Noisy sway bar Options

[blitZ]

I upgraded to a 22mm Weltmeister sway bar a few years ago. During some routine maintenance, I noticed it was hard to move. So, I removed it, cleaned and lubed the bushings and now moves freely. Ever since, I get a clunking sound when I hit a bump or hole in the road. I think it is adjusted correctly, there seems to be no load on it sitting flat.

There was a little side to side play and I limited it by adding some washers and felt material to snug up each side. Any ideas as to what is the cause?

[ConeDodger]

Did you remove your gas tank when you were doing this work? Sometimes when you get the gas tank in deep, it rattles against it.

[blitZ]

I took the tank out when I installed the new bar, there is plenty of clearance. That's the first thing that came to mind when I noticed the bar would not move freely, that the tank had settled on it. But that's not the case.

[brant]

Probably you did this...
but when ever installing a bar its nearly impossible to get each side lined up perfectly... (plus these cars have a bit of variation even if you measure)

its critical to tweek things to get each side as much inline with the other during install as possible. Plus I ABSOLUTELY install zerks into bar bushings. I did so on my welts and also on my smart racing bars.

Once on the old race car (15 years back?) I ripped out a 6inch are of the inner fender where the sway bar bushing was. Thats when I learned that these bushings are a maintanence item and require frequent lube.
Once they bind, they tear

I'd remove it again... clean.. lube... and install zerks into the bushings.

[r_towle]

Hollow 22mm weltmeister bars do flutter when not under stress (like a hard corner etc.)
Two things I did.
One, get 22mm pipe clamps so you can center the bar...it will slide side to side.
Second, cut a piece of garden hose and slice it all the way down the length. Put that over the bar. It stops the flutter and helps keep it centered also.

Rich