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Changing Sway Bar Bushings / End Links

Dario

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City, State
MN
Year, Model & Trim Level
'02 XLT
I am about to embark upon my first mechanic task beyond a simple oil change and that is changing my sway bar bushings and end links. Although it's my first time doing it myself, this will be my 5th set of bushings on this vehicle and I am going with Moogs. Ford stabilizer bar brackets and bolts, plus Moog end links. I've an AllData account and a Haynes/Chilton manual is on its way. Plus I have a torque wrench and other misc. tools.

SwayBarBushing.jpg


EndLink.jpg


I am following the procedures Joe Dirt outlines in his informative thread for the '95-'01 Explorers here.

But I have a couple of questions first.
  1. Joe has his front end up on a jack. My wife gets nervous when I do that so I wonder if a set of ramps would work as well? In other words, do the wheels need to be free as they would when the vehicle is jacked?
  2. I read through Joe's post a few times but don't recall him greasing the bushings. Should I?
 



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make sure you measure your sway bar before you purchase your bushings as Ford used several different sized sway bars.
 






And make sure that the truck is back on the ground with weight on the bar before tightening the end links...
 






sway bar bushings

You said that this is the 5th set. Why not return the rubber parts and replace them with polyurethane from Energy Suspension, Daystar or a similar company. They will last forever and improve your handling. They are generally cheaper also. Good luck.
 






Thanks guys.
-So there were differently sized sway bars within the same year? That's not good. AllData for the 2002 doesn't list the diameter so I guess I get to buy another tool!

-Joe, PM sent.

-5th set. I probably said that wrong. I meant that I've had them replaced 5 times, 3 by Ford service and 2 by a local garage. Odds are very high that each time they put rubber in. I bought Moogs this time, which I think are poly. Of course I went by the 'will this fit your vehicle' drop downs and that showed 31mm dia for the bar. Given jasong06's info I may be returning them.
 






I wouldnt return them until you measure your bar as you might have the correct ones.
 






I wouldnt return them until you measure your bar as you might have the correct ones.
Agreed.

I also stopped by my local Ford dealer yesterday, in order to pick up the stabilizer bar brackets and bolts. The parts guy was also a tech (plus, he owns a '06 Explorer) so I thought I'd confirm some things since now and then I sometimes read conflicting info.

As Joe told me via PM, it's perfectly fine doing this work while the vehicle is on the ground. Also, the tech suggested I rub some dialectic grease on the bushings. He's betting that the hardest part of the job will be removal, due to rust. I just bought a breaker bar and some liquid wrench so with luck that'll take care of it.
 






Agreed.

I also stopped by my local Ford dealer yesterday, in order to pick up the stabilizer bar brackets and bolts. The parts guy was also a tech (plus, he owns a '06 Explorer) so I thought I'd confirm some things since now and then I sometimes read conflicting info.

As Joe told me via PM, it's perfectly fine doing this work while the vehicle is on the ground. Also, the tech suggested I rub some dialectic grease on the bushings. He's betting that the hardest part of the job will be removal, due to rust. I just bought a breaker bar and some liquid wrench so with luck that'll take care of it.

I had one end-link bolt broken off at the stabilizer bar and I broke the other one trying to loosen it (with plenty of PB Blaster)...so I used a sawsall with a heavy duty metal cutting blade and had them off in minutes. No muss, no fuss...

Chuck
 






Oh yeah- I forgot to mention the grease. I hope I put that in my writeup. It does help a lot...

Here is the thread if anyone wants to peek...

CLICK ME

The end links aren't bad- I just used a hacksaw, on them after removing the sway bar (mine had the stock sleeves that the now rest-expanded bolts wouldn't pull through) took about 30 seconds per side.
 






Oh yeah- I forgot to mention the grease. I hope I put that in my writeup.
Despite a multi-pass read the other day I missed it in your thread Joe. Now, after your redirect I clearly see it:
Now onto the new sway bar bushings. I put some grease on both sides of the bushing. I also used some steel wool to clean out the inside of the mount. If your bushings are worn, you may have some residual bushing stuck to it. Chip it off with a screwdriver and steel wool it smooth for posterity.
Thanks for the thread!

