Steeda Front Sway Bar! It is awesome. Transforms the car into what it should be.

tannerk89

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The last couple of days I've had a squeak in the front end which was not real loud but it was there. I could only hear it if the music was off. Ended up being the drivers side, end link at the bottom. Unfortunately I loaned out my grease gun so could not add grease to see if that would stop the squeak but I hope so otherwise I'll be buying Whiteline end links which are all I have ever used on my other cars.
Pretty sure mine was the same way, I contacted Steeda and they suggested to re-grease the bushings. I did that and it helped the squeaking, however, I don’t think one of my end links ever had grease in it because it was seized on arrival. I freed it, but now I’m getting a clunking noise, which I finally tracked to occurring when the car rocks side to side leading me to believe it’s sway bar related. Tearing everything apart again tomorrow to track this dang clunk down once and for all.
 

markboris

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I thought those Steeda front end links looked a bit dry so I greased them during the sway bar installation.
You are the smart one. Not sure why I didn't think of that. I always get in trouble when I assume and that's what I did when I installed them.
 

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You are the smart one. Not sure why I didn't think of that. I always get in trouble when I assume and that's what I did when I installed them.
Ugh, me too. Although, we did follow instructions and they did not say a thing about greasing the ball joints at the ends of the links. ??
 

markboris

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Ugh, me too. Although, we did follow instructions and they did not say a thing about greasing the ball joints at the ends of the links. ??
I've never had to in the past on any other end links I have purchased and they had grease fittings. They should be greased and ready to work for years when you purchase them.
 


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I just palpated the colored rubber diaphragms and they all felt... empty (deflated?). So then I had to go find my grease gun in the basement...
 

21st Century Pony

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Having had previous dealings with Steeda because of our two previous Ford Fusions, Sonny Boy and I have learned to "trust but verify".
 

markboris

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Having had previous dealings with Steeda because of our two previous Ford Fusions, Sonny Boy and I have learned to "trust but verify".
That's the thing. I have used suspension parts from them for my Escape, Focus RS and GT500. Not one problem or issue. Then we have the Mach-E. While I'm not having an issue with the rear sway bar, as you know on the front we had to cut the end off, about one inch to clear other suspension components and if you have a premium you have to space out one of the water pumps (I bent the mounting bracket to the pump 90˚ instead), and now I find out the end links were not greased. Don't get me wrong, I still like and support Steeda but we just have a few hiccups with this mod of theirs.
 

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Pretty sure mine was the same way, I contacted Steeda and they suggested to re-grease the bushings. I did that and it helped the squeaking, however, I don’t think one of my end links ever had grease in it because it was seized on arrival. I freed it, but now I’m getting a clunking noise, which I finally tracked to occurring when the car rocks side to side leading me to believe it’s sway bar related. Tearing everything apart again tomorrow to track this dang clunk down once and for all.
Hmmm, I had clunking with mine a few weeks ago at the tail end of a road trip. Took it to a suspension shop in Willets and they couldn't find anything wrong. Took it to the dealer when I got back and they said the end links were loose so they tighten them up. I've not had a problem since, but I'm wondering if the issue might in fact really be dry end link diaphragms.

Tanner, I'll be very interested to learn what you figure out!
 

tannerk89

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Hmmm, I had clunking with mine a few weeks ago at the tail end of a road trip. Took it to a suspension shop in Willets and they couldn't find anything wrong. Took it to the dealer when I got back and they said the end links were loose so they tighten them up. I've not had a problem since, but I'm wondering if the issue might in fact really be dry end link diaphragms.

Tanner, I'll be very interested to learn what you figure out!
Good feedback on the loose end links, I will torque them all again to be sure while I have it torn apart. May have to add some locktite to those bolts as well if they are loosening up with miles.. I know for sure that I torqued to spec. I will report back on what I find.

In my initial tear down of the Frunk last week I found another component the sway bar came into contact with so I moved the bushing brackets towards the rear of the car a bit.Thought that was going to fix it for sure, but alas… clunk continues. I will figure out what the component was and take some pictures in case others have the same issue, I didn’t even look at the part last week because I had visitors.
 
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mkhuffman

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Good feedback on the loose end links, I will torque them all again to be sure while I have it torn apart. May have to add some locktite to those bolts as well if they are loosening up with miles.. I know for sure that I torqued to spec. I will report back on what I find.

In my initial tear down of the Frunk last week I found another component the sway bar came into contact with so I moved the bushing brackets towards the rear of the car a bit.Thought that was going to fix it for sure, but alas… clunk continues. I will figure out what the component was and take some pictures in case others have the same issue, I didn’t even look at the part last week because I had visitors.
Have you had the car checked for the half shaft SSM? My half shafts were bad and needed to be replaced. If you have that problem, it would explain the clunk sound for sure.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/axle-clunk.5668/post-352035

If this could be your issue, take a copy of the SSM with you to the dealer. That is what I did and they confirmed it very quickly.
 

tannerk89

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Have you had the car checked for the half shaft SSM? My half shafts were bad and needed to be replaced. If you have that problem, it would explain the clunk sound for sure.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/axle-clunk.5668/post-352035

If this could be your issue, take a copy of the SSM with you to the dealer. That is what I did and they confirmed it very quickly.
I haven’t had it checked for that, but if I can’t resolve it today I plan on getting it looked at by the dealer. I’m just out of warranty now so typically fix things myself that are out of warrantee if I can.

Also it’s not a clicking, it’s a loud clunk and happens regardless of turning or not. I can push on the side of my car to rock it and reproduce the sound. I am leaning away from it being half shaft related.
 
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mkhuffman

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I haven’t had it checked for that, but if I can’t resolve it today I plan on getting it looked at by the dealer. I’m just out of warranty now so typically fix things myself that are out of warrantee if I can.

Also it’s not a clicking, it’s a loud clunk and happens regardless of turning or not. I can push on the side of my car to rock it and reproduce the sound. I am leaning away from it being half shaft related.
I am not sure how the half shaft problem can be confirmed. Mark may know, as he is familiar with the problem. But I think the defect rate is very high, and I would be surprised if you don't have the problem since I think your car is in the effected batch.

Maybe they will fix it under warranty since there is a SSM released.
 

tannerk89

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I am not sure how the half shaft problem can be confirmed. Mark may know, as he is familiar with the problem. But I think the defect rate is very high, and I would be surprised if you don't have the problem since I think your car is in the effected batch.

Maybe they will fix it under warranty since there is a SSM released.
Yeah, I was wondering that myself. Hopefully he knows! I would be surprised if I didn’t get the half shaft issue at some point. So far my car has had all the problems.
 
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mkhuffman

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Yeah, I was wondering that myself. Hopefully he knows! I would be surprised if I didn’t get the half shaft issue at some point. So far my car has had all the problems.
By the way, mine didn't make a clicking sound, but did make a loud clunking sound, similar to what you describe. The cluck got worse in cold ambient temperature and I didn't notice it all all when the temperature was warm. Mark noticed this on his Premium also.

I didn't try to reproduce it by pushing on the side of the car, like you did, but if you have had the problem for a while, it could be in a much worse state than mine was.
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