Stabalizer Bar nut suggestions

I ordered replacement bushings for my front and rear stabilizer bars. All of mine have either turned rock hard or busted apart. The stabilizers themselves and the hardware are still in good shape. They have surface rust but otherwise look good.

I reviewed the instructions in the Ford Repair Manual. The process seems pretty straight forward. One thing that caught my attention were the nuts that holds the rear stabilizer bar to the links (green circle). The manual states these are locking nuts. What is currently on my truck is just a regular nut. I had been planning to reuse them. Does anyone have experience this this or suggestions?

There are numbers listed in the diagrams from the manual. I'm not sure if those are part or reference numbers. The pages are also different from those under Documentation in the forum. I think the manual has a reference section but I haven't found them there yet but I may have missed it.

I've included some pictures of the diagrams. The nut in questions is circled in green. I do have a 4WD F-250.

We have that whole section on the page at Documentation/Suspension & Steering/Front Suspension & then the Instructions tab followed by the 4WD tab.  And there I see that the nut is PN 620469.  But we don't have that in the parts list.

However, going to the page at Documentation/Reference/Standard & Utility Parts Catalog I see that it is an M12 coarse thread Type 18, which does show to be a lock nut.

If yours have stayed tight then they may be ok.  Personally I'd get a Nyloc nut and put on there.

I have no good opinion about Nyloc.

The links came with distorted prevailing torque lock nuts.
If you're going to replace them you should use the same.

Often these are distorted into a triangle, and you'll find a triangle stamped into one flat (on aftermarket, but not the OEM nuts)

beat me to it. use the prevailing torque nuts. they often look domed on one side, and you can see three triangles stamped into the domed side. they will install with that side facing away from the sway bar staying visible when tight. often ford used a series of "crimped" lock nuts same as found on shock bolts and the front sway bar end links.  

I meant to specify that I was referring to the one circled in green which is the rear link.  In my 1982 book it is simply listed as 3371, but in your scanned book it gives a number similar to the others, 384485, which I found in the parts catalog.

Thank you Gary!

I had never heard of such a thing but I remember seeing nuts with similar markings.  So this has brought about more questions ...

I checked the 3 part numbers for the nuts involved.  The front and back use the same 3 nuts:  620482, 620469, and 384485.

All are listed is lock nuts of the type you and Mat mentioned.  The first two are metric course, M10 and M12, flange nuts.  The catalog does not mention a specific thread size and when I search I get all sorts of options.  
Also, there is no grade mentioned.

The last one is 3/8-16 Grade 5.  All I can find is Grade 8.  I read that using a higher grade nut can damage your bolt.  I don't know what Grade the bolt is.

3371 should be the base part number for any nut that ford has ever produced.....

dirtymac wrote

The last one is 3/8-16 Grade 5.  All I can find is Grade 8.  I read that using a higher grade nut can damage your bolt.  I don't know what Grade the bolt is.

You can look it up in the master fasteners catalog, but if it's a suspension part likely #5.

Not as much UTS as g8 but typically a lot tougher and less prone to stress corossion cracking.

I'd bet that Dorman/HELP has something sold as a shock absorber nut or similar with either oval or triangle distorted threads. 💡

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/dorman-prevailing-torque-lock-nut-grade-8-3-8-in.-16-962-027/11910878-p?product_channel=local&store=5677&adtype=pla_with_promotion&product_channel=local&store_code=5677&&&&&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1Mz-7VlgOdQdz97hGZnUYvrWiCkG4LQUPqVqn_OuTrjvWSpYVzY3cRoCl1EQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.  

itis true that if you use a locknut harder than the bolt then the weaker takes the hit, flattened threads. galling etc. when in doubt the idea of locking two nuts together still works.

I ended up sending back the bushings I previous purchased and got a set from Moog.  The Moog sets came with lock nuts that looked much more like the original parts.  I've been out of town for the last week but I'm hoping to get working on these this week.

Probably a good idea.