I haven't been under the vehicle to see what's missing. I feel like I've had this off, in my hands, during a previous repair. My first thought was a retainer for one of the sway bars, but they are all in place. I probably won't have a chance to get under the vehicle till tomorrow...

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Sway bar bushing bracket is my vote.

If that’s not a front sway bar bracket, it’s the clamp for the steering rack.

if a sway bar bracket. you will notice some difference in driving and possibly a clunk. From picture thats my vote too.

If a steering mount I would assume you would feel a real difference in driving....danger...I would not drive.....just my 2 cents on that.

Definitely swaybar bracket:



The steering rack bracket on the right has much more meat to it:



-Charlie

Ok, so my bad, sway bar bracket was my first thought and steering was my second. I had a quick look under the vehicle and and both seemed to be in place. Hence this post...

But have a look at the attached pic, the bracket was missing but the bushing was still in place... Like I said, quick look ;-)

Anyways, thanks for the input.

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Also, don't mind the oil slick under there... My steering is leaking from the rag join, and I don't want pay to replace the rack.. it's a slow leak

That's year round rust prevention

From the looks of the frame rail he needs a bigger oil leak to prevent rust.

I don’t envy you rust belt folks.

There must be a money making opportunity buying used vehicles out west and shipping them to the rust belt for resale.

yikes....that frame....

Yaaaaa. The rust belt. There's not enough oil in the world to prevent this '98 from rusting into dust. I've half considered spraying the underside with my used motor oil...

I'm actually in a bit of a tough spot right now. My wife keeps asking how much money is too much money to sink into this wonderful ride. I keep saying it's never too much, knowing in my heart it's probably past that point. But I must have the best wife ever, she actually suggested the other day that I buy another one and keep this for parts! I mean, who's wife *actually* suggests that?! 😍

I was contemplating buying a used one from somewhere down south in the middle of the desert... There is definitely money to be made in importing these. At least I would buy one...

I put a small dot of blue loctite on mine.

Don't use oil. It's not the best rust preventative. Fluid Film would be a pretty good option but with a frame like that i'd probably hit it with a wire brush and por15 the whole thing. That's what I plan on doing with mine that has a few rust spots on the frame and rear axle.

How did that fall off, and how did it fall off where you found it?? amazing

Ha, funny story actually. During a previous repair, due to all the rust, both bolts broke off in the nuts that are welded to the frame. So I drilled them out and used two new bolts with nuts. I guess they had been rattling around for a while without my noticing and eventually rattled right off when I took a big drop into a puddle that was deeper than it looked. I heard the part hit the pavement and actually saw it through the back window. Contemplated leaving it, then u-turned and grabbed it. Glad I stopped, and I will definitely be adding some loc-tite this time.

Funny part is, when I went and had a look this afternoon I actually found the two nuts I used still loose in too if the frame. Guess all the grease held then in place... Structural grease