broken sway bar?

Question

i think my sway bar is broken,is it a major thing to fix and if i cant fix it for a few weeks is that a big deal?
my car is a 2001 chevy blazer

Answer 1

If it is a broken sway bar it should not hurt to wait a few weeks to fix it.
Sway bars work to stabilize a vehicle during cornering and turning. Up to about ten to fifteen years ago, they were an optional piece of equipment on new cars and trucks.

The only time that a sway bar (if installed correctly) should actually be working is during hard cornering or turning. It does NOT support any weight, effect the steering geometry, or the wheel alignment of a vehicle. If your sway bar is broken, you may hear a popping or rubbing noise during a hard turn or when cornering, but since it is already broken it shouldn't hurt anything.

Most of the time, when they break, it is towards the end of the bar, near the control arm (where it is actually attached to the suspension of the vehicle). It is not a real major repair but don't expect it to be a cheap fix. Front end work on Chevy Blazers is not cheap, especially if it is a 4 wheel drive.

Don't be surprised if when you take it for repairs, that you are told that you also need to replace the ball joints, too. Since they may have to take them loose in order to replace the sway bar, you may as well replace the lower ball joints at the same time (if they are bad) to save from paying the labor twice by waiting to do it later.

Answer 2

What makes you think the sway bar is broken? That's one of those things that's pretty easy to tell!

If it is broken, you've probably hit something pretty hard and done other damage as well. So yes, it's a big deal trying to drive for several weeks without repairing it. Take it off the road until you can get it repaired.

The swaybar is an important part of your suspension system, especially on a top-heavy SUV. You risk rolling it even on a mild corner if it's actually broken. Any high-speed evasive maneuvers may cause it to flip as well.

Answer 3

Swaybars rarely break! Bushings and hangars go bad sometimes though. you can tell when the swaybar is giving you problems --when you go around corners, it will roll to the outside of the turns badly! Since swaybars function is to keep the front end (or back end on ones with swaybar in back)- more level. It pulls the other side of car down, so that you don't have as much "body roll" when you corner,-since the one on outside of turn will want to go down, and the one on the inside of turn will want to go up. This makes the car seem to want to turn over easily, (and it takes a whole lot less to turn over also).

If the swaybar did indeed break, you probably have sone some real damage underneath! So get under the front end and check all the hangars , bushings and if it actually is broken, you will see the break (most likely). since about 98% of the bar is in the open!
I would refrain from driving at "road speeds" if the bushings or hangars are broken, however you could probably drive in town without much danger, -if broken get it fixed asap( and whatever else is broken with it)!

Answer 4

That's a fairly cheap and easy bolt on. The question is, if you broke that, what else did you break? That is a hard item to tear up with out at least getting an alignment also. But here's a link. Good Luck. And fix it before you drive it!

Answer 5

I would get a second opinion. You "think" it's broken? better find out for SURE.

If it IS broken, get it fixed ASAP, and drive very carefully until you do, especially in corners and lane changes.

Answer 6

where is it broken ? if it is where it bolts to the control arm it is an easy fix

Answer 7

Wow, Thankss! exactly what I was looking for. I looked for the answers on the internet but I couldn't find them.