Deaconblue
Well-Known LVC Member
I spent a rainy Saturday in the garage with my ’04 V8 Sport replacing the front sway bar mount bushings and link ends. The car maybe 11 years old but it only has 41K miles. The squeaking began around 35K miles and has only gotten worst. You just have to love Ford and one of their "better ideas" concerning this non-serviceable, life of the vehicle front sway bar mount bushing design.
The Sport models have a 30mm front sway bar. I replaced the mount bushings and brackets with Energy Suspension #9.5171G (black) kit for a 1-3/16” bar, which is almost exactly 30mm. I also used a pair of 1-3/16” sized 2-pcs split collar shaft clamps on the sway bar to eliminate any side to side movement of the sway bar. I ordered those split collar clamps from McMaster-Carr. They have them in aluminum, zinc plated steel and stainless steel. Since I drive the car year round, I went with the 303 grade stainless units. If you have not done so already, replace the factory front sway bar link ends with the grease able MOOG #K80261 units.
If you have worked on suspensions before, replacing say; struts, shocks and/or springs, then you can handle this job. Do you need a lift? No, but be prepared to be lying on your back for a while and make sure you wear eye protection. Do you need to lower, drop or remove the sub frame or even remove the sway bar from the car to get the job done? Do you need to remove the front shock/spring assemblies? Do you need to remove the lower front control arm or front knuckle/hubs? No, no and no, but make sure you block out about 8-10 hrs to get the job done the long way. Do you need air tools and a cutting wheel? No, you can do it with a Dremel, but make sure its in good working order and that you buy two (2) packs of HD cutting wheels. After you wear down/break each cutting wheel, let the Dremel cool off or you will end up burning out the Dremel’s motor winds/bushings. Also keep in mind that those Dremel cutting wheels do not like cutting through the factory rubber bushings.
Here are a few other notes to keep in mind.
Make sure the steering wheel is centered and the front wheels are pointing straight ahead.
Jack up and support the front end. Remove the front wheel/tires. Remove the forward half of the inner fender liners and all the splash guards along with the lower center panel that seals the area from the lower front edge of the bumper to the front of the sub-frame. Take some pictures of these before removal or have shop manual handle so you know the orientation of these splash guards to make re-installation a lot easier.
Freeze Off works better than PB Blaster.
Remove the sway bar link ends first. If the treads are badly rusted and the bolts will not come all the way off, you may need to cut them off.
Use anti-seize on the treads of all the fasteners when reinstalling everything. It makes removal the next time so much easier.
The Sport models have a 30mm front sway bar. I replaced the mount bushings and brackets with Energy Suspension #9.5171G (black) kit for a 1-3/16” bar, which is almost exactly 30mm. I also used a pair of 1-3/16” sized 2-pcs split collar shaft clamps on the sway bar to eliminate any side to side movement of the sway bar. I ordered those split collar clamps from McMaster-Carr. They have them in aluminum, zinc plated steel and stainless steel. Since I drive the car year round, I went with the 303 grade stainless units. If you have not done so already, replace the factory front sway bar link ends with the grease able MOOG #K80261 units.
If you have worked on suspensions before, replacing say; struts, shocks and/or springs, then you can handle this job. Do you need a lift? No, but be prepared to be lying on your back for a while and make sure you wear eye protection. Do you need to lower, drop or remove the sub frame or even remove the sway bar from the car to get the job done? Do you need to remove the front shock/spring assemblies? Do you need to remove the lower front control arm or front knuckle/hubs? No, no and no, but make sure you block out about 8-10 hrs to get the job done the long way. Do you need air tools and a cutting wheel? No, you can do it with a Dremel, but make sure its in good working order and that you buy two (2) packs of HD cutting wheels. After you wear down/break each cutting wheel, let the Dremel cool off or you will end up burning out the Dremel’s motor winds/bushings. Also keep in mind that those Dremel cutting wheels do not like cutting through the factory rubber bushings.
Here are a few other notes to keep in mind.
Make sure the steering wheel is centered and the front wheels are pointing straight ahead.
Jack up and support the front end. Remove the front wheel/tires. Remove the forward half of the inner fender liners and all the splash guards along with the lower center panel that seals the area from the lower front edge of the bumper to the front of the sub-frame. Take some pictures of these before removal or have shop manual handle so you know the orientation of these splash guards to make re-installation a lot easier.
Freeze Off works better than PB Blaster.
Remove the sway bar link ends first. If the treads are badly rusted and the bolts will not come all the way off, you may need to cut them off.
Use anti-seize on the treads of all the fasteners when reinstalling everything. It makes removal the next time so much easier.