hey guys I just dropped a pretty penny buying all the new MOOG sway bar link kits and bushings... after pulling apart the rear sway bar I found the old rubber bushings had held water to the link ends and inside the sway bar eye-let... So my eyelets are all rusted out... Found the OEM part number and called ford... Discontinued but dealer in MO has one for $200... No thanks.... any other solutions??? I've already scoured the local parts yards and can't find the right bar for the truck either... I was considering having a local shop weld the eyelets in and re-drill them out....

Are there any other solutions you guys might have???? also check for aftermarket replacement bar... after calling 3 places I didn't have any luck... Oh and this is for thumper (see below) with 10.25 sterling axle and 1 1/8 in thick sway bar.

 

Which Ford part number for the rear sway bar did you come up with?

There are two possibles for 1985/89 F250's (actually 1985/96 F250/350) w/a 10.25 Sterling. Only one is correct for Thumper, t'other is for Bambi.

I found 32 of one type, 71 of the other, so you have far more choices than the dealer in MO.

 

I don't have the numbers here with me (at work). Which 2 numbers do you have? Do they have a differentiation between the 2? Like one is for a 4x4 and one is 2wd???? or did they just put 2 different bars on the same types of trucks???

 

F3TZ5A772A (replaced E7TZ5A772E) = 1985/96 F250/350 Sterling 10.25 except Cab & Chassis / Obsolete

Last MSRP: $193.92 / Dealer net cost: $116.35.

I found 32 of these puppies.
----------------------------
E5TZ5A772B = 1985/96 F250/350 Sterling 10.25 = Cab & Chassis ONLY / Obsolete

Last MSRP: $181.68 / Dealer net cost: $109.01.

I found 71 of these puppies.

Uh...btw: I hope you didn't come up with the part number(s) for the 8.8's used in F250's. Yes...I know, you prolly never heard of any such thing, but Ford did offer same in 1983/89.

 

LOL heck no... I told the parts guy I had a 10.25 Sterling... I'm going to guess it's the top one... Either way i think i'll probably have the old one's eyelets welded shut and bored back out to proper size.

 

I'm guessing it's the top number too, if you have a pickup bed, that is. If you have a box van, utility body, and etc, the truck was sold new as a Cab & Chassis.

F3TZ5A772A = No one in MO has any, so I wonder what part number the dealer gave you? No one has any of the original part number of E7TZ5A772E.

Here's a few sources you can try...I have others, but they are much further away from IA.

NEW BRIGHTON FORD in New Brighton MN has 1 = 888-708-5598.

BABB FORD SALES in Reed City MI has 1 = 231-832-2206.

IMPERIAL COUNTRY FORD in Imperial NE has 2 = 800-255-9762.

VINTAGE FORD PARTS in Beaver Dam WI has 14 = 877-846-8243.

Consider, the sway bar is obsolete, if the dealers can still return it to Ford, the only $$$ amount they can get is dealer net cost ($116.35).

If it cannot be returned, the dealers are STUCK with it.

After you get a price, if you don't like it, speak with the parts manager...then offer less.

This may not work with Vintage, try the others...first.

 

What? Really? You learn something new everyday. Could I have more details please.

 

Ford offered the 8.8" rear axle in 1983/89 F250's.

These are the so-called Light Duty F250's, but Ford never called them that in sales brochures, there are no emblems on the truck that say so either.

There are two rear sway bars listed for these puppies...neither is the same as the Sterling 10.25.

For further info, take a gander in the 1980/89 Ford Light Truck Parts Catalog in Text, Section 40: Rear Axle Application Charts.

I had a big argument with a member here a coupla years ago over this 8.8 F250 jazz. I asked him if he had a parts catalog or shop manual. Of course he had neither and was only going by trucks he had seen.

I told him to waltz on down to his local dealer and look in their parts catalog.

He posted in the thread a coupla days later, sheepishly admitting he was wrong.

I did this scheiss for 35 years, from 1962 thru 1997, so I know what Ford did. People wilthout any references, without any Ford parts experience...can only speculate.