Hi guys, I know this is an older thread, but I wanted to add to the knowledge base concerning rear sway bars on my particular application (the 363 1998 Explorer Sport project).
I was finally able to get in an Addco #633 1" rear sway bar after over a 4 month backorder; and, you guys are correct that Addco does away with all the intricate little bends that the factory bar has. Though they claim that the less bends, the stiffer the bar (which is probably true), the problem is that all those little bends are nice to have for little things like clearing the shocks and exhaust system (especially with a 3.5" diameter single exhaust pipe and Bilstein shocks, which may be a slightly larger diameter than stock).
The Addco directions are kind of fuzzy as to whether the center bend goes towards the top or the bottom as you bolt it to the axle; the engineering drawing shows it with the bend at the rear axle cover oriented towards the top (which necessitates trimming the spare tire bracket - no biggie with a Sawzall). Another peculiarity that seems to reinforce the top-facing orientation is that the middle bend at the inspection cover is offset about an inch, which would suggest the bar is bent with the intent of it being installed per the engineering drawing with the bend facing up. There is still enough clearance for the "pumpkin" either way, but if you stare at it long enough you realize it is non-symmetrical, made even more so by the fact that these Explorers have the engine and axle carriers offset to the passenger side. Despite this, I finally realized (after trimming the spare tire bracket) that I wanted to see the rear sway bar from behind, so I turned it to more closely mimic the factory sway bar location. After all, no matter which way you turn the bar, the clearance and fitment issue lies with the width between the arms that extend towards the rear (which want to hit the shocks); and, since there is no extra horizontal bends in the arms themselves once they depart from their 90 degree bend at the axle, the height distance between the end link brackets does not change with orientation.
I owe member swshawaii an eternal debt of gratitude for posting the pictures and info concerning the Moog "K80268 F250/350 SD 4WD" part number and picture, as well as the "Energy Suspension 4.5153 polyurethane kit" info; with the lack of bends in the Addco bar, you have to use these shorter end links to pull the sway bar ends up enough to clear the shocks (even with the stock ride height, the factory end links are too long with the Addco bar). The Energy Suspension kit comes with extra washers, 2-3 on each side of which will be needed to take up the space between where the end links hang "at rest" and the width of the bar; Ideally, this necessitates two new 12mm x 1.75 pitch bolts which need to be 5-10mm longer than the stock bolts that fasten between the holes at the bar arms and the end links, so the new bolts should probably be 70-75 mm long.
Another thing that I noticed from Addco's engineering drawing for the #633 bar is that there is a slight difference in height between the two sides:
Evidently, there is a difference in the height of the mounting holes at the vehicle frame, since the end links for either side have the same part number; once you bolt the end links to the car, the holes lined up perfectly.
One other picture I will add: I managed to find the grease we used on the center links way back in the day; it may have been Addco, but there were other sway bar manufacturers that we sourced back then as well (Quickor Engineering and Racer Walsh come to mind). Anyhow, some or all of them would include in their sway bar packages a small dollop of sea-green polyurethane lubricant that had the consistency of Wrigley's chewing gum on hot Georgia asphalt (if you've ever stepped in it, you know what I mean). Polyurethane being what it is, it is bad about squeaking over time as the lubricant washes out with street use - except this stuff. It took me years of deep-diving on the internet to find it, but it has finally been identified as "Aqua Shield":
In closing, I've been very pleased so far with the ride and handling of the upgrade. I also went with Energy Suspension's kit for the polyurethane bushings on the big front bar as well, and the results remind me exactly how the cars we upgraded in the 1970's and early 1980's tended to feel like. Of course, back then we were using 60 series radials with their much larger sidewalls, so the tires themselves soaked up a lot of the smaller road irregularities. In the case of my project and the 275-60R15 Hankook tires and the car's relatively heavy weight, it kind of reminds me of my high-school friend's old 1970 Cutlass 442 that we did all those years ago in the way it drives. The car tracks much straighter at freeway speeds without paying the penalty of it trying to knock your teeth out on surface streets. Like all new torsion/sway bars, it will soften some as it breaks in, but even then it will be miles beyond the puny 19mm bar that it came with; you might even say that, at my age, the thicker bar has helped to restore my feelings of street inadequacy. . .as they say, "Size Does Matter"!
