2008 4.0 Coupe Deluxe Front Stabilizer Bar

Jim Gilles

Junior Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Posts
8
Reaction score
1
I just purchased my family's first Mustang for my youngest daughter's first car. I have found it to be a perfect first car for my daughter. It has been very easy to work on thus far.

I just found that my front stabilizer bar is 31mm. The two worn out bushings are a 1 3/8 which is 33mm and a 31mm. Yes, I do know how to use calipers.

The 33mm bushing had a plastic shim placed behind it in attempts to make the bushing tighter, which did not work.

The Carfax did state that the Mustang had minor driver side front damage that had been repaired.

I find that the stock bar and bushings for 2008s are 28.6mm and 34mm. Am I correct?

Has anyone ever heard of a 31mm front stabilizer bar for a 2008 4.0 Coupe Deluxe?

I ordered two new factory clamps as the clamps were quite shiny and wallowed out on the inside. Especially the clamp that had the 33mm bushing.

I will most likely be looking for a 34mm bar once my 34mm bushings come in.
 
Last edited:

Juice

forum member
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Posts
4,622
Reaction score
1,904
I think I have my stock front bar somewhere. I put artermarket front/rear bars on my 07. Where are you located?
 

Jim Gilles

Junior Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Posts
8
Reaction score
1
I recently purchased a 2008 Mustang 4.0 Coupe Deluxe for my daughter's first car. It had 115k miles on it. From the Carfax and my personal inspection, it has turned out to be exactly what I was hoping it to be, an all original car that had no history of major mechanical issues. It was just driven by previous owners who had to do nothing to it. I wanted to be the one who performed the first maintenance on it. It had the original serpentine belt, spark plugs, fuel filter filled with very dark brown mirk, totally flat shocks, springs and struts, cloth seats, complete with drivers side hole in the lower outside back rest and totally glazed over headlights. It even had the totally clogged, factory cabin filter. In other words, a perfect car that had never been messed with by a wannabe teen age mechanic.

This forum helped me find the "clunk" in the front end. I read where someone suggested that the fastest, easiest and cheapest first step in the process of elimination is to remove the front stabilizer bar. I removed it and wa-la...no more clunk. Someone had placed a plastic shim behind the passenger side mounting clamp in an attempt to stop the "clunk." That was the first and only shade tree fix that the car had. New bushings are on the way.
 

Macman45

Resident Geriatric
Joined
Sep 22, 2012
Posts
1,446
Reaction score
172
Location
Atlanta / Bay Area
Definitely aftermarket as you've discovered. The GT's have thicker bars, id toss a GT front sway bar on. They're super cheap and quality bushings so long as they arent worn out
 

Jim Gilles

Junior Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Posts
8
Reaction score
1
Definitely aftermarket as you've discovered. The GT's have thicker bars, id toss a GT front sway bar on. They're super cheap and quality bushings so long as they arent worn out

Yes sir. I ordered polys from CJ Pony. I ordered the rear polys as well after reading all of the threads about clunks from worn out bushings.
 

Jim Gilles

Junior Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Posts
8
Reaction score
1
My Prothane 34mm bushings just arrived today from CJ Pony.

I went to a local junk yard where there were four S197s. One had no front end left. One had a 28.6 mm bar. One had a 31mm stabilizer bar. Makes me wonder if that was a dealer aftermarket bar size of some type. The last one had the coveted 34mm bar. It still has 75% of the factory paint in the bushing area. I only paid 14.95 for it at the U-Pull.

I cleaned it up and installed the new bushings and not only is there no more clunk but it handles great.
 

Latest posts

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top