Hey, everyone! I have a Red Candy 2013 Convertible with 28K miles on it, but it needs rear swaybar links. In temperatures lower than 40 degrees, the back end makes little, annoying squeaks when I roll over the train tracks in town or uneven streets.

How much should I reasonably expect to pay for this repair? What are the best swaybar links to buy? I looked on Rockauto.com just to get an idea of what the parts cost and know they aren't THAT expensive. My Ford dealership quoted me $600. Any thoughts? What brand(s)should I lean forward on and what brand(s) are junk?

Wanna get her ready for Summer in Chicago!
Thanks,
Rob

 

Hello,

Nice vert with super low miles, would love to see some pics.

Anything dealership is overpriced and it makes little sense to look for stock replacement parts especially suspensions IMHO, although some are exceptions.

In my experience tracking down squeaks it is fairly difficult to pin-point exact related parts or areas but start with re-grease. The price can very depend on speed shop you choose. I’m still reviewing Blackdog at Lincolnshire. They seem nice, championships and all. Need more research...

I am considering Whiteline brand sway because I plan to install their watts link and those two go together. They also carry front & rear sways at a combo pack discount.

Curious to ask, how did you come to conclude that it’s the rear swaybar links making noise? What about lower/upper control arms and joints? Panhard bar?

 

might be the end-links or maybe not . . . you could try spraying them with silicone lube (try to get the lube inside the bushing) to see if that quiets the squeaks

$600 does seem crazy high even with labor, I think I could do it in 2 hours and that includes putting the car on jack stands .... here are some super high end links for $175

https://www.steeda.com/steeda-heavy-...-555-1060.html

 

I put those Steeda endlinks on my '13 GT convertible when the faulty units started clunking. I was going to go with OEM, but Ford tried twice to get the correct part in and both sets were too small.

 

$600 sounds ridiculous for rear sway bar end links. If I remember correctly you have to remove the rear sway bar and slide the factory end links off. It think it was only 4 bolts. The Steeda ones mentioned in earlier posts are really nice and make re-greasing easy since they can be removed while leaving the sway bar installed. Just remove the plate and swing the end link off the sway bar one at a time while leaving the ends bolted to the car.

 

$600?! What ripoff artists.

Here:
https://lmr.com/item/LRS-5C488Q/ford...-end-link-1214
All of 40 bucks a side.

You'll probably want to do the actual bar end bushings too, so that's another 50 bucks:
https://lmr.com/item/LRS-5493B/ford-...nvertible-1214
90 (edit:130, i can't mathz) bucks total, plus tax/shipping. Assuming I have the correct car... you did say '13 convertible, but not any upgrades... Me, I have to get the upgraded 35/24 mm sized stuff 'cause racecar/GT500 upgrade. Bolted right on in. Man, I love how she doesn't roll in the turns....

Anyway. You can do it. And if not, a friend can. And if not, if it's more that $200 installation drive out, something's wack. That's a generous $200/hr, or $100/hr x 2, or $133.33(repeating, of course)/hr x 1.5... But I also don't actually run a shop, so what do I know labor rates. Watch this video. At the 4:20 mark they're doing the rear. How they do that one is exactly what you'll do to swap the links/bushings.

As you can see, they're fairly *dead simple* to install. Just about anyone who can jack a car up and take a wheel off can do these things. Couple of simple tools, a jack and stands, and get 'er dun. As Eric O. of South Main Auto says, if I can do it, you can do it. Thanks for watchin! *cool guitar riff ending*

Hope that helps.

 

No project for me at least has EVER been easy JS! I guess I have Murphy's law on my side!