Cherokee_of_Tennessee

Hey all you guys that want to lift your jeep to 3" or more.

I just helped my son put a 3" rough country lift on his 1998 XJ cherokee. While installing the longer springs on the front, we broke the rusted sway bar link trying to get the top bolt off. What to do? says I. Well, I have been wanting to put longer sway bar links on my 1999 XJ, but have been hesitant to do so because I am afraid that if I order them they won't be the right length and won't work. What a better way to test them out than put them on my son's cherokee, right?

So I did a little research on the specs of the sway bar links. Turns out the 1990 ford f350 two wheel drive rear sway bar link is exactly what we needed for a 3 inch lift. I went to autozone and bought two sway bar links, Duralast part number SL328, for $18.99 each. They bolted on like they were freaking made for it!! Lined up perfectly with the sway bar after we slid the bottom end on the steering knuckle stud. We torqued the nuts down and went for a test drive after installing the rest of the lift kit. Drove like a dream at 60 mph. No death wobble, nice and smooth. I didn't hear the sway bar links scraping the springs like I do on my 1999 cherokee when we went over speed bumps in a parking lot. I have the same lift, but don't have the longer sway bar links. Looks like I am going to have to get some now!

So you can buy quick-disconnect or adapters for the sway bar links, but they are all around $75 from off road stores I found on the internet. I didn't want adapters cause the sway bar links were pretty freaking rusted and needed to be replaced anyway. I didn't want disconnects because I am not building a rock crawler, and I don't want my sway bar accidentally coming loose on my way to work in the mornings. Our XJ's are daily drivers.

So I hope this helps any of you that are searching for longer sway bar links for the front. I will list the part number again below. The only thing you may run into trouble with is finding it at your local autozone. Oreillys part was $21.99, master pro part number K80017, and Advance Auto had it advertised as a Moog K80017 for $32.99. All of the stores had it in stock at the local hub stores, but not all the stores in my area, and all of them told me they could get it shipped to their store overnight if they didn't have it. Of course you can order it online too, but we wanted it now. Again, autozone part number is Duralast SL328.

Happy trail riding and Happy Lifting!!