Sway bar/lower control arm wear

JT66

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I'm brand spanking new to the forum and Lincoln. Having steering vibration, checked front suspension and found the sway bar and control arm connection has severe wear. Not sure why though. The wear is at the connection to the lower. I would appreciate any guidance.

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That's an aftermarket sway bar end-link. The wear is there because the nut is loose. The nut is loose probably because a new Nyloc was not used. The suspension parts are aluminum, and aluminum expands and contracts quite a bit. For this reason, the nuts and bolts have to be locked in one way or another, or they will come loose.
Unfortunately, it has now worn the hole in the control arm until it is oblong instead of round. You could try using big heavy duty washers, but almost certainly, the control arm will have to be replaced too.
 
Jorge, thank you for that response. That makes perfect sense since the aluminum is so soft I understand the wear under pressure. I will order new sway bars and try the washer method. But a local salvage yard has a control arm in fantastic shape and that may be my Avenue of repair for now.
 
Sway bar end-links, not the sway bar itself. The front sway bar is a major pain to change anyway. You even have to discharge the AC system.
 
I viewed a number of how to videos to date and nine mentioned the ac discharge part. I will tootle around in search that. Will be doing outer front tienrods ends as well.
 
I viewed a number of how to videos to date and nine mentioned the ac discharge part. I will tootle around in search that. Will be doing outer front tienrods ends as well.

What year is your LS? V6 or V8?
 
I viewed a number of how to videos to date and nine mentioned the ac discharge part. I will tootle around in search that. Will be doing outer front tienrods ends as well.

I think you missed the point in Joegr’s reply. You only need to replace the end links, NOT the sway bar.

The sway bar is steel and should be ok. To replace the entire sway bar that goes From driver wheel to the passenger wheel, you have to move either the a/c compressor or one of the hard lines which requires discharging the system and refilling.

The sway bar end links take 10 minutes to replace each side, including lifting the vehicle and removing the wheel.

Just replace that lower control arm as well, it will need it. And when you do that, you may want to look into replacing the lower ball joint and knuckle assembly if the lower ball joint feels gritty or loose.
 
Looks like u needs new links and lower control arms possibly. In case if u do need a sway bar u can replace it without doing anything with ac. Not easy but doable.
 
I only buy the motorcraft sway bar links, all the other ones have been junk from my experience, they are pretty inexpensive from rockauto.
 
drill out the hole to a size of a commonly available brass or bronze bushing. no steel bushings-corrosion issue. If no bushing is available, drive a brass plug into the hole and drill the plug to mount the rod end. remember to never reuse any suspension fastener hardware.
that's one way. another, remove lower arm, have it welded shut then get it stress relieved. then drill the hole again. I did this once on a car I no longer have , it worked out quite well as I had access to an aerospace quality welding shop. Oh, and never reuse any suspension fastener hardware.
best repair: replace with used part in better condition and use MOOG links and never reuse suspension fastener hardware.
By the way, no matter what method you chose, never reuse any suspension fastener hardware. It is a life safety issue.
 
It's a pretty good trick to weld the aluminum control arm without warping it. Cheaper to replace the arm...
 
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Those Moog sway bar links are actually a decent product and come with new nuts. The issue is the hex for a wrench at the base of the stud.

If the wrench is too thick, it will get pinched between the link stud and the control arm... preventing complete tightening of the nut.

I'm thinking that's what happened here. I've bronze/brass bushed many parts over the years... but only for rotating parts. It's actually pretty soft and doesn't hold up well against impact... as it would see in a sway bar application.
 
2000 v8, and applologies fir the lengthy response. Long week. 181,000 miles.

Okay, it's not as difficult to change out the 1st gen anti-sway bar as it is for the 2nd gen. Bad assumption on my part. Still, you've mentioned no reason to need to change it.
 
Sway bar end-links, not the sway bar itself. The front sway bar is a major pain to change anyway. You even have to discharge the AC system.
I looked at the wear in the lower control arm and thought it best to replace lower control arms as well as sway bar links.
 
Okay, it's not as difficult to change out the 1st gen anti-sway bar as it is for the 2nd gen. Bad assumption on my part. Still, you've mentioned no reason to need to change it.
I had severe steering wheel vibration as well as bump steer issues.
 
I'm really soaking up the response and that's why my responses on are delayed. Uodate, changed the outer tie rod ends a daybed 2 ago and drove it about 50 miles. Better handing with not as much vibration. However fir some reason my front tires 235/50zr17 are literally being eaten away onbthe outside edge of both front tires.

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You have to do it again after replacing the control arm(s).
 
I have a friend that dies it for me for $40 after hours at his shop.
 

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