- Joined
- June 17, 2004
- Messages
- 24,265
- Reaction score
- 4,733
- City, State
- Knoxville, TN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Limited AWD 302
That's an Addco bar, custom made. I had them make one for my Ranchero in the late 80's, one size larger than the OEM largest option. I did the same for this one, it's well made, but their hardware is as typical, very poor quality. So their end links I was expecting to have to upgrade, I had an ES kit ready to use with it. Unfortunately they did a very poor job with the frame mount brackets, the radius at the frame was too great, so the mounting bolts could not tighten up fully(the bolt head hit the bracket before it seated, see below). I had two proper brackets made by a local machine shop, for about $25. The frame bushing is special, being such an odd size. That was all in 2007 or 2008 when I first rebuilt the suspension.
The rear bar is much more important, I've had the EE rear bar on it since 2004. I like a firm handling vehicle, so I wanted to try a little more bar than the stock 34mm size. The 1.5mm size is very good, but for some people it may be better to use softer end link bushings. I used very large urethane bushings, bigger than typical end link parts. I'd hunt for that kind of larger bushing in any case. The smaller diameter bushings don;t last as long. I've got about 75k miles on the front parts, the Moog BJ boots have all cracked though, they need help after about five years.
The rear bar is much more important, I've had the EE rear bar on it since 2004. I like a firm handling vehicle, so I wanted to try a little more bar than the stock 34mm size. The 1.5mm size is very good, but for some people it may be better to use softer end link bushings. I used very large urethane bushings, bigger than typical end link parts. I'd hunt for that kind of larger bushing in any case. The smaller diameter bushings don;t last as long. I've got about 75k miles on the front parts, the Moog BJ boots have all cracked though, they need help after about five years.