or dips in the road. I finally decided to try and replace the rear sway bar bushings and after doing so, the "whomping" (as she described), has stopped.

After seeing the wear on those bushing, I decided to replace the front sway bar bushing and end links as well. The car has about 140,000 miles on it, so I knew it wouldn't hurt.

Took off the tires, located the bushings (on top of the frame!) and wow!.....how in the world do you get to them! I was able to get the front bolt out but had no success at the rear bolt. Wouldn't even begin to know how to get to it! And if I were able to remove the bolt, how in the heck do you even begin to get both hands around the sway bar to remove and replace?

To me...this is in an extremely difficult location to access. So I gave up. In order to get the front bolt back in place, I had to tape the bolt to the socket....couldn't get my hands anywhere close to the bushing.

I've looked all over the internet for "how to" videos, but have found nothing. Any help would be appreciated.

GodFather

iTrader: (10)

I had just done mine, you're right, the front bolt is quite simple, but that rear bolt...what a PITA!

Some pointers here:
- On passenger side, that rear bolt can be reached with enough room if you remove the y-pipe, and also remove the fuel line shield, you'll have to reach the bolt from under the car in that vincinity. I find it very annoying because I can only get one hand into that opening, and to turn the bolt, I actually need another hand out there to stabilize the socket to grip it tight. What I ended up doing is I have one hand going in from under, then another hand coming from the passenger side to help with stabilization. With a little work, I finally got it to turn. And even after I got it to turn, it still takes both hands and I had to spend about 5-7 minutes turning it very slowly because the ratcheting angle is very small. With some patience I finally got it out. After that, I had to slide the bushing and its bracket to a roomier opening to under it from the bar.

- On driver side, this where the impossible mission took place. I've gather many tools over the years of my DIY car repair experience, no matter how I tandem the sockets, extensions, adapters, wrenches, etc, it just won't budge. There's just no head room to get to the bolt. Just when I was giving up, I looked at the subframe and finally strategized a way to remove all the bolts under the driver side subframe, keeping the passenger side in tact. This actually gave me room to work with and finally got the socket to fit onto the bolt for removal. And similar to what I had to do on the passenger side, I had one hand coming in from the underbody and one hand coming from the driver steering assembly side. Working very slowly I finally got the bolt out.

Installation shouldn't need be explained, but just be careful because when I was tightening it up, the socket did slip a few times because of socket/bolt fitment angle, I almost busted my thumb on one instance.

As hard as this DIY can get, I hope my experience can help. Good luck.

LtLeary

Great job GodFather! Alldatadiy and the fsm show you have to remove the engine! Great write up, ingenuity and perseverance.

MaximusN8

​​​​​​Did you really end up having to remove the Y pipe to replace the sway bar bushings is there any other way without removing the Y pipe? I really hate to attempt and remove that Y pipe then upon putting it back on I end up with an exhaust leak.

mahanddeem

Bumping this thread to get an idea on how to tackle this job, definitely seems harder than the rear!

MaximusN8

This one scares me, I've searched the internet for hours looking for an easier way to replace them bushings but I've had no luck at all. It's looking like a job I'm going to have to pay a garage to do, I don't get why Nissan made this so difficult to get to.

mahanddeem

Honestly with the amount and complexity of parts and structures to remove from vehicle (per the book) having a garage doing it scares me more (they often mess up much simpler things, as a lug nut or drain plug). The FSM calls for steering gear and front exhaust (y pipe) removal and draining steering fluid with disconnecting pressure lines. Too much headache and risky job. Unless some talented DIYer have a better way to do it (without that destructive surgery)

MaximusN8

I agree with you man, let's see if someone has some ideas for us.

Dmahoney

Anyone do this job since? Curious if taking off the crossmember stops would help make room to fit a wrench in there. Also wasnt sure if that would be safe to do with the car sitting on jack stands. Dont want the body to flex to the point that I can't put it back together.

Les7311

Bumping this.....

Captive8

Has anyone besides me bought a front bar and all the related bushings yet, only to realize it's likely a big PITA job and it's cold out?...(at least it is here). I'll probably take this on when it warms up, depending on some higher priority unrelated repairs. There's gotta be a better way than the fsm spells out.

Tmcttk

I have access to a lift so that's what I used when I did mine but if you can lift the car safely in a garage or driveway you can DIY this. The easiest way to get to them, especially the back ones along the firewall, is to do just as Godfather said and take the y-pipe off and lower each side of the subassembly as you work on it. I used a jack in the center of the rear subassembly and lowered both sides at once but if you're doing it in a driveway one side at a time should work. I tried every combination of tools in the shop before giving in and lowering the subassembly. I left the subassembly bolt in the anchor nut, just loosened it up as much as possible to get as much room as possible. I did have to go at it from both sides holding the wrench on the bolt and pulling it with the other. Once the bracket is off you can slide the bushing out into the wheel well which makes it easy to change. Patience is a virtue with this job for sure, but it can be done without having to take the engine bay apart. I didn't try it with the y-pipe installed so I'm not sure if you have to, but I can tell you it was easier without it in the way.

Les7311

Just has shop installed rear engine Mount and they lowered subframe two times in one week. Nose still there and if known about bushings.....ggrrr

how about access from above? What’s the physics like?

Tmcttk

Because of how close the back bolts are to the firewall and the angle of the firewall, I don't think you'll be able to get a socket or a wrench on them from the top. It's a pretty tight fit to get to them, even with the subframe lowered. The sway bar bushings are between the PS rack and the firewall so there's not a lot of access without gutting the engine bay.

Les7311

TMC: if it’s a must to lower the subframe, am going to pass. Am a DIY on all my work, but this surgery would be a 9.5 out of 10.

tell me it ain’t so?
mounts, rods, struts, links done and with noise still there only last is this bushings.

one last, how can someone test visually if these bushings are bad?

pklostermann

Try removing the stabilizer bar end links on both sides. The bar should then be free of tension. Grab an end and rotate/shake it. If the bushings are bad, the bar should feel loose in it's mounts.

Les7311

great note. Will try for sure on next Jack up. 🤛🏿🤛🏿