Freightliner Sway Bar Bushings

[TXwannabe]

Here's my question: We FT in our 05 Phaeton, but I need to replace the front sway bar bushings (all 8 of them). Although I haven't done this before, I've done some research and see that it isn't a high tech job.
We are in a level site, but in order to get my old man body under the rig, it sure would help if I raised the jacks and aired up the airbags. What damage might I do if I raised the jacks without closing the slides? I won't be moving the rig at all, (wheels chocked, e-brake on) just thinking of a way to make it easier to work under the front of the rig.
TIA!

[Skip426]

You don't want to trust the air suspension or leveling jacks with your life!

Jack stands or solid blocking from the ground to the frame , for your safety.

Does your coach have a gen set slide out ?

I can pull my gen set out , and have a spot to sit up in while working on chassis.

Have a good look at the sway bar links before you start , mine were mushroomed over, on the bottom , and the links needed to be cut to remove the bushings .

[FIRE UP]

TX,
Are the ones in the picture(s) the same ones you're needing to replace?
When I did mine, I raised the coach only a few inches to gain enough access to slide my fat as... body under it. Even if a catastrophic failure happened, the coach would only fall a few inches and I wasn't gonna be crushed 'cause, I could actually fit under it without raising it. But, it was/is just tougher to work in those circumstances.
Scott

[FIRE UP]

I guess not too worried about answers.
Scott

[Bigd9]

Well I'll give you a comment Scott. You make the rest of us look like we are lazy for not painting the bar and links! I cheaped out and just replaced the little rubber thingies plus the washers & nuts and left mine looking dirty.

Gotta ask you though, how many times per year do you wash & wax those?

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

Well I'll give you a comment Scott. You make the rest of us look like we are lazy for not painting the bar and links! I cheaped out and just replaced the little rubber thingies plus the washers & nuts and left mine looking dirty.

Gotta ask you though, how many times per year do you wash & wax those?

Hey Pete,
You think those look cool, look at my turbo pipe from the Air cleaner to the turbo that I had to remove in order to gain access to the dash A/C pump for an R&R of that pump. That tube was real ugly looking so, a little clean up and some paint.
Scott

P.S. Oh, while in there, I cleaned up the clamps for the hoses on that turbo tube. Whatcha think?
Scott

[swampdog2]

Fire UP/ needs a job ! before he rubs holes in everything on that rig lol!but it looks new or better than new !

[FIRE UP]

Hey Swampdog2,
My motorhome IS MY JOB, hahahaha. At least sometimes I think it's my job. Before our last trip which, was about a week or so ago, I had to fix a plumbing issue, a mirror falling off the wall, the wall paneling itself separating from the stud work, a replacement of the rotor motor for the convection/microwave oven and, the rebuild of the master ram that, extends our bedroom slide out and retracts it.

Once I got ALL THAT DONE, we headed off on our planned trip. Only, when we got to our campsite/RV park spot, the JACKS would NOT EXTEND! After much research and studying, AND, some very, very gracious help from *AZ PETE* on here, I was able to procure a *shuttle valve* for the HWH system and make the Jacks work as they're supposed to. Yep, I gotta job.

Scott

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Hey Swampdog2,
My motorhome IS MY JOB, hahahaha. At least sometimes I think it's my job. Before our last trip which, was about a week or so ago, I had to fix a plumbing issue, a mirror falling off the wall, the wall paneling itself separating from the stud work, a replacement of the rotor motor for the convection/microwave oven and, the rebuild of the master ram that, extends our bedroom slide out and retracts it.

Once I got ALL THAT DONE, we headed off on our planned trip. Only, when we got to our campsite/RV park spot, the JACKS would NOT EXTEND! After much research and studying, AND, some very, very gracious help from *AZ PETE* on here, I was able to procure a *shuttle valve* for the HWH system and make the Jacks work as they're supposed to. Yep, I gotta job.

Scott

I see your problem now, you made all of the parts that make up your coach jealous of each other. You polish a exhaust pipe clamp until you see yourself, and all of other parts wonder why they are being ignored.

Now I do it the other way around. I fuss and cuss the parts that fail and then install the replacement parts naked. Infact, when I installed the exhaust pipes between the turbo to the muffler I didn't even scrap off the stickers that were glued on the pipes! I just let them burn off. That act showed the rest of the parts I mean business. No coddling and babying or showing favoritism. I tell them you had better work as is or you are history.

The only thing this logic doesn't work on is my wife of 48 years. She definitely functions better with coddling and babying!

[FIRE UP]

Ok Pete,
I'll sit down this afternoon and have a long talk with all the rest of the parts on the motorhome, that have not been paid attention to. Wait a minute, in the 9 years and 96K miles we've owned this thing, I think ALL the parts on it have been touched, altered, replaced, modified, changed, polished, painted at one time or another. The talk will be short!
Scott

[Dunrollin]

I just went with all metal (no rubber).

Actually this is what I found, all new rubber is in place now and it really helped the ride.

[Bigd9]

Should be a much quieter ride also.

[Nitro71455]

Originally Posted by Dunrollin

I just went with all metal (no rubber).

Actually this is what I found, all new rubber is in place now and it really helped the ride.

That's exactly how mine is also. Where did you get your bushings?

--Rich

[Dunrollin]

@Nitro71455, I saw the sway bar was naked and it was going in to Freightliner for some routine maintenance, so I just added that to the list. Frieghtliner didn't have the rubber parts in stock as they had to order them.