Changing Sway Bar Bushings / End Links | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Changing Sway Bar Bushings / End Links

Can you list the part numbers and where you bought them for the items you replaced? Just had the trans rebuilt and while it was there the owner showed me that the end links were shot... They looked worse than your pics in the first post. Looks like this will be next for me on the things to do list :/
 



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Thanks Dario! Order has been placed. Hoping this will be one of those quick and easy projects
 






2, Moog K7275 Sway Bar End Link Kit

1, Moog K80081 31 mm Front Sway Bar Frame Bushing

2, Suspension Stabilizer Bar Bracket (front) -Ford part #5486
1, Bracket Bolt (M10 X 1.5 X 35, 4 pack) -Ford part #HM4

1, Tube of Dialectic Grease

Good luck!

Question to all:

I'm installing Eibach Sway Bars on my 03 and I'm wondering about the bolts...do they screw directly into the sub-frame? Or is there a nut on the back(which I am doubting)....

And how much did ford charge you for the bolts?
 






No nut. The bolt threads into the frame.
$8.12 for a 4 pack of bolts.
 






I need to replace the front bushings on my 02 explorer this weekend and i'm following this discussion and Dirt's as well

so can this be done without jacking the front end up?

also...I don't have a torque wrench can i still get this job done? I'm gonna get the breaker bar.

thanks
 






so can this be done without jacking the front end up?
Depends on how large of a person you are. It's a tight squeeze for me and I'm only 5'10, 165#. Then again, if it's only the bushings and not the links as well, you'd have an easier time.

Others can answer the torque wrench question better than I. I bought one and felt more confortable because I knew I was tightening to spec.

I should add that the bushings I removed looked far better after removal (should taken a photo -doh!) than they did in the shot I posted.
Also, my 'winter squeek' is back, even though the snow has yet to fly (it's coming tonight I guess). At the very least I know my bushings are good and that the squeek is merely annoying.
 






I just ordered two Moog Sway Bar End Link Kits and the Energy Suspension Greasable Sway Bar Bushing Set. I'm going to tackle this job soon but I'd like a little clarfication on a couple of things:

1. Does it matter if the front end of the vehicle is sitting on jack stands versus driving the front up on ramps? I'm trying to understand if it makes any difference with the weight of the front suspension hanging down versus the weight of the vehicle compressing the suspension. Ether way does anything pop or push when you loosen the bolts for the end links or bushing brackets?

2. What are the torque specs from the manual for the bushing brackets? I assume the Moog end link kits specifies something other than factory torque for the end link bolts such as "tighten until the bushing start to compress then back off 1/4 turn".

3. Is all tightening or torquing to be performed with the weight of the vehicle compressing the suspension?
 






It doesn't seem to matter if the weight of the truck is on the ground or not as long as both sides of the truck are either on the ground, or jacked up on jackstands. What you don't want is for one side of the truck to be at full droop (ie jacked up) and the other side to be on the ground...since that may put tension on the ends of the swaybar and make the endlink swap more difficult.

Approach the job in 2 parts...do just the bushings first or the endlinks first...doesn't really matter.

when you loosen the swaybar bushing brackets the weight of the swaybar will cause that middle section of the swaybar to drop down towards the ground. Just do one side at a time so that the other side is supported and that won't be a problem.

For the end links it is probably easier to get to them with the wheels removed if the truck is on the ground, but you can also do it from under the truck if its up on ramps or jackstands.

When you do the end links unbolt both ends so you can rotate the swaybar upward to free the endlinks more easily. Once you get the parts in place on both sides you can partially thread one side, tighten the other side down, then do the other side.

Torque specs for the bushing brackets are 52 ft lbs and 18 ft lbs for the endlinks.
 






