well i was under the car yesterday messing with one of my god forsaken wheel speed sensors and i noticed my driver side front swaybar looks like this:

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so i went to check out the passenger side, because i know its not supposed to look like that, here the passenger side:

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in the second pic, the passenger side almost looks to have a hairline fracture in the same area the other side is broken!

is this a time bomb? what would happen if this thing to break on me one of these days? the drivers side makes me a little nervous....although i have no idea how long its been like that, heck it couldve been like that when i bought it, typically the front swaybar isnt the first thing i check out on a car ya know?

oh and i know this technically isnt Bonneville related, so move if you must, but remember that the Northstar forum is pretty much dead as far as gearheads are concerned, and i figured that this is similar in practice to a Bonneville..

wheel its driveable, but i wouldn't, cuzz if it lets go while your takeing a turn, you might slide or loss comtroll

bandit? i thought drinking this time of day was taboo? i would get that checked into. it appears that it is ready to snap off the bolt...not a good thing. besides the fact that it might be throwing your alignment off.

its the only car i have, i either drive it or i dont go to work.

i looked into replacing it myself, but in the Chiltons its a very complicated process involving lots of tools i dont have, it even states its best performed by a professional.

HOLY CRAP

SLAP ME....

WTF did i say....

Dam well let me translate

Well its driveable, but i woundn't drive it. becuase if it snaps around a turn you might loose controll or something

i was on a call at work at the same time as typeing that oops

ill try to take it in and have my mechanic look at it....well my parents' mechanic, hes never actually seen this car yet

BUT if he does say that it needs replaced, this might just turn into an upgrade, can anyone say Impala police package front swaybar?

I'd get it fixed asap. But there are more dangerous things than that IMO, depending on your driving habits I guess. Some Bonnes came from the factory missing an entire endlink assembly. If that side broke off it wouldn't be much worse than having a missing endlink. :? Am I wrong?

would it be better to just disconnect it now? some cars don't have sway bars. i think the real danger would come not from not having it connected, rather the sudden change in suspension geometry that would occur when this thing lets go.

aren't the sway bars only there as supplimental suspension components?

No, you are not wrong, bonnie94ssei.

I wouldn't recommend driving around with it cracked like that, as a sudden release while in a hard turn could cause a loss of control if you were not expecting it. However, the wheels won't fall off or anything and it would still be driveable, if somewhat poor handling.

As far as you doing the work, that is your choice, but it is not that bad of a job and can be done by you just as much as any of the other work mentioned here can be. If you don't have the tools, that'* another story.

To tell you the truth, it almost looks to me like that bar could be re-welded to save money if that'* an issue.

As far as upgrading to a larger, stiffer bar up there, consider that you will also want to upgrade the rear at the same time or you will create too much of an imbalance in your under/oversteer.

Like Lash mentioned, it'* probably not life threatening and it will not throw off alignment in any way.

The sway bar and endlinks keep your car from swaying or tipping into a corner. My sisiter was missing both endlinks for an unknown amount of time and never noticed. I fixed her up last night and she made no mention that she noticed a difference.