wow fix a sway bar link

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keith wallace01ST

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wow what a great day i fixed the sway bar link that was broken and it tightened up my breaks



If you read my last posts over the last bit you would see i was confused about a clonking in the front end of my 01 st well after lots of confusing looking around and great advise on this site(thanks so much) & i was conserned about the the beaks being wrecked.. because they were loose on the calipers.. thursday i discovered that in fact it was my sway bar link that was broken...I got the moog replace ones ...I went to my dad place and it was -20 in the garage thank god for propane heaters lololo... i replaced the liink and well i was at i did the other side ...After it was all botton my breaks were tight and i have like %60 left on th pads



Woo hoo what a feeling that save me big bucks doing it my self i was getting Qoute of 2 hun to fix it + parts



i dont know why my breaks would loosen with a broken sway bar link must be part of th geometry of the front end







thanks

keith w
 
So your brakes (note the spelling) were actually loose? Which bolt. Bracket bolts or caliper bolts.



Broken Sway Bar endlinks are common on Fords. It is the lame design Ford uses.



Those two incidents had nothing to do with each other.





Tom
 
Ford just uses the cheapest easiest thing they can that meets the requirement to work. Then if it fails under warranty it bit them, But when it fails out of warranty, They don't care..



Manufacturers actually test things to last the 3/36, they could care less if it fails after that....



Todd Z
 
when i replace the sway bar links My brakes went from being a loose caliper to tight i used to be able to wiggle the brake caliper when the sway var link was broken...

 
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Or an inebriation clarifier perhaps? Could have used it a few times myself in the past.
 
i am sick today



make it simple my calipers were loose till i fixed the sway bar link thats all i am saying sorry guys



unless i had frozen calipers and the heat from the shop thawed them out lololo



sorry guys
 
Sway bar endlinks have nothing to do with Brake calipers.



So, there is two scenerios.



1: There was nothing wrong with your brakes in the first place and you were totally mistaken.



or



2: There is still something wrong with your brakes and you think the problem you went away.



If number one is true, you are fine



If number 2 is correct, expect a caliper to come up and wedge itself against the wheel. The wheel will lock up possibly causing an accident. The wheel will be damaged where it must be replaced. Your caliper could fall off and blow the pistons out of the caliper causing you to empty out your master cylinder reduce your braking system to the rears only. A tow truck ride and a few hundered bucks later, your Trac will be fixed.



Not trying to be a spoil sport, but reality is that brakes are the most important safety item you have. It is absolutly, positivly nothing to take lightly.



I hope there was nothing wrong with them in the first place and you were just mistaken.





Tom
 
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keith,



Seriously, I can not stress how important brakes are. I also know that brakes and sway bar endlinks have absolutly nothing to do with each other. They do not bolt to each other. They do not even touch each other.



With that being said, either your brakes were loose or they were not.



If they were loose before the endlink was replaced, they they will be loose after the endlink was replaced.



Just a warning for you. Thats all.



You do what you want. I just hope I am not around is something goes bad.





Tom
 
i beleve think it was the the 1st scenerio i beleve i was mistaken and it was -25 here for 2 weeks streight and i checked all the conections and bolts to make sure they are tight ...i checked all that when i had the wheel of to change the links...



"If number 2 is correct, expect a caliper to come up and wedge itself against the wheel. The wheel will lock up possibly causing an accident. The wheel will be damaged where it must be replaced. Your caliper could fall off and blow the pistons out of the caliper causing you to empty out your master cylinder reduce your braking system to the rears only. A tow truck ride and a few hundered bucks later, your Trac will be fixed."



You had said this last week and i was very conserned so my dad and i checked it all out and made sure the bolts were tight the last thin i need s to have a accedent this time of year



i took what you said and check it all and thanks you again for the advice



 
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tom



i took what you said so seiously my dad has been a parts man for 40 years and he took it very serious



and again thanks so much this was the reason why i went that extra step to make sure the brakes are good i had all the part there to replace it all but i did not have to because it all looks good\



this is why i am part of this site with the advice from tom and the lack of knowledge i have about st and then i get my dad to read this a man that has been doing parts for 40

+ it is a instant success thanks again tom



cheers keith
 
I had the exact thing happen to my wife. One caliper bolt came out. When she hit the brakes, the caliper and bracket wedged up and jamed itself against the wheel. It locked the wheel up, but she was able to get it off the road. She then called me. Without even knowing what was wrong or anything, I headed out to figure it out.



When I got there, the left front tire was flat. Pulled the wheel off to change it is when I noticed the caliper. She said she thought she heard something strange, but the radio was on and didn't think much about it.



Sure enough, right where she heard that wierd noise, there was the bolt. Got the bolt back in and spare on and she was on her way.



The caliper pushed into the wheel and split the aluminum enough to leak air.



Fortunatly, I knew what to fix. Needless to say, I pulled ALL the bolts that hold the caliper and bracket on and put Locktite on it.



I lucked out. $60.00 for the wheel and another $15.00 for mounting and balancing and we were done. So, that was a $75.00mistake on my part. It could have been worse.



I just do not want ANYONE experiance and deal with what I had to.



My wife was on her way to the funeral of her cousin. She had her dad and brother with her. They were able to get to the church in time, but Theresa missed the fineral. I was late to work, but I called ahead and just stayed over for the time I missed. No harm done.



I just do not want anyone to deal with it. She was lucky.



I also put locktite on my trac's bolts too. Never be too careful.





Tom
 
If the MC goes, how do you still have rear braking? The emergency brake, as it unfortunately applies the rear brakes?



(Not to thread jack, but I'm trying to expand my own meagre knowledge base...because knowing is half the battle.)
 
The master cylinder reservoir has a small dam between the front and back parts of the Master Cylinder. You will lose fluid on one side, but have fluid for the other system.





Tom
 
Kevin,



In the case of the 01 and 02 ST the parking/emergency brake applies the Rear rum brakes.

SO you have the full braking power of the rears. Yes it will not stop you on a dime, But it may be enough to help save an accident....



On the 03 and up the rear parking/brake is a mini drum setup that is inside the rotor. It is merely there to help hold the truck on a Hill or incline as a parking brake...

IF I had to rely on that setup in a panic situation, I think I would just close my eyes and lay across the seats...



Todd Z
 
So the 02 emergency brake is just a way to apply the drum brakes yourself? There's no mini drum setup as well? That's pretty cool, though bad when someone else drives your truck and leaves the ebrake on, leading to soft brakes that desperately needed a bleeding. Bleeding didn't work 500 years ago, but it works wonders today lol.
 
The 2001 and 2002 Trac's Parking brake is 1/2 of your drums. The 2003 and up, engages the primary and secondary shoes.



I have no worries about the parking brake on the converted disk brake job. It will lock both rear wheels without batting an eye.





Tom
 

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