My rear sway bar is broken :( pic inside

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Shredwin

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Im just wondering if any of you LS owners have had this problem. My rear sway bar on my 2000 Lincoln LS is broke, it seems like its missing a chunk of steel and I would like to get this problem fixed. I called my local junkyard but they had already sold the rear sway bar off the LS they had. I also looked on ebay but i didnt see any rear sway bars for sale on there. If anyone has one for a reasonable price send me a message please.

This is the rear drivers side where its broke, the previous owner zip tied the sway bar end link.

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Holy rusty cancer batman!

And to think I get upset cause mine gets road grime build up :(
 
Man...that's what I'm trying to prevent, it just finished snowing, so going to pressure wash under the car this weekend, probably friday
 
is that broken at the spring base point, or just the strut

as far as rust goes, my rust would scare the crap out of you.

It looks like the individual (i'll call [him/her] a doper) must have had a boat and launched into sea water without ever rinsing the damn salt off.

I hate boats, I hate the ocean... nothing but grief there...
 
Looks like the stabilizer bar link is zip-tied to the tie-rod to hold it out of the way. Try Max at Chapman (5-Star) Ford. The bar is ~$70. I would also replace the tie-rods and stabilizer bar links while I was there.....
 
The sway bar itself is snaped off on one end due to rust and yes i plan on replacing both rear sway bar end links but I can't change it unless i get that sway bar welded but I would rather replace the whole sway bar with a good one. Its my first Lincoln LS and im trying to learn more about the car. Since I got it I have replaced a lower ball joint( pain in the ass), front sway bar end link, all 4 tires, and im gonna order all new pads and rotors tomorrow. This is a V6 5 speed, not sure if there was a diference in sway bars between the V6's and V8's
 
You can actually see the broken-off piece of sway bar still attached to the end link in the second picture. Looks like a 3/8" metal tab. :)

BTW, I think you have to drop the subframe to get the whole bar out.
 
Geez thats a lot of rust!!! sucks hope you get all back together.
 
I took off both rear wheels earlier today to get a better look at it and to see how hard it would be to replace the whole sway bar. I dont even know if i wanna replace the sway bar anymore, just because i dont really want to drop the rear end :( I wish this car was a bit cleaner underneath because I enjoy driving it.
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Here we can see the piece of sway bar attached to the end link
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there is about 3inches of sway bar missing
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I removed the end link
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Passenger side
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I would take it all apart, make sweet love to it with a sand blaster, then paint and undercoat it if you are realllly planning to keep it. If not, then just take a wire brush to it and put some rust inhibiting paint on it to protect what's left.

Either way, the subframe has to drop to get it out. It looks like the gas tank can stay in.
 
Tackling this job could be a handful. There is so much rust everywhere that I would expect every threaded fastener to either break or have to be torched off. If some of the fastening is by bolt into a threaded component, I would expect some drill out and tapping.

This vehicle has a lot of rust, even for a “rust belt” state. While the newer use of deicers such as magnesium chloride and the like has been very, very problematic for commercial fleet operators (just google about the accelerated rust and corrosion seen on tractor-trailers) this appears more then I’ve seen on this vintage of vehicle, even for Michigan. I would start to wonder if at some point this car played submarine.
 
Though not pristine, he really only has a couple of trouble spots. his bigger problem is where the link mount broke. Maybe a weld would repair it, but looks like it needs to be replaced, will probably be stronger that way.

A couple of other spots should probably be cleaned and strengthened before they also break.

A lot of the other rust looks to be surface rust on some pretty beefy chunks of metal. They could be quick sanded and painted to prevent further deterioration.

If this is destined to be a "show car", then all bets are off. Take it all apart and replace everything that looks questionable. Might also need breast implants, tummy tuck, face lift, well you know the drill :)
 
I've learned about "surface rust" from all the '65-66 Mustangs and Shelbys I've looked at to restore. It ain't ever skin deep.

He's not just welding on that sway bar end. He is missing the entire section from the bracket bushing to the end link.

And if he does have the 'missing link', depending on if and what condition the sway bar was heat treated to you are not going to be able to just weld it without adding another weak stress point.
 
The work is the same. To weld it, you'd have to take it out. Just spend the extra cash and replace it. A weld on something that thick won't be as strong as the original piece. Plus someone said you could buy it for $70. Why chance it?

Deicing salt and grit. Yet one more reason I am glad I live in Florida. About the only way you can end up with rust kind of like that is to constantly launch boats from salt water ramps and not hose the vehicle down.
 
Are all the rear sway bar interchangeable between all of of the LS's that were made? Or was there a difference between v6 and v8 or the years?
 
Shredwin said:
Are all the rear sway bar interchangeable between all of of the LS's that were made? Or was there a difference between v6 and v8 or the years?
Click to expand...

There is a difference between sport and non-sport.
 
As LS4me stated, all the years are the same 6 or 8 cylinder, the only difference is if it's standard or sport suspension. I don't have the difference in diameter in my files anymore.

List price of either is about $70 and with a good dealer discount you can get them for about $45. I believe they come with the bushings and brackets.
 
I looked at just replacing the bushings a while back, and someone on here said you can get the bolts out of the retainers with a small hand and long wrench without dropping the subframe. Don't know if I believe it. ;)
 
TooManyToys said:
I've learned about "surface rust" from all the '65-66 Mustangs and Shelbys I've looked at to restore. It ain't ever skin deep.

He's not just welding on that sway bar end. He is missing the entire section from the bracket bushing to the end link.

And if he does have the 'missing link', depending on if and what condition the sway bar was heat treated to you are not going to be able to just weld it without adding another weak stress point.
Click to expand...

Not saying there aren't a couple of trouble spots, but rust starts from the outside and goes in. If the rust is deep enough on "thin" parts, they may be compromised, on thicker steel, maybe not so much. a quick grind to the bare metal will reveal how bad and what needs to be replaced.

But looking at the photos, there really is hardly any rust. even the bolts look clean. I guess I've been in New England too long. Most cars here typically have "that red glow" underneath. (Rust).

Years ago, they used to offer undercoating to prevent rust, now it's not even an option that I'm aware of, as the undercoating didn't do much anyway accept make it hard to change parts.

my 2 cents
 
TooManyToys said:
As LS4me stated, all the years are the same 6 or 8 cylinder, the only difference is if it's standard or sport suspension. I don't have the difference in diameter in my files anymore.

List price of either is about $70 and with a good dealer discount you can get them for about $45. I believe they come with the bushings and brackets.
Click to expand...

All I know about my LS is that is a 5speed and it didnt come with a sun roof. This is what it looks like if it helps, its all original with 177,305 miles on it. It needs TLC
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previous owner hit a deer
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