I changed out the Sway Bar End Links and the Sway Bar Bushings on my 2002 Explorer yesterday. I thought I'd share my findings and include some pictures I took along the way.
Bushings002.jpg


I decided to use jack up both sides of the vehicle and take off the wheels for easier access to the bushings and end links. Even though it seems to be more work to take this step it sure makes it easier in the long run by avoiding having to crawl under the vehicle and contort your arms and hands. I placed the jack stands under the frame "diamonds" as is the typical jacking location for the vehicle.
Bushings006.jpg


With the wheels off we can see we have easy access to the bushing and end links. Note the orange brake caliper to the lower-left in the photo.
Bushings009a.jpg


I changed the sway bar bushing first. I did one side at a time to prevent the sway bar from drooping down if both were removed at the same time. Note the distance between the blue arrows...I want to comment about this after the new bushing is installed.
Bushings008.jpg


As my vehicle is not a northern winter snow-salt vehicle the sway bar didn't have any rust. I used brake cleaner to clean up the WD-40 reside I used to squirt on the old bushings.
Bushings011.jpg


Even though this bushing set comes with grease zerks I coated the new bushing with lithium grease prior to installation. Take a look at the blue arrows in this photo and note the thickness of this bushing set as compared to the prior photo of the original bushings. The old rubber bushings are are massive compared to the new polyurethane bushings. I'm not sure why this is but I'll speculate that since rubber is much more giving than polyurethane they needed to have much greater thickness. I didn't measure the thickness of the two but it would appear that the new polyurethane bushings are 3/16" thinner. Essentially, this means the sway bar installed with the new bushings sits 3/16" closer to the frame.
Bushings020.jpg


I put Locktite-blue on the bushing bolts but I didn't crank the bushing bolts all the way down at this point. The bolts were in most of the way but I wanted to get the new end links installed before torquing the bolts. The old end links came out fairly easily. Again, I didn't have rust. I removed both the driver's side and passenger side end links at the same time. This allows the sway bar to rotate a little bit to allow for easy removal of the old end link bolts as well as installation of the new end link bolts.
Bushings013.jpg


I assembled MOST of the passenger side end link components and put them in first. Note in the picture I left the top bushing out and put the nut on to hold the assembly loosely in place while I went to install the driver's side end link. Doing it this way gives you enough sway bar play to get the end link bolt and components installed for the driver's side.
Bushings015.jpg


With the driver's side components all in place I proceeded to the passenger side to put in that top bushing I had left out that gave us sway bar play for the driver's side. With all components in place I torqued the sway bar bushing bolts to 52 ft-lbs. Then I torqued the nuts on both the left and right side end links.
Bushings018.jpg


The directions that came with the new sway bar end links specify that the nut should be torqued down until the bushings start to expand. Then you are to back off by 1/4 turn. I don't think my eyesight is good enough to distinguish that exact point where the bushing start to expand so instead of following the manufacturer's directions I just torqued the nuts to 18 ft-lbs. They seemed to have reasonable compression without any noticeable expansion. I put a dab of Loctite-blue on the nuts to lock them in place. I should point out that I torqued all the bolts with the vehicle sitting on the jack stands. I don't know if it makes a difference or not if they are torqued up in the air or with the weight of the vehicle as it sits on the ground. I will await comments from y'all.
Bushings019.jpg


The old set of bushing and end links.
Bushings022.jpg
 












Nice job Syber Tiger! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 






Just ordered the end links and bushings...they'll be going on the same time my KYB's do.
 






I wanted to share my experiences with this project. I followed this guide over the weekend to help me replace my sway bar bushings and end links.

I was fearful my 2005 with 210k miles was going to have seized bolts, but everything came lose without too much effort with a standard 3/8" socket set, no breaker bar needed. Total time from walking into the garage until tools were put away was about 2:45, including doing an oil change while I was under there.

I decided to use jack stands, which allowed me to remove the front wheels - I highly recommend doing the same. I think you could do it with ramps, but having access from the sides made this WAY easier, and being able to turn the steering wheel to get the brake rotor out of the way was helpful too. I went with the following parts:

Moog Bushings: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HPWPP6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Moog End Links: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C57YMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Lithium Grease: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XE8M3G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Locktite Blue: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002UEMZ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And man does it drive better. My end link bushings were literally gone, as in missing, and instantly from the first turn the car felt so much more stable. What a huge improvement in handling, stability, and safety - all for $40 total and less than 3 hours time.
 






I did this last night while replacing 5 month old wheel bearing that failed and what a pain in the butt. Pins were rusted solid to plastic sleeve. I ended up cutting them off with a grinder. Snapped a bolt for bushing bracket. It was 8 last night and i had no light so need to drill it out today and hope threads are salvageable. BTW I live in California and this is on an 04
 






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