I have a 2000 F150 supercab 4X4 5.4L & I have been hearing a clunk when I hit bumps & turn sharply so I decided to take a look under my truck & investigate... I immediately noticed that the drivers side stabilizer bar link had snapped off at the top leaving the stabilizer bar completely unnatached. The funny thing is that I really didn't notice a huge difference in handling or steering performance besides the clunk which kind of surprised me. Anyway, I recently got an alignment at NTB & I was wondering if this could have caused this because I cannot figure out how the link could have snapped like that on it's own. Is this common?
It was an easy fix, a new link only cost me about $8 & it took about 15 minutes to repair. This one has just got me wondering....


Thanks for the help,
Brian

 

Yes front and back failing is common in trucks much more than cars. The amount of suspension articulation available does a serrious number on these parts.

If you replace one, replace them all. They all have gone through the same stress and are readily likely to go too.

 

Thanks for the advice - I only changed the driver's side but maybe I will go & pick up another one for the passenger side since it was a cake job anyway..

Brian

 

What causes it is fatigue.... The stresses go from compressing that fastener to tensioning the fastener, and vary based on a whole lotta things. It's not an uncommon item to fail, and not an expensive (or difficult) part to replace.... it's just one of those things that's bound to wear out eventually.

-Joe

 

My 97 also had the driverside mount break. I have no idea how it happened and didn't even know it was broke. I happened to notice it when I was doing an oil change.