How to Adjust Sway Bars

A sway bar, also known as an anti-roll bar, is a slender piece of metal that is part of a vehicle's suspension. The bar connects the left and right wheels with lever arms that are joined together with a torsion spring. There are typically two sway bars on a vehicle --- one in the front and one in the back. Sway bars help prevent a car from rolling when you are driving around a curve. Some vehicles are equipped with small links that can be adjusted to increase or decrease a car's resistance to rolling.

Instructions

1

Determine which sway bar on your vehicle --- the front, back or both --- you are going to adjust. Raise your vehicle with a jack and place a jack stand at each of the four corners of the chassis to support it.

2

Remove the lug nuts with a ratchet and socket. Slide off the left and right wheel near the sway bar you are going to adjust.

3

Find the sway bar and locate the end links, which are secured to the bar. Remove the bolt that secures the end link to the opening in the sway bar. There will be several openings in the sway bar into which the link can be pushed. Move the link to one of the openings closer to the wheel to decrease roll resistance; place the link further away from the wheel to increase resistance.

4

Move the link to the desired opening. Tighten the bolt to reattach the link. Do this for the other side of the bar and for the other sway bar if you are adjusting both.

5

Replace the wheels and tighten the lug nuts. Bring the vehicle back down to the ground and remove the jack and jack stands. Test the vehicle and make readjustments, if necessary.