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

HuntingPudel

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Ok, after sheer will and determination I was able to get the bladder back on. Here’s what a blown out one looks like in case you were interested.

I noticed something else annoying though. Even with the ends cut of it seems like something may be rubbing. In the other picture you can see towards the bottom corner some of the paint has come off.

FE675DBE-6484-4B4C-8FC4-CDC4120B070E.jpeg


6D0B72B7-7231-4460-A34E-C5E030564122.jpeg
Back when I was in high school I saw a kid blow out a seal on a ball joint. That was messy. 🤪🐩
 

azerik

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Well shoot. Now I'm clunk huntin. I pulled the tires off of loosened all of the endlinks, blue loc-tite and then about 100ftlbs on the bolts for the end links. I could have swore I tightened the bar mounts to around 50ft/lbs but Might have to take the back pan back off. I can get to the front mounts through the wheel well with the front tires off. The clunk is in the front or back and happens when pulling into my driveway or hitting something hard, fast. Expansion joints, etc. The washers on my bars are quite far from the bushings. Like 1/2 of side to side is possible.
Both bars are middle holes.
Checked, I have the 'latest' shorter front bar as at full lock (usually when I'm pulling into the driveway thanks to our big curbs) doesn't hit. The clunk from the driveway is the rear bar. Probably, sadly, didn't get that passenger side top bolt as tight as needed.
The steeda End links are greased with 4 pumps of Moly something something green I use on my Can-AM.
I figure the rear clunk may well be the bar shifting side to side.This is the first bar i've seen with side to side play when having washers welded on to it.
( I did pick up an 8mm 3/8ths socket which made the front endlinks a minute job to re-loc-tite. Much nicer than the jenky 8mm tiny wrench I had been using)
 
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mkhuffman

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Checked, I have the 'latest' shorter front bar as at full lock (usually when I'm pulling into the driveway thanks to our big curbs) doesn't hit.
Those of us with the longer bars never saw them hit either. Personally I would not assume they are not hitting until you put a few miles on the car, maybe 500-1000, and then check the ends to see if the blue paint is undisturbed.

Anyway, welcome to the Steeda sway bar club! I am still very happy I put them on.
 

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Anyway, welcome to the Steeda sway bar club! I am still very happy I put them on.
I am too. But I seem to always need something to improve on. 😁
 
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mkhuffman

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I am too. But I seem to always need something to improve on. 😁
Can you look at your bars in a month or so and check back here to let us know if you have the interference problem or not? I am not convinced they fixed the problem, but if you can confirm they have, I will update the OP. Pictures of the clean ends will prove it.

Thanks Erik!
 


azerik

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I'm thinking I'm going to back down the bar settings. Pulling into my driveway is nearly a 3 wheel experience. The front of the car is planted, no lean at all in my hardest cornering on the second hole front and rear. I'm still very happy with them but am going to experiment.

I'm trying to figure out a way to set it like Mark had mentioned with no preload on the front bar which may solve a little or all of my clunk. I talked to Steeda and they do factor in a bit of side to side movement in those bushing stoppers and supposedly the rate on the front bar is unchanged to the specs on the site. Not sure I can do this zero preload with the front tires on as I have no ramps.

If anyone is in the East Valley and is looking for the proving grounds I suggest Warner and the 101. Warner headed west right before getting on the south bound 101 ramp. It's got every kind of road hazard you could wish for. lol. If I can smooth that out I can conquer the world.
 

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So I’m thinking about getting an installing both bars this spring when my cabin and shop melt out. Do y’all feel that once properly greased they are ready for prime time in terms of reliability?
 
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mkhuffman

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So I’m thinking about getting an installing both bars this spring when my cabin and shop melt out. Do y’all feel that once properly greased they are ready for prime time in terms of reliability?
The bar is just a heavy piece of metal so that is not likely to fail. I guess reliability might come into play for the front end links, that need to be greased. Those will likely wear out over time. I expect they will need to be replaced at some point, maybe about when a typical ball joint needs to be replaced?
 

npgeorgeuw

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The bar is just a heavy piece of metal so that is not likely to fail. I guess reliability might come into play for the front end links, that need to be greased. Those will likely wear out over time. I expect they will need to be replaced at some point, maybe about when a typical ball joint needs to be replaced?
yeah I figured the bar is fine, mostly worried about my own (maybe) perceived weaknesses of the bushing and fitting designs. Just a lot of complaints about clunks and squeaks and chasing loose bolts etc. I have plenty of maintenanced fittings and bushings on my aftermarket laden Gladiator and don’t currently have clunks and squeaks from any of them but I recheck torque and apply loctite and grease where necessary even if it’s omitted from the manual. I’m assuming minimal maintenance intervals of every 5-10k for this bar?
 

