Shark7000

I changed all the control arms and bushings on this 2008 CLK350, that I got, after driving my wifes for a couple of years. I liked it so much, I bought me one. It's not as nice as my wife's car, because it has a few dents and sloppy paint repairs. I should have left the sway bar bushings on it. But since I was just replacing everything, I went ahead and replaced those bushings, too. I wasn't sure why they seemed either glued on or melted on, so it took a bit to get the old ones off. Now, the new ones slide side to side and make noises when I drive it. Was I supposed to glue them in place? They did come with a small package if silicone grease. I guess I just need to keep greasing them? Maybe put a grease fitting in the cap, and drill a small hole through it to allow grease to get inside, between the bushing and the bar. Are they supposed to move side to side? I get that the grease is dried up, after a couple of weeks, so it makes so much noise. All the noise in the video is from moving it sideways through the bushings. It seems this side to side movement caused the grease to push to the side, so it's reall dry now and makes all that noise. Maybe I need to glue it in place like the previous ones seemed to be? Then it wouldn't slide side to side or creak. But the old bushings did seem like more of a hard rubber, where these seem more like a Polyurethane bushing. They were the only ones I could find that matched the caps for the bushings. Just going by year and model of the car, I got smaller bushings that didn't fit.


https://youtube.com/shorts/iXfGnM4mfJI?si=bK62nOb7no4FE4UA

g0rsq

I did the same on mine, and fitted poly bushes after cutting old bushes from bar.

Got exactly the same results... Annoying as the bushes are not cheap!

Ended up getting a new genuine sway bar of eBay for £100.

Shark7000

Looking up the new part, it looks like it is mounted on the sway bar as one piece. So the rubber is molded onto the bar. Just like the pieces that I removed. I wish I knew that before I did that. I was thinking, maybe I should leave these on here? I should not have second guessed myself on this. If this is how it was designed, why do they have aftermarket parts to go on there like it belongs there, like this? Even when I was looking for the bushings, you would think something would come up showing they come as one piece with the sway bar. Funny thing is, the Mercedes website has it cheaper than the aftermarket parts sites. At least from my google search. I do see one come up without the bushings on it. But Mercedes, FCP and others show the bushings and cap on the bar. I will have to check ebay. I guess that was the only way they could keep it from doing what it's doing on my car now. LOL
Even if I glued it on now, it wouldn't stretch enough to stay in place. I think I would have to weld half of a washer onto each side of the bushing, to keep it from slipping side to side. It would have to be welded in the perfect position to fit. Welding heat might weaken the sway bar. It would probably be easiest to order the proper new part. This is one of those, learn as you go, situations.
Thank you for your reply.

g0rsq

Yes I went through all this when I did mine.
There are two versions of sway bar, one with moulded bushings, one without.
Everything is different between them, including drop links, mountings.
I had clunking from front suspension over bumps.
In the end I replaced everything including new struts.
Ended up being a radius arm bush.
Even when out it looked and felt ok, but it resolved the knock and it feels like a new car now.