Mounting the Crown Vic sway bar on a 91-93

I found a small quirk when mounting the Crown Vic rear sway bar to my 91 OCC. I clamped it to the rear axle and positioned it to drill out the hole for the standoffs. Well I got a surprise. Unlike the 94-96, the muffler bracket bolts to that hole. I guess GM did not stop making the hole when they changed the muffler mounts for the 94-96s. I did find a way to work around it.

You can remove the muffler bracket and rotate it 180 degrees, then drill new holes for the bracket in its new position with the long end toward the center of the car. You may have to move it a small amount to the center of the car to clear the standoff for the sway bar. If you support the muffler, it is an easy job, but for those who have 91-93 cars it is a necessary mod. This frees up the hole on the brace so that you can mount the standoff. I used the red bushed standoffs, and you need to open the hole up to 3/4 of and inch. Clean up the edges of the hole, so that they do not cut the rubber/urethane mounts.

Update: When reversing the muffler brackets, only one bolt hole can be drilled. The second one ends up under the upper arm mount, and will not drill out into the open. I attached the muffler bracket with just one screw, and it appears to be holding. I may have a retaining tab welded over the unbolted end, so that the mount can be removed if necessary.

I ended up with a rattle after the installation. I am not sure what is rattling, and will have to investigate it further.

Help me out here guys.
Searching this and other forums the Ford part # I've got for this rear bar is YW7Z-5A772-CA .
Every post says it sells for $60 and as low as $42. Great price!
Well I just called my local Ford dealer and he told me it was $16.56. I said "Wow, that's cheaper than I expected".
Dead silence....................
He said "SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY SIX DOLLARS" .

I repeated the part # and he said "Yes, a rear swaybar for a Crown Vic".
This is Canadian retail so I went online to Discount Crown Vic Parts and they have it "ON Sale" for $811, with a retail of $1,200.
WTH is going on?

I was hoping to use this bar because the stiff aftermarket bars attach to the flimsy stock lower control arms and I've read that they can't handle it.

The bars are out of production now, I saw them for around $800 when I called a few dealers about them a year ago, salvage yards are your best bet unfortunately.

I got mine from a PNP junk yard for $18. The rest of the parts cost me about $50. You have to look at about 15-20 cars (my experience) to find one of the 21mm bars. You can easily determine if it is a 21mm. They are substantially larger than the 17 or 17.9mm ones. Take a 3/4 inch/19mm open end wrench with you. If it fits over the bar, it is not the 21mm. There are no other sizes.

Thanks for the replies guys.
While doing a search I came across stiffer, aftermarket bars for the Crown Vic for cars originally equipped with a rear bar, so they should be the same shape as the stock Ford bar.
They are 25mm (1 inch) for around $175.
This may be an even better option for those of us who don't want to mount a rear bar to our lower control arms.

Yes, some people have done that, too.


The CV 21mm bar is indeed out of production. They used to be cheap, but no longer.

Well, I checked out the local Pick 'N Pull today for rear Crown Vic bars.
4 Lincoln Town Cars - 17mm.
1 Crown Vic Cop Car - 17mm.
4 Crown Vic - 17mm.
4 Crown Vic - 19mm.
1 Mercury Grand Marquis - 21mm.
I got the 21mm bar for $31 and will sand and paint it tomorrow, a local speed shop has the Energy Suspension bushings and end links in stock.
What a great forum this is!

Update: I ended up having the muffler brackets welded to the frame. I still have a rattle. I think it may be the parking brake cable touching the end link on the driver's side. Next time I jack the car, I will check for shiny metal on the end link and the cable cover coil. I may relocate the cable clamp on top of the differential housing, or just move the cable a little to the right inside of it.

Will this work for a new option?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=5548725&cc=1354418

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?ck[ID]=0&ck[idlist]=0&ck[viewcurrency]=USD&ck[PHP_SESSION_ID]=v8h2nseo9tpvafnmb9j87i4sq0

frederickflintstone wrote:

Will this work for a new option?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=5548725&cc=1354418

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?ck[ID]=0&ck[idlist]=0&ck[viewcurrency]=USD&ck[PHP_SESSION_ID]=v8h2nseo9tpvafnmb9j87i4sq0

Waste of time and money by the time you add the Energy Suspension bushings and end link kits because it is only 15mm in diameter. That's barely over half an inch.
Look at the sizes I posted that I found at the first auto wrecker I went to. They were ALL bigger than 15mm.
It literally takes 5 minutes per side and 2 sockets to remove one at the junkyard for a third of the price of that coathanger.
If you're dead set on "new" get the ADDCO #650, 1 inch (25mm) for $170 at Summit and you'll drive circles around us "cheapies".
I'm pretty sure it would work better than the Hotchkis wagon bar that mounts to the lower control arms and overstresses them.