Anti-roll bar bushes - lubricate or not?

I've recently done a complete suspension rebuild on my 1998 C2, but there's one item that's not gone quite right - there seems to be a lot of stiction in the front anti-roll bar mounts. When I took it off, the anti roll bar had rust creeping under the paint, so I wirebrushed it back to bare metal and repainted it with epoxy primer and black smooth hammerite. In the new bushes, I was able to rotate the bar, but only with a lot of initial effort, so it would move around in jumps (usually banging my knuckles in the process). I put some silicone grease on the bushes to try to smooth things out, but I can hear the clunks of the bar moving when I pull away, brake etc as the front moves up and down. I'm fairly sure that this can't be good for the drop links, so I want to smooth out this movement somehow. In contrast, the bushes for the rear anti roll bar are snug but nowhere near as tight, so the bar can rotate without effort. So, did I make a mistake in adding the silicone grease to the bushes - should I have just left them dry or is there a better material, or perhps are the bushes the wrong size (too tight)? Unfortunately I'd already binned the old bushes before this issue came to light so I can't compare old to new (rookie mistake). I've jacked up the car to take a look at the bushes/roll bar and I could hear the clunking as the front end came up - the noise came from the area of the bushes so I'm 99% certain that's what's making the noise.

In the first instance i would be liberally applying rubber grease to the bushes .. https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/trip...MI_OSz9tvn7wIVVe7tCh1kQwX8EAQYAyABEgI0OfD_BwE Its something we often do on a 993 but i've not yet needed to on a 996 . After that see what noises you have .. there is nothing to say it's not something else .. If you can move the roll bar up and down then perhaps the bushes are incorrect ? The noise from worn front roll bar bushes is similar to worn diagonal arms but on steroids .. A very loud .. bonk bonk ... bonk bonk bonk over bumps or potholes .

Thanks for the tip - is that a preferred brand of yours, or is any red rubber grease as good as the next? I can get other brands slightly cheaper on Amazon Prime... Regarding the source of the noise, I did the obvious and disconnected the drop links from the front anti-roll bar, then went for a test drive down some local roads covered in speed bumps. I'm happy to say that there were no clonking noises, so it must be coming from the drop links or the roll-bar/bushes. After the test drive I jacked the car back up and had a go at moving the roll bar by hand. It's actually a lot easier to move now than it was after I initially fitted the new bushes (no skinned knuckles and I could move it with one hand this time), but there is definite stiction - while moving it's easy to keep it moving, but if you stop, it takes a lot more effort to start it moving again and when it starts, you get a clonk noise. I can't help but wonder if, left alone, the noise would go as the roll bar and bush bed into/polish each other, but it's annoying at the very least, so I'll invest in some rubber grease as you recommend.

I doubt it's this, especially as you've covered it in grease, but I believe hammerite takes 30 days to fully cure. I could believe the hammerite surface was 'grabbing" at the rubber. My guess is that your bushes are slightly undersize though. Find out what you bought and see if there's an alternative (eg from another year, or maybe you have M030?) that's a mm or two bigger.

I changed front and rear roll bars and bushes no lubricant..all seems fine

Ok, so this evening I took the bushes off, cleaned the silicone grease off (washed in soapy water), then reassembled with red rubber grease as advised by deMort. On reassembly with the bolts just hand tight, I could immediately feel it was better and after torquing them down the roll bar still moves smoothly by hand - no discernable stiction at all. Took the car out for a test drive in speed bump territory and it's just like it should be - no annoying clunks, just smooth and supple. Result.

Happy days

Sorry i missed this post last night .. yes that is the grease we use .. Car is fixed though so a job well done :thumb: