how do you change the rear sway bar bushings on a 1998 explorer?

[wmorrisw]

how do you change the rear sway bar bushings on a 1998 explorer?
There is not a split in the bushing.

 

[rdw59565]

It sounds a lot harder than it is. Take off the end links and the clips around the chassis bushings and completely remove the sway bar. Cut the old bushings off with a utility knife. The new ones slide into position on the bar. The replacement bushings from Ford are pre-lubricated to make this easy. It took me about 30-40 minutes to do the whole job.

The Ford part number for the replacement bushings is F57Z-5493-BD, I don't remember what I paid but I do remember that they were not expensive. That part number will get you a bag with both bushings in it so only order one.

-Rod

 

[wmorrisw]

Thanks!
Do I need to clean up the sway bar real good? Live in Chicago, kind of rusty.

 

[rdw59565]

That is probably an aesthetic question more than a functional one. I cleaned mine up from the position that the bushings land in to the end of the sway bar just to make it easier to slide them on.

If you order the bushings from Ford, they actually call them "isolators" not bushings like the rest of the world.

 

[wmorrisw]

Got my "isolators"! Only 14.65 from FordPart.com
My reason for the question was to find out how hard it was to get the bushing over the end of the sway bar.
Thanks for the reply. I found it hard to believe no one else replied or did a thread on this.

 

[rdw59565]

If you put the bushing on the ground and press the end of the sway bar into the hole it will slide right on.

 

[wmorrisw]

Thanks again