I had Steve over at Performance Fabrication in San Carlos make a rear sway bar for me for my Escape when non were available at the time. I should have contacted you. ?
LOL it’s not something I enjoy doing but I wanted more rate against roll but a more compliant spring rate. It’s stupid expensive too. ??
If my bars were not already in my car I would grind or cut before installing. We have a number of GT-PEs that have this interference issue, so I assume it’s a design challenge. ?
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Since the end links are not the point of interference and the ends of the anti-sway bar are, changing the end link clocking will have no effect on the interference. ?
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That does not work for me. My brackets are pushed all the way forward from day one. 1000+ miles later I have rubbing and I'm not the only one that the bar is as forward as possible with rubbing. Anton got a message from Steeda to mount the bar ALL THE WAY TO THE REAR to avoid hitting the pump connections. That will definitely contact the tie rods in that position. There is only about 1/2" of play you can move that mounting bracket. Not like it does all that much either way for either issue. For his non-GT, bending the pump bracket slightly to miss the bar and taking off the last hole at the end of the bar will allow plenty of clearance for both issues. That is what we will be doing this Friday.Here is the response from Rod regarding people sending in their comments and pictures.
Any recommendations on how to proceed. Maybe those with direct contact can chime in.
"They should reply to their order confirmations, but here is what my team found out about this issue today and it has to do with the location of the sway bar brackets on the subframe.
See the text below.
We just got under our Mach E up here. Turned the wheel from LOCK TO LOCK checking clearances. The only thing we can come up with this the following….
With the wheel at full lock, it does come close to the tie rod end, but ours is still ¼ to 3/8” from it. The swaybar mount brackets are slotted. The customer should look to loosen those, and move the bar forward to prevent any interference at lock. But not push it too far forward where it comes close to the coolant pump. See below…."
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On my browser your poodle is on the next line & for a second I was afraid you'd forgotten it! ???
Only checking the static clearance isn't good enough. When driving the vehicle the springs could compress due to roll or bumps and close that gap. That's probably what's happening.
Correct, Lee that there are dynamics involved. Mine has a tiny amount of clearance when static. I got some contact backing out of my driveway at an angle when the suspension either compressed or extended (pretty sure it was under compression, but it cycles both ways). Even though my contact is now very minor, I am probably getting the sawzall out to lop the last hole off just to ensure I have clearance. Either that or I am grinding another 1/4”-1/2” off the ends. ?
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Eventually, it will damage the tie rod end. If the bar was unmodified and the steering was shoved hard all the way to lock, I can see damage resulting in the form of a bend. ??
