Clearance is inevitable,so, with the increasing of machine’s speed, nonlinear vibration phenomenon caused by clearance is more apparent, which influences the precision and stability of mechanical system. For increasing the stability of mechanical system, a robust design method based on sensitivity analysis is studied, by using four-bar linkage as the research object, deducing the nonlinear dynamic model with clearance and the sensitivity of dynamic response, based on the rational planning to the tracks and control the sensitivities. In the design example, it shows that although the track deviation of robust design is slightly bigger than that of optimization design, the comprehensive dynamic performance of the mechanical system is much better than the latter, which means the stability of mechanical system is improved greatly. Thus, the robust design based on sensitivity analysis is an effective way to improve the stability of the mechanical system.