I hope to tackle this project without actually fully releasing the sway bar. Do right bushing. Do left bushing. Then end links.

From the color of the end links it looks like I must have had them replaced at some point. I doubt that the blue was stock. And that's what my hopes rest on, that the bolts aren't from 2002.
 






It's not bad to drop the whole bar if you need to, although mine didn't need an alignment afterwards. Always easier to do one part at a time on the front end as it saves you from having to realign sometimes...
 






I'm a day away from doing this and I just remembered an issue I meant to bring up earlier.

Lately I've noticed that the steering wheel is turned about 3 degrees counter-clockwise when I am going straight. The vehicle doesn't seem out of alignment as it doesn't pull to one side or the other. I wonder if the end link I showed (pic 2 above) is the reason?

It's the passenger side. The driver's side end link looks fine, although I am changing that tomorrow as well.
 






Nothing with the stabilizer bar, bushings, or end liks with affect the alighment or steering wheel position.
 






I'm a day away from doing this and I just remembered an issue I meant to bring up earlier.

Lately I've noticed that the steering wheel is turned about 3 degrees counter-clockwise when I am going straight. The vehicle doesn't seem out of alignment as it doesn't pull to one side or the other. I wonder if the end link I showed (pic 2 above) is the reason?

It's the passenger side. The driver's side end link looks fine, although I am changing that tomorrow as well.


Mine is like this too. It's due to the crown in the middle of the road. I always have to turn to the inside of the road just a litle. If I'm in the fastlane on the highway I have to turn it slightly to the right, all other roads its slightly to the right.
 






Mine is like this too. It's due to the crown in the middle of the road. I always have to turn to the inside of the road just a litle. If I'm in the fastlane on the highway I have to turn it slightly to the right, all other roads its slightly to the right.

I'm willing to believe it's the road except for the fact that this is a new issue on my vehicle and I've been the only owner. Still, it is very subtle so perhaps you're right Jaydez.
 






Wrap Up

I tackled this job today. It took 4 and a half hours!

Yes, I needed jack stands or a ramp. Fortunately I crawled under yesterday afternoon to shoot some liquid wrench into the nuts/bolts and realized that while I could easily get under, I could not easily move my arms around with tools. I went out and bought a pair of ramps. They worked well.

The left link looked OK and it also looked OEM to me. The right one was the bad one and it was a Moog. From the looks of the lowest bushing (see pic in my first post) I think the shop that installed it tightened it too tight. Anyway, I planned on changing both. As it turned out, both links were put in with the nut on the top. Alldata and Chilton shows them like that too.

I began with the 'bad' one. God bless my breaker bar!
Once I got the nut off I could tell that the bolt was fused to the sleeve. No amount of tapping on the bolt would budge it.

Since I was going to change the left one too I thought I'd try that for awhile. But the nut (on top) was stripped so I was never able to get any kind of grip on it.

Moving on, dejectedly, I went for the sway bar bushings. These came off as expected. Again, God bless my breaker bar!

So now I have the sway bar bushings off, one end link that's permanently attached due to a striped nut and one that's only connected by a fused sleeve.

No torch. Tired. Dreaming of a Guinness. Then I think, maybe I have a metal blade for my Sawzall? I did. With the help of my 70 year old father, lying on the ground with the breaker bar attached to the bolt head for tension, I was able to saw off the head just under where the link goes through the lower control arm.

New bar bushings on, new link on (nut down), a few circuits of tightening and onto the torque wrench. Down ramp, clean up, test drives fine and it's 4PM.

I may Sawzall off the left link at some point but it really looks fine and it is tight so who knows.

The steering wheel is still rotated a few degrees to the left but I now just tilt my head to the left a little and all is well.

Thanks to everyone here for all the useful info.
 






That was an adventure! :)
 






Yup.
We plan to have Ray Liotta play me in the forthcoming made for TV movie.
 






lol!

Will it be PG-13 for language? :D
 



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As I teach in a K-12 Catholic school, I've learned to pre-censor myself. Trouble is, instead of swearing I just make a beeping sound in mid sentence.

Perhaps we'll have thought balloons for the extended, uncut edition DVD.
 






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