front sway bar bushings. $7 cost, 10 minutes to change, front end tightened up nicely. The stock units were VERY mushy, soft rubber when removed... the new el-cheapos from O'Reillys were hard as hell. Before my truck kinda went down the road like a dog sniffing for a place to crap... now it tracks with predictable results.

 

Yep. It's something that is easily overlooked but can be a very simple fix.

 

My 4WD Blazer is squeaking badly from the front end. I am going to replace the sway bar bushings ---since they are so cheap and probably need it anyway! Is it a difficult job on a 4WD ? Any special instructions or tricks to doing this? Do you lube the new bushings or put them on dry? If lubed, with what? TIA, Jim

 

I went to O'Reily's Auto and got a set of two sway bar bushings for only $4.29 for the house brand. They showed two sizes for the 4WD LS: 1 1/16" and 1 5/16". I got the smaller size since it was the only one in stock. I would really like to have the 1 5/16" front bar if it is a bolt in. I may start a salvage yard search for that. The bushings were made in the USA! O'R also carries the Moog brand bushings but they are order only.
Question: should I lube these before installing or put on dry?

 

While on the You Tube getting educated on how to R & R the lower and upper control arms, I saw one guy's vid who showed how to 'test' if it was the ball joints that were causing the squeak In the front end. You take a WD-40 can with straw and insert the straw in a hole in the ball joint boot. Then you spray the WD 40 in until the out flow is clear and not dirty grease. Then press on the fender or take it for a drive to see if it still squeaks. I guess at that point you are committed to replacing that ball joint!

 

I ordered a pn K-6169 set of two 1 1/16" sway bar bushings for my 2003 Blzr LS 4WD for $4.29. It turns out it has the PN K-6530 1 5/16" sway bar and the kit of two bushings for that is only 9.49 for the set of 2. They will have them in the morning. I hope to put them on tomorrow. However, I think this is not the problem causing the front end squeak. It is coming from the areas near the upper and lower ball joints or the front shocks. It is a major job to replace the ball joints, so I think I will disconnect the front shocks at the bottom and then push the front end up and down to see if it is still squeaking. It would be a lot easier to replace the front shocks than the four ball joints. Maybe not much cheaper?! This will do two things: It will test to see if the new sway bars eliminated the squeaks and if the shocks are squeaking. Yes, I will have to address this two components separately to see which one is the culprit.