Stabilizer Link (AKA Swaybar Link)
 

The rough roads around here finally had their way with my front left stabilizer link......I heard a bang and a rattle and when I looked in the rear view, I seen an 11" metal bar with a black nub at the top of it go bouncing around.....familiar sight. Just up the road a bit I heard a pop and I seen the black plastic cover go rolling out from under the truck as well. So I knew what it was, and headed to the dealership which was on my home.
I got a new link (bolt, nut, and plastic cover) now I just need to install it.

Here's my question, can I just go under there and bolt it on or do I need to jack it up? I've always got Ford to replace these under warranty as it seemed to eat these every couple of months. Funny part was, when the warranty was up, they stopped breaking.

JFYI.........part numbers.

Link 2L2Z*5K483*BA
Stud 6L5Z*5495*AA
Nut-Hex 6L2Z*5C491*BA

you will have to jack the a-arm up a bit to get the stud to stick through the a-arm far enough to get the bolt on......that is how i had to do it on my mom's Explorer....

I just crawled under my truck and bolted the new one in. No jacking required.

you ought to take the Ford 1 back and go buy yourself 2 new MOOG parts....they will last longer....got both of them for our Explorer for $30 with the bushings and all.....and they are poly bushings not rubber...

Thanks.

I have that on my list for tomorrow. The CD I have is o.k, but it just tells you the basic idea of removing it and installing a new one....nothing about jacking it up. I guess they assume everything is plug and play.

Both for $30......well I won't say what I paid for just the 1 from the dealership, but we all know about the dealership prices anyway. I just wanted a replacement ASAP because the body roll was a little much for me. The truck is a little floaty as is.

I just needed to jack up the front left cross member a bit to fit the plastic cover between the sway bar and the lower arm, but other then that it was a simple DIY job. A 5/4" deep socket for the lower nut and a 5/4" box wrench to hold the top bolt head and bada-bing-bada-boom.....done.

I'll check out the MOOG sway bar links though, $30 for both sides is a good price, and poly bushings are way better then the cheap plastic ones.

glad you got her done Chris.......the MOOG's are 100x better than the factory parts also....

So far it's been a productive day.....

- Installed the new sway bar link.
- Had a leaky kitchen tap, so I replaced the knob plunger with a new one, leak is fixed.
- On my 3rd load of laundry.

G/f is playing in a volleyball tourny today, so I get to do chores......rainy outside so can't do yard work.