Anybody friends with a Lincoln mechanic??

[Cody.h]

Sorry to take so long to get back to you...we ended kinda busy at work yesterday afternoon but talked to my tech this am. Pretty bad job...we flag 4 hrs plus alignment for the labor.

What he does raise vehicle and block transmission bellhousing up...disconnect passenger side knuckle at ball joint and wire it forward as far as it will go. Then he pulls motor mount bolts out and loosens the six cradle to body bolts till the cradle is hanging by just a few threads on all 6 bolts to get enough room to get to the bolts and slip the whole bar out the side. He thinks its a little easier then pulling the whole strut out but still takes all of 4 hours.

If its any consolation the new sway bar design appears to be a permanent repair....before the redesign we could get just the bushings but they would just waller out again in a couple years.

[Uncle Cracker]

Wow, Cody... That's gonna be a biatch! Thanks for the info, though. I guess tomorrow is gonna be a loooong day...

[Uncle Cracker]

Update: I got that @#*&% bolt off the water valve!

Did it by fishing a combination of ratchet extensions and wobble joints down through the maze of hoses and accessories in the engine compartment! The other stuff after that was much easier by comparison... Pulled the old sway bar out through the left wheel well. Positioned the new one the same way, and tomorrow will bolt everything back up (that bugger of a bolt on the water valve bracket may just have to stay out as there's still one bolt and a positioning tab that will be on there).

I sure am glad I didn't have to resort to doing the whole jack-up-the-engine and disassemble-the-frame thing.

WHEW!

Thanks to all for the excellent research and suggestions.

[Tom Slick]

It could have been worse...you could be doing plumbing and electrical repairs at Crockett's house/shop