So I've had my ex for a little over a month now and discovered shortly after purchasing it that the previous owner removed the front anti-sway bar. I really want to correct this but having trouble figuring out all the parts required to do this. I see Hellwig makes a replacement but from what I understand it only comes with the bar, the 2 mounting brackets and bushings. I realize I would need to get some end links but is there anything else I am missing?
I'm considering getting one from a junk yard as I am on a tight budget but all they can guarantee is the bar and I have yet to find a pull a part in my area that has an excursion so I can pull it myself. Is the f250/350 a direct bolt on? There are plenty of those that I can get.
Since I'm on the subject, how about the rear from a f250/350 truck? I read the endlinks are longer on the truck due to the frame difference in the rear, is there anything else different?
My wife is planning on taking my vehicle soon for a 2 hour trip for our daughter's volleyball tournament and will be hauling other girls as well so I'd to get this corrected quickly to make it as safe as possible.
Thanks in advance.

 

Do you have a two or four wheel drive?
I have a 4WD and the rear is not as bolt on as you would think. First, the 30 mm bar is hard to find. I just looked at 6 trucks and 4 loose axels and none had the bigger rear bar. I got the thinner bar for now, something is better than nothing.

If yours has a heat shield on the passenger side shock mount you will need to get a shock mount without it.

I got a set of 7.93 inch endlinks for an f350 from rock auto for $3.47 each on clarence.

Also, I can't use the emergency brake cable retaining clip on the new shock mount and on the drivers side the end link prevents one of the emergency brake cable clips from being used.

You are about to get a lot of helpful advice.

 

Sorry, guess that would be important. My truck is 4x4 with the 7.3 diesel. It's a 2000 Limited.

 

pkthomas, thanks for the tips. I think I'm going to try to hit the junk yard tomorrow to see what I can find. Makes sense on the rear and mine does have the heat shield also.
So what about front bar, will the f250 bar bolt right up to the Ex?

 

Not sure about the F250/350 bar but for the front sway bar parts you will need:

End link to frame mounting brackets (hopefully these are still on the truck)
New endlinks - They come with bushing. Don't bother trying to use the old ones.
Sway bar itself.
Sway bar to frame bushings - I would buy new ones. Not expensive.
U strap for sway bar to frame bushings - Probably the hardest thing to find.

Here is a thread that shows all the parts:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...with-pics.html

 

Yes, the end link mounts are still there and brackets for the u-channels to mount to on the axle are there but everything else is gone. I guess I got lucky there.

 

Might be the previous owner hated the clunking from the front end and decided to remove the culprit.

 

Okay so I finally made it to my local junk yard and found a front anti-sway on a F350. Pulled it along with all the parts associated with it. Brought it home got it installed. The only thing I had to add were the bolts that connect the U-channel mounts to the axle. The bushings aren't perfect by any means but having the sway bar in place has made a big difference. The next day I added new shocks so the ride has improved a lot. The only thing is I quesion if the end links are too long. They seem to sit a level or slightly lower than the axle. I checked ebay for new end links and the models that are supposed to fit my Ex are also supposed to fit the F350 so I don't know. I'm going to attempt to load some pictures and hopefully someone can give me some feedback. I do plan on changing out the front leaf springs for some V codes so perhaps with that slight lift, the end links will be in the right position.
The junk yard also had plenty of rear anti-sway bars ready for picking but they wouldn't sell me one. They didn't want to separate it from the axle.
In regards to addition of a rear anti-sway bar, I have read adding the Hellwig will lift the rear an inch or so. Do you get the same results by adding a sway bar from an F250 or F350? I do know the end links are different on the rear from the EX to the F series.
This is the bar I pulled for $60.

Here is installed.


Moderators edit:
You're halfway there in posting pictures. Once you get them uploaded to Photobucket, you have to post the IMG link address on the right side of your picture, not the web address for the page it's listed on.

I fixed the links for ya!

Stewart

 

Thanks Stewart!
Didn't realize the mounted picture was so blurry. I'll try to get a better one.

 

End links sitting parallel or slightly below axle is normal

 

Looks normal to me too.

If the bushings aren't in great shape, you can get Energy Suspension replacements pretty cheap. I just replaced the mount bushings and end links on mine. If I had to to do again I might just buy OEM end links even though they seem expensive. The Helwig end links are fine now, but took retourquing several times.

If the truck did not come with a rear anti-sway bar, you'll need to go aftermarket, like Helwig. It mounts differently but the OEM brackets aren't there anyway. Luckily all I had to do was order a new 30mm bar and swap my OEM 24 mm bar out.

 

Be careful buying, there are lots of different bar and hardware combos.

 

I'm not possitive but I think the Hellwig rear bar is thicker than the ones from the SD trucks, and they now come with adjustable length end links and multiple mounting points to tune the ride.