issue with front swaybar...end links?

As you may or may not know, I recently picked up a 2001 Roush Stage 2 for a killer price. In the deal, the TR3650 was to be replaced. Give that notion and the fact there was a lot of snow, salt, and sand down during the bitter cold last week (temperatures down to around 16F below zero), I trailered the car to get it to the tech’s location for the transmission replacement.

The rear strap went over and across the top of the pumpkin—no biggie. The front strap, however (much to my chagrin) was laced around the front sway bar. The wheels of the car were chocked in the rear, car was placed in 1st gear (new transmission coming anyway, I figured), and the emergency brake was set.

Here comes the bad part…the car still moved backward somehow, I think as a result of the hilly terrain crossing through the town where the tech was located. The movement backward pulled the front sway bar (aftermarket, installed by Roush) into a “rotated forward” position. If you viewed it as a clock position from the driver’s side, it now points toward the 7 or 8 o’clock position as opposed to the correct 6 o’clock position it did before the car was trailered.

My question, without having pulled the wheels off and checking directly (I don’t have my jack and stands in my garage—they are a distance away still), is anything damaged? I think, best I can tell that the urethane bushings are OK, but I’m worried about the position of the end link on the driver’s side. I didn’t check the passenger side yet, but I think the one on the driver’s side might be bent back (as result of the sway bar itself being rolled “upward” pushing the links of the bar down/backward.

I have some images in this post as well. Ignore the salt/dirt/etc underneath the car please—this car was just rescued from being driven on the nasty roads, it’s cold out, and I have not had the chance to get underneath to clean it.

What could have been damaged from the sway bar rolling up like this? Bushings? End links?

Do you think that the end links rubbed the springs when I drove it home? I hope not. They are painted quite nicely, albeit needed a big cleaning.

Thanks, everyone.

flstang65 said:

they look ok to me. cant really tell from the pics. if you are unsure, replace the end links and bushings. that should be pretty cheap.

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I hope they are OK. Sadly, not having all my tools nearby keeps me from being comfortable with an answer in either case.

I just don't see how the bar could be tweaked forward like that and not do something--the links on each side would have to be bent back (curved) somehow. Not having my jack and stands really stinks.

Bluffing024 said:

I feel you there Tim. Since I have moved out here I haven't had the chance to stock my new house with all the little odds and ends you are used to being there.

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Yep. I've got a nice 3-ton jack and 4 quick-release stands...500 miles away, in my dad's shop. :|

They were Christmas 2008 gifts I was not able to haul home on the drive back.

SVT32VDOHC said:

Tim---I don't think the end links are bad. I HIGHLY doubt the sway bar is bent either. Check the sway bar bushings brackets.

Those are longer on 94-04 Mustangs than they are on Fox bodies. Seeing Mustangs in here all the time that have been towed in or in small accidents, I have noticed that those metal brackets get bent. Bending these will tweak the sway bar pins over to one side or the other. Once you get the car in the air you should be able to tell.

Keep me updated.

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Thanks for the reply, Matt. I certainly hope they are not bent. From the front side, everything seems to be relatively OK. Without being able to pull the wheel right now, I can’t rule out they are shaped like crescent moons as a result of the rotation of the whole arm. :\

I will definitely check the brackets. Are those the sockets that hold the bar in place as it comes from the engine bay into the wheel well or is it something else? What I'm referring to is the bracket in the forefront of my last image (http://4u2nv.threeohtwo.net/vehicles/roush_sway_bar_jan09/frsway006.jpg) and the top of this image (http://4u2nv.threeohtwo.net/vehicles/roush_sway_bar_jan09/frsway004.jpg).

I will keep this updated as I find out more.

LaserSVT said:

Hell Tim, IDK. Are you sure it wasnt already in that position? My stock sway bar on my Cobra leans foreward a bit but the Eibach one my other Cobra had didnt. The sway bar is hollow so the weigt of the car is enought to be able to twist one but I doubt you did that. Think how much force the car puts on that bar during hard driving, its a hard piece to hurt. I can see from the pictures that the end links are not bent nor are the mounts.
This may be a dumb question but have you tried to push the bar back? I realize you dont have your jacks but if you are fit then you should be able to lay on your back and place a foot on the center of the bar and push it back with you leg. The bar does rotate in its mounts as the suspension compresses and rebounds

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I am 100% positive it was not "pulled" out like it appears. The bow of the bar was aimed straight down and there was only about a 2 to 3 inch gap between it and the K member. Now, there's about a 5 to 6 inch gap.

I have tried to push it back, but to no avail. It seemed pretty solid. Since the car was trailered, it was on the lift for the tranny swap, so lifting it up to get the stress off the arms didn't seem to help anything either.

Ugg.

GT40XStang9 said:

Looks normal to me.

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It's not the way it appeared before we trailered it. I am 100% sure of this.

san~man said:

The only thing (obvious) that really looks off in those pics is that the end link/sway bar is sitting awfully close to the springs.

Take a pic/check the bottom bushing of the end links. Maybe it somehow dislodged off the bottom arm allowing the end link to move in that angle.

From the pics, the bushing mount doesn't "appear" to be bent, so it's either the end links or the bar itself.

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I need to do that. Last night was hectic around the house, so I didn't get down to the garage. I'll try to get as many decent angles as I can without having my jack/floor tools.

Update...

I got down where I could see the inner wheel wells better last night by turning the wheels entirely to the right and to the left (for each side) to get a better look at the end links, the sway bar, and the springs.

First finding was that the end link on either side is NOT hitting the coils of the spring. That’s the good news.

Next, I was able to determine that the bases of the end links (where connected to the arms) were push backward a bit and the bushing was under tension in that same direction as a result. Instead of sitting flush against the top of the arm, there was a small “lift” on the bushing and you could probably slide a couple of quarters underneath it on that front side (see here, you get the idea http://4u2nv.threeohtwo.net/vehicles/roush_sway_bar_jan09/frsway003.jpg). Until I get them off, I cannot be sure if the end links are bent at the base or if they are just tweaked right now with that pressure that came from the movement of the bar.

Last, I noticed the mounts for the bar (http://4u2nv.threeohtwo.net/vehicles/roush_sway_bar_jan09/frsway006.jpg) and the associated bushings were in fine shape. The bushings were under some bind, of course, due to the pressure the center/bow of the bar took from the strap, but the mounts themselves were not bent, warped, or pulled in any direction.

The bar itself, however, I think is bent or warped. The ends gave and took off some of the stress from the force (end links moved as a result), but the bar ultimately took the brunt of the force. It is easy to see that the warping of the center isn’t quite proportional to the placement of where the arms come out to meet the end links—it’s hard to describe, but trust me, you can just tell. I bet it’s going to have to be replaced.