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The stock sway bar mounts suck. The stock sway bar will pull the mounts apart from the subframe. The mounts are spot welded in a few spots and quite poorly to add. boxing in the subframe makes the mounts more rigid and will help the sway bar work properly. And we all want our sway bars to be able to work 
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So basically boxing in the subframe just means reinfocing the sway bar mounts? Sounds simple enough.
ATX MTX swap, rear drum disc swap, drilled rotors, ported intake, optim throttle body, CAI, 7.5L MAF, adj. fuel regulator, longtube headers, underdrive pulley, no EGR, low inpedence bigger injectors, 2002 Focus Swap
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It is and if you have any welding/fabrication skills it can be done in a few hours with the subframe out of the car. Others like to make it out as a tedious process but it is not at all. 
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FOR SALE 06 KX65 with riding gear $2700 obo
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Someone posted earlier that if the links aren't bad you don't have to drop the sub frame. I guess I will just have to take a look and see. I can weld and such so thats not a problem.
ATX MTX swap, rear drum disc swap, drilled rotors, ported intake, optim throttle body, CAI, 7.5L MAF, adj. fuel regulator, longtube headers, underdrive pulley, no EGR, low inpedence bigger injectors, 2002 Focus Swap
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The only proper way to do it is to drop the subframe and remove the old mount and weld in a new mount.
06 GMC Sierra 2500HD Dmax/ally
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FOR SALE 06 KX65 with riding gear $2700 obo
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Sounds like a lot of work dropping the subframe and all. Curious who developed the "proper way", just asking since I doubt it is a recall fix or anything ford recommended.
ATX MTX swap, rear drum disc swap, drilled rotors, ported intake, optim throttle body, CAI, 7.5L MAF, adj. fuel regulator, longtube headers, underdrive pulley, no EGR, low inpedence bigger injectors, 2002 Focus Swap
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Originally posted by 96mercury:
Sounds like a lot of work dropping the subframe and all. Curious who developed the "proper way", just asking since I doubt it is a recall fix or anything ford recommended.
Yes, dropping and reinstalling the rr subframe IS a lot of work. The actual welding can be done in about 1/2 hr. as long as there's no damage. I find it takes me about 4 hours for the total job without a helper.
I'd like to take credit for developing the proper way, but who's to say there IS a single proper way? As the saying goes "There's more than 1 way to skin a cat." I've done at least half a dozen of them so far. Perhaps experience counts for something...
Redcoat Raceworks. Performance parts and custom fabricating for Contours, Mystiques and Cougars. Specializing in chassis and suspension parts. Custom end links, control arms, strut tower bars, engine torque braces, etc.
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I've done one. I don't weld all that often anymore so it took several hours with a heavy-duty wire feed welder. I also did not have any good pictures as a guide (this was about two years ago). One result of this is that I made it insanely strong and added too much metal - kind of like a tractor part. I had to laugh when I saw pictures of other peopleâ??s handiwork.
Honestly, if I had more time than money I would certainly do this modification again - it is not that terribly difficult if you have tools, pictures and some skill. In my case I joined the ATI group buy because I prefer to pay for the fabrication.
I just wanted to add that IMHO anyone who tells you that this can be done ON THE CAR is giving bad advice. You really need access to all sides to do it correctly. You may be able to do some welding on the car (and many have), but the clearance issues would make it beyond tedious - not to mention the ever present fear of igniting the vapors in the fuel tank inches away.
Accidentally arcing a fuel tank you are laying under is always a bad idea.
Last edited by JEDsContour; 02/06/05 02:49 PM.
99 Tropic Green SVT, Tan Leather, 20K miles, "Nice Twin" (factory stock).
99 Tropic Green SVT, Tan Leather, 28K miles, "Evil Twin" (Turbo AER 3L and more in progress)
96 Red LX, Opal Grey Leather 2.5L, ATX, 22K miles
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Originally posted by JEDsContour:
Honestly, if I had more time than money I would certainly do this modification again - it is not that terribly difficult if you have tools, pictures and some skill. In my case I joined the ATI group buy because I prefer to pay for the fabrication.
I wonder if ATI is giving out jars of vasoline with the subframes  Dropping the subframe is rather easy and the welding fabbing is minimal to do it right. To each his own 
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FOR SALE 06 KX65 with riding gear $2700 obo
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Originally posted by Thinkmoto:
Originally posted by JEDsContour:
Honestly, if I had more time than money I would certainly do this modification again - it is not that terribly difficult if you have tools, pictures and some skill. In my case I joined the ATI group buy because I prefer to pay for the fabrication.
I wonder if ATI is giving out jars of vasoline with the subframes Dropping the subframe is rather easy and the welding fabbing is minimal to do it right. To each his own
You are under-valuing the worth of your own time - or maybe you are not.
The $250 group-buy price for a new reinforced Ford part is fair - even without Vaseline.
The little bits of free time I am able to find for car stuff are precious to me, and occasionally purchasing the time and effort of others to make the most of my own time, is money well spent.
At this point in my life, automotive work of any kind has got to have some serious entertainment value â??? or it is just not worth it. Now if I were a teenager again living in my parentâ??s houseâ?¦well different story.
Incidentally Thinkmoto, what is it with you and your â??jars of Vaseline.â? Care to explain?
99 Tropic Green SVT, Tan Leather, 20K miles, "Nice Twin" (factory stock).
99 Tropic Green SVT, Tan Leather, 28K miles, "Evil Twin" (Turbo AER 3L and more in progress)
96 Red LX, Opal Grey Leather 2.5L, ATX, 22K miles
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