Sway bar link is gone...

[Dacaur]

So I have had my explorer for around 8 months now. It's a 2010 XLT V6 automatic.

So today I parked with my wheels turned sharply to the left and happened to look an notice my frony sway bar, and there is no sway bar link on the driver side... It's not broken, it's gone, upper and lower just empty holes... passenger side has a link...

So, I'm wondering, is it possible for it to break and then just completely exit the vehicle? Or would the previous owner have to have removed it...

In the last few weeks I have had two occasions where there was a loud bang from that area, the first time was loud enough, and I felt it in the floor, that because I was passing by a golf course, I assumed I had been hit by a golf ball, but upon inspection, no dents...

Second one was just going around a right-hand corner with a slight dip.

The vehicle has been feeling a bit wandery lately, and I assume the missing sway bar link is the reason, but my real question is, am I just so unobservant that I owned this truck for 8 months without noticing it was missing a sway bar link, or could it have broken and then both ends fell out?

 

[Explorer_PL]

Yes, it's possible to lose them completely. The car will be very "loose" when driving. Common issue on these cars. They cost $ 9.99 per side.

 

[michael loibl]

It probably broke a while ago, but the noise recently could have been the remaining piece that may have been hanging from the bar getting smushed when the control arm came up on a dip in the road, causing the link to snap off.
My 2006 has 115,000 miles and I just replaced them both for second time since new

 

[Dacaur]

Ok thanks... So I should probably get two and also repkaf

 

[Tech By Trade]

With our crappy roads up here I end up changing them once a year. 15 min a side without removing the tire. Luckily at that rate it doesn't give them much of a chance to rust up and be a pain to remove when they don't completely break. For some reason the rears last a lot longer. I have only had to do them once.

 

[tripplec]

Hmm, i guessing you're not doing much service yourself. I'd think you'd notice doing an oil change and certainly when the knuckle wears a lot the noise it generates. Not looking when you heard that first clunk is, well odd but I guess you're lucky it didn't rip your tire or damage something else getting torn out.

 

[edwx]

I lost two of mine. Just bought the pos Advance Auto replacements and they worked fine.

 

[JackieG]

Worn or missing sway bar links are common with Ford. The noise is a lot worse than the repair. I replaced all 4 of mine because they generally wear out about the same time. It's one nut holding the long bolt and it's a bit hard to tighten unless you use a jack to raise the wheel above the jack stand the car sits on. (Yes, don't get under there with just a jack holding the car. You can die when it falls on you. Use stands.) I bought my sway bar replacements on Ebay

MADE IN USA 2 SWAY BAR LINK STABILIZER FORD EXPLORER 01'-2010-1 YEAR WARRANTY