Replaced sway bar links, swimming all over the place now

[fihnguy]

Hey fellas,

So I replaced the front left link and the right at the rear. Driving, I right away noticed random pull to one side, then the other. Basically the truck appears to be swimming on the road. You have to correct it with the steering wheel. So I replaced the remaining two links. No difference. Replaced the front sway bar bushings (one side had a bit of movement, but nothing extraordinary - wouldn’t bother at all if not for this issue). No difference. Checked the part numbers on a couple of different websites and everything seems fine. At a bit of a loss here. There was no issue before and never had happen previously either on any of the vehicles I had/repaired.

The parts are Moog:
- front right K90683
- front left K90677
- rear K80469

Anyone experienced this before?

Thanks all!

 

[Cezar]

I wonder if the sway bar is popping out of its mounts...

 

[Lemming]

Did you tighten them up correctly?

 

[fihnguy]

I wonder if the sway bar is popping out of its mounts...

Could you expand on your thought?

Did you tighten them up correctly?

Yes. The rear links may be over torqued at the top, but I don’t think it would have such an effect. Everything else is to tightened to specs.


Today, I took apart the whole thing at the front again. Took off the links, loosened the sway bar brackets, and then put everything back together again. Same thing. I really have no idea what is going on. I haven’t touched anything else, like at all. The only other thing I did was a tire rotation when I replaced the first two links. Can’t see how that can affect anything.

Drove on the highway for the first time today after the “repairs” and it probably feels like driving a vehicle with a bad frame, especially when changing lanes (I have never driven a vehicle with a bad frame, but imagine that this is what it feels like).

Any input would be appreciated. Wish I still had the old links to put back in place and see what happens but the garbage was picked and the links are gone.

 

[OopsIBrokeIt]

Check those tires.

It's not quite as common as a bad or damaged suspension but tire issues can cause some funky behaviors including wandering and pulling to the side.

Ideally you'll wanna remove and remount them, try to make sure they're not misaligned with the hub or loose somehow. Check your tire pressures, inspect for funky tread wear, check for damage like a bulge or soft spot on the sidewall.

Alternatively you can probably go to a shop and ask them to re-balance the tires, a damaged tire can produce some weird results on the machine.


If none of those things makes a difference, time to get an inspection and maybe an alignment. It's possible some other part happened to fail at the same time you were doing this unrelated work.

 

[Cezar]

Could you expand on your thought?

Loose / broken swaybar brackets. But if you detached and re-attached them, it's not that.

 

[fastbroshi]

I'd wager you incorrectly assembled the end links and or didn't tighten them nearly enough.

I think it's highly unlikely one or more of your tires' performance suddenly went back in time to 1910 just because you took the wheels off.

I just reread your post and just to be clear, did you only replace one of the links, both front and rear? If so why didn't you replace them in pairs?