21st Century Pony

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...I recheck torque and apply loctite and grease where necessary even if it’s omitted from the manual. I’m assuming minimal maintenance intervals of every 5-10k for this bar?
Greasing at built-in grease points = smart preventive maintenance.
 

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Greasing at built-in grease points = smart preventive maintenance.
What's funny is that my '71 Celica's tie rod ends came with screws and bronze washers to seal up the holes already tapped in them for zerk fittings. I never understood that. I just removed the screws and put SAE zerk fittings in so that I could grease them. 🤷‍♂️🐩
 

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What's funny is that my '71 Celica's tie rod ends came with screws and bronze washers to seal up the holes already tapped in them for zerk fittings. I never understood that... ... 🤷‍♂️🐩
Corporate cheaping out knows no bounds and isn't new.
 

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Greasing at built-in grease points = smart preventive maintenance.
I almost feel like it’s just maintenance if it’s a built in zerk. Aka you just do it, no preventative anything entailed outside preventing failure. “Necessity” maintenance in my mind? Lol.
 

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I've run into a couple things with the sub 100 miles I've put on these bars. I've got a hard, sharp metal'ish clank over sharp bumps. And the same clank from the left front when shifting the whole weight of the car and a somewhat abrupt dip. I'm going to unscrew the endlinks completely. and wiggle them looking for slop. I've also managed to pop a seal off a bit by 5 pumping the first endlink. (this may well be the one that's making noise) You can see the boot popped in the pic (top endlink).

I've got a question though. Steeda says the bottom link points towards the tire. Opposite the factory. Which is what I did and what it shows in the install pics. Others here have it clock 180 out from the top, which looks like a better angle as the top endlink on mine looks almost stressed. I've searched many times looking for a reason, other than possibly it's needed for GTPE's and not others. Though it looks like a better angle if I flipped the bottom endlink to the other side.

Anyone unscrew the endlinks completely? I'm hoping to unthread them completely on the car (without it being jacked up, and keeping the tires on) but would like to know about how long they are. I'm trying to avoid the possible sudden unloading of stored tension into my hand if it all possible.
Ford Mustang Mach-E Steeda Front Sway Bar! It is awesome. Transforms the car into what it should be. IMG_3963

Ford Mustang Mach-E Steeda Front Sway Bar! It is awesome. Transforms the car into what it should be. IMG_3964


By the way I think they made the new bar shorter by shortening it's over all width. It could be my angle but looking at others in this thread the endlink placement and angle of the dangle doesn't line up.
 

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I've run into a couple things with the sub 100 miles I've put on these bars. I've got a hard, sharp metal'ish clank over sharp bumps. And the same clank from the left front when shifting the whole weight of the car and a somewhat abrupt dip. I'm going to unscrew the endlinks completely. and wiggle them looking for slop. I've also managed to pop a seal off a bit by 5 pumping the first endlink. (this may well be the one that's making noise) You can see the boot popped in the pic (top endlink).

I've got a question though. Steeda says the bottom link points towards the tire. Opposite the factory. Which is what I did and what it shows in the install pics. Others here have it clock 180 out from the top, which looks like a better angle as the top endlink on mine looks almost stressed. I've searched many times looking for a reason, other than possibly it's needed for GTPE's and not others. Though it looks like a better angle if I flipped the bottom endlink to the other side.

Anyone unscrew the endlinks completely? I'm hoping to unthread them completely on the car (without it being jacked up, and keeping the tires on) but would like to know about how long they are. I'm trying to avoid the possible sudden unloading of stored tension into my hand if it all possible.
IMG_3963.jpg

IMG_3964.jpg


By the way I think they made the new bar shorter by shortening it's over all width. It could be my angle but looking at others in this thread the endlink placement and angle of the dangle doesn't line up.
Hi Erik, I have yet to install the new Steeda on my car, but it looks like the lower ball joint should be on opposite side mounted on your bar, maybe others can chime in with more knowledge… look on page 2 for some pics from Mike @mkhuffman …Good luck .. I know once you get it dialed in you should be extremely happy as others have said of install…
 
 




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