Can anyone tell me what the cons are of not having a sway bar on the front of the 2000 Cavalier? Can it cause a clunking sound/feeling? Trying to track down a clunking/popping sound on the front driver side. I only hear it for the most part on making right hand turns with the brake partially engaged. I can feel it in the steering wheel and brake pedal and feels like the wheel trying to come off. I was going to do sway bar end links and noticed the entire mechanism is gone. At this point I am slowly working my way through a list of things it could be. I thought it was the wheel bearing at first and already changed both sides along with brakes and rotors. Next is going to be getting a sway bar to re-install and new strut mounts in case the bearing is binding up. Any tips appreciated. Thanks.
some of the cavs don't have a front sway bar, so it might not be missing it might just never have came with one.
I miss my Cavalier, even if it made 100 hp on a cold day and had more suspension then it deserved.
My 99 didnt have one either. My guess is ur strut mounts or control arm bushings but check ur ball joints and tie rod ends too
ReD RaiN
Ah, okay. Well that's cool to know.
I saw a service bulletin for the intermediate shaft for the steering column causing a "slip stick" situation. There is a lube kit for it if you don't want to replace it with the new shaft. I am going to try and get someone to help me and see if I can get it to clunk just sitting in the yard. Ball joints and inner/outer tie rods are next on the list. If it turns out to be the intermediate shaft, I'll get an estimate from the shop and see if it's worth the headache to do it myself or pay and have the dealer get the headache.
https://www.gmforum.com/2000-2005-90/new-gm-recall-coming-soon-intermediate-shaft-204852/page3/
Could be a bad CVC joint as well, maybe. I had a trans bearing go out and it made a similar sound but I was told that was a common failure point.
I miss my Cavalier, even if it made 100 hp on a cold day and had more suspension then it deserved.
Just an update and a quick question. I have new tie rods, inner and outer, on thier way along with the ball joints. So I'll finally get to see if one of them fixes it. I also spent nearly two hours at the junkyard getting a sway bar for it. It's a 19mm off a 2003 model. Took me awhile to get it off since I dropped the sub-frame and I had to figure out which bolts were holding it up and hoping the engine didn't fall out with it. Can the sway bar be put in when the inner tie rods are removed and out of the way? It seems the bolts will have to be tightened by feel on the D brackets, but I was wondering if there would be clearance to slide it behind the rack and pinion without dropping the sub-frame? I'm just going to do it all at the same time in about 2 or 3 weeks when I get paid again. Need some moolah for the Moog poly endlinks (the white ones) and the Energy Suspension D bracket bushings. If none of this fixes it, Ill just go through the rest of the stuff on a one by one basis until i do get it fixed. I guess the other stuff would be good to get out of the way before the alignment anyways if they are bad.
Current fixes to implement:
Ball Joints
Inner and Outer Tie Rods
Install a Sway bar
Things to check:
Control Arm Bushings
Strut Mounts
CVC Joints
I could not get mine on without dropping the sub frame. I kno ive seen on here ppl who say they have, but from my experience doing it in the driveway, i couldnt get it to fit. 99 cav 2.2l
ReD RaiN
Hello everyone. Small update. I had some stuff happen to my daily driver and so the Cavalier got put off off until this weekend.
1. I started with the tie rods and haven't made it to the ball joints yet. Outer on the driver side and both inner/outer on the passenger were shot. I was going to do the driver inner also but fluid started pouring out when I went to remove the boot. I just resealed the boot and I am going to leave it alone until I get the money for a new rack and pinion. Fixing the seal never works in the long run from my experience.
2. I got the sway bar in without dropping the subframe! In order to accomplish this I had to do the following: Remove outer tie rod on driver side. Remove inner and outer tie rod on passenger side. Remove the bolt holding the power steering line down on the passenger side, bolt is located where the passenger sway bar bracket goes. Back out the outer frame bolt that goes through the passenger control arm, it sticks up about half an inch past the bolt and the sway bar will catch on it. Its a extremely tight fit and you have to tug a bit (probably smash your fingers like I did) but it will fit through the hole. You have to put the sway bar in through the driver side because of the power steering lines. It's the only way to miss them. Having the inner tie rod off on the passenger gives just enough clearance to slide the bar past with the power steering line moving up a bit to allow the movement. I did this before i tried to take the inner off on the driver side or I would have just waited until I put a new rack and pinion in. Also to clarify, this is a 19mm sway bar. I'm sure a 20mm would fit through too.
3.How in the world do you reconnect the little metal air tube back to the tie rod boots? I can't see/reach it from the bottom and I can't touch it from the driver side. Too much stuff in the way. I tried to poke it into the driver boot from the passenger side without much luck. Maybe if I didn't have such giant hands it would be easier. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks .
