I just picked up a 2004 Econoline conversion for the wife to haul the kiddos in. Took it down to my go to suspension shop for ball joints and an alignment, and to address a rubbing issue between the tires and sway bar.

I got a call that he was refusing to do anything related to the sway bar because it's a non factory item, and more importantly, he's never seen one before. Neither have I.

I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow, but the sway bar is of a 3 piece design, with what appears to be a large bolt on either end going into the bushings on the I beams. I'm assuming that this is an upgraded part due to it being a high top conversion (LA West if that helps), but I can't find a manufacturer for the part. I'm hoping that someone here is familiar with it and can point me in the right direction.

My suspension guy is trying to get me to install a new factory sway bar in its place, but given the added height and weight I'm not sure that's advisable. Any help identifying the sway bar, or suggestions for an upgrade would be greatly appreciated.

 

The Addco swaybar I installed in the front of my 96 E150 has attachment bolts like that. It works just fine. Far better than the factory bar mine came with. And mine's a hightop conversion too.

 

Does it actually bolt through the ibeam or does it just sit in the bushings like the factory one?

 

It bolts through the axles. Matter of fact I had to "re-engineer" the attachment from what Addco sent with the bar as once I pressed the axle bushings in place, the bolts wouldn't fit though the holes in the bushings. It came with 7/8" bolts, I went with 3/4" grade 9 bolts and stuck them through from the front (instructions said to install them from the rear of the axle) like your's is but I put a nut between the bar and the axle threaded on the bolt threads, and used flat washers on either side of the axle bushing with another nut on the backside, jambing the axle between the nuts and washers. Your bushings are worn out and need to be replaced with fresh bushings to take the "slop" out of the action. I can't post pics here, to show you what I did, but if you'll PM me your email address I can send em to you. With all that slop between the bolts and bushings on your's, you've lost what extra stiffening the bigger bar would give you.

 

Ok, now I see that your bolts are stuck in from the backside. I couldn't do that without taking the radius arms off mine, that's the reason I went in from the front. There's no slop at all in mine the way I mounted the bolts through the bushings. Well take that back I did loosen the nuts on mine to give it some play as tightened all the way up the ride was really firm, like a ricer car. I've got two nuts jambed together at the rear to keep em from coming off the bolt threads, so three nuts total.(one front, two rear)

 

I can't PM yet, too low of a post count.

So, would you say that what I have is an addco sway bar? And if it is, are the bushings addco specific or does it use the factory bushing?

 

Sure looks like one to me. (Addco) I bought mine through Summit Racing. You can get on their site and ask for new axle bushings, they might even send em to you free. I had one of the frame hanger brackets crack and they sent me a new pair at no charge last month. Mine were less than 2 years old.. I sent you a message here.

 

Gotta run, be back here later tonite or in the morning.

 

I agree it looks to be an Addco bar---they're one of the few using the thru-the-I Beam method attaching front sway bars to the suspension.

I believe those bushings are specific to Addco, the bolts being smaller diameter than the factory sway bar ends. I'd call Addco and see if there is a urethane bushing available. I've used them on stock sway bars, their life and effectiveness a lot better than the factory original parts.

 

I've located what I believe to be the bar I have, Addco part #548, but Addco, summit, etc. list 2001 as the last model year for compatibility. I did a little research through Ford, and it looks like they were using the same sway bar from the early 90's on so I imagine that there isn't any difference between 2001 and 2004 that would cause me any issues. Now to get with Addco and see if I can get the bushings.

 

Model year '08 and forward used a different sway bar attaching method, they basically reverted back to the links used on earlier years.

I believe those years did NOT have the thru-holes in the I-Beams which would be instantly noticeable if looking.

Good luck finding your bushings---I'm sure that'll be an easy search.