Rear Sway Bar Bushing Replacement Questions

[BigRondo]

I recently changed my front sway bar bushings and end links and it was a relatively painless job:

I am going to do the rears as well and am seeking some advice.

The end links look like they will be a piece of cake:

The bushings look like they are going to be a huge PITA!:

These things are buried deep and the nuts have been on there since March 7, 2001!!!

Any advice, tips, comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Rondo

 

[fusseli]

I had to do mine because my rear sway bar broke, new one from Ford was only $60 though. Anyhow, yeah the bolts are tough to get to and as I recall, came off half a turn at a time. Finagling the bar out was tricky, and getting the new bar with new bushings back in took a lot of patience. The RH side of the vehicle worked best for me. The bar barely clears a lot of the rear HVAC stuff.

I'd think you might be able to do the bushings without pulling the whole bar... Maybe...

 

[BigRondo]

I had to do mine because my rear sway bar broke, new one from Ford was only $60 though. Anyhow, yeah the bolts are tough to get to and as I recall, came off half a turn at a time. Finagling the bar out was tricky, and getting the new bar with new bushings back in took a lot of patience. The RH side of the vehicle worked best for me. The bar barely clears a lot of the rear HVAC stuff.

I'd think you might be able to do the bushings without pulling the whole bar... Maybe...

Thanks for the info. I don't need to replace the bar, just the bushings and end links.

Did you soak the nuts with penetrating fluid before attempting to take them off? I really don't want to snap anything off. Talk about being up $#*t creek without a paddle. :

 

[fusseli]

Yeah, used liquid wrench on the end links and bushings. The end links were rusted and pretty much fused to the nuts but they did break loose okay, I was cheap and didn't replace the end links since I remember something suggesting Ford says they could be re-used... Here was my old thread

 

[HiImBrian]

I did mine recently when I put my spacer lift on but I have a 3" body lift too so I had some room. Liquid wrench helped but a gearwrench is what you need. There's really not enough room for a ratchet. It's a 10mm iirc...

 

[Huskerbob]

Yep, soak them good. I prefer PB Blaster for rust. Spray,tap, tap ,tap, spray some more, a little wire brush might help in your case as well. Snapping those off will make you wish you were back at Parris Island!

Good job on the fronts. Those are a piece of cake compared to the rears. Good luck!

 

[fusseli]

Oh ya, and a deep well socket or ratchet extension could be handy for reaching into the control arm to get to the head of the link. That's about all there is to it.

 

[BigRondo]

Thanks for the info guys.

I hope to be attempting this soon before the white stuff starts flying.

Good one Huskerbob!!

 

[turblown]

I hope to be attempting this soon...

Did you ever replace your rear sway bar bushings? What brand, part number did you use?

The rear sway bar on my 03 looks to be 21mm. I have been searching and can't find any replacement bushings besides polyurethane. Which would be fine... but I wanted to replace several parts of my suspension with all MOOG components and it doesn't look like they carry a rear sway bar bushing for 02-05 Explorers.

 

[swshawaii]

No benefit using Moog's blue thermoplastic rubber bushings, although they will cushion and ride softer in control arms. Polyurethane is much more durable, albeit firmer for better handling. Moog's K7275 end link bushings (grommets) are so prone to blowout failure, even Moog designed a new poly option. Only fault with polyurethane is their tendency to sometimes squeak, even the black graphite impregnated bushings.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_en1/MOOG_PS_Bulletin_213006_Sway_Bar_Link_Eng.pdf

 

[BigRondo]

Did you ever replace your rear sway bar bushings? What brand, part number did you use?

The rear sway bar on my 03 looks to be 21mm. I have been searching and can't find any replacement bushings besides polyurethane. Which would be fine... but I wanted to replace several parts of my suspension with all MOOG components and it doesn't look like they carry a rear sway bar bushing for 02-05 Explorers.

Sorry, I haven't replaced them yet. Old man winter snuck up on me. My rear sway bar is also 21MM. I had a hard time locating them as well. Could only find them online or special order from local parts stores.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Thanks for the good info [MENTION=106710]swshawaii[/MENTION]. I will keep that in mind when I finally get around to replacing mine.

 

[2Trux]

No benefit using Moog's blue thermoplastic rubber bushings, although they will cushion and ride softer in control arms. Polyurethane is much more durable, albeit firmer for better handling. Moog's K7275 end link bushings (grommets) are so prone to blowout failure, even Moog designed a new poly option. Only fault with polyurethane is their tendency to sometimes squeak, even the black graphite impregnated bushings.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_en1/MOOG_PS_Bulletin_213006_Sway_Bar_Link_Eng.pdf

X2 on this. I bought the Moog blue ones for my Expy and they were totally destroyed in less than a year. I changed them out with polyurethane.

 

[turblown]

X2 on this. I bought the Moog blue ones for my Expy and they were totally destroyed in less than a year. I changed them out with polyurethane.

I've read people have had issues with after market brackets popping off with off road use. Is there a Polyurethane bushing that fits in our stock sway bar bushing brackets?

 

[swshawaii]

Definitely. The OEM brackets are much heavier gauge than the universals, and align properly. I was using the ES greasables but opted to reinstall my stock fronts and added zerks. As shown in the link, use a large crescent or
open end wrench to confirm the 1 3/16" (30mm) bushing diameter if you don't have a caliper.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=61159