I have a 1999 outback wagon. I noticed a loud noise coming from the front wheel on hard right turns the other day. Finally warmed up enough to have a look today. The front stabilizer bar is broken. I live on a dirt road and can now recall when this happened; when I hit a huge pot hole that was full of water so I couldn’t really see it. The bar is broken between the link and the clamp on the right side.

 

I have been driving the car for a few days with the broken bar and other than the noise when I turn right hard it drives normally. I will remove the broken part that is hanging down today which I’m sure will take care of the noise. Not sure when I will get a chance to get the part and fix it. Do you think it is dangerous to drive the car carefully with one side of the stabilizer bar off?

You will be fine without it. The service manager at my local dealership once even told me to remove mine altogther when it broke. You will not damage anything without it in place, it is there to reduce body roll in corners. In order to replace it you will have to remove the two bushing brackets from the frame. When I did mine I ended up snapping one of the bolts leaving the bulk of it in the frame. Try to soak them in wd40 or some other penetrating fluid a day or so in advance of removal. I ended up resorting to a combination of bottle jacks and my welder to re-install mine, but that is not exactly a Subaru approved repair procedure.

Fine without it????

 

 

If the rear one is still in place, the handling balance will have switched to oversteer. Lots of it.

 

PLEASE be careful during cornering: Lifting off the throttle mid-corner will make the car turn tighter....not so scary at normal speeds on dry roads, but you can get yourself into a spin on wet/icy roads.

You will be ok for a while if you are careful. Just remember that the car will want to oversteer (kick the back end out) in slippery conditions.