Ford Escape front end links--excellent alternative to stock!!

Fraya713 said:
So in short, from what I read, these are great for the front.
Is there any better replacement for the back sway-bar links?

What does everyone recommend for replacement for the front and back, there were more options that I thought available
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I was sort of touching on that in my above post...as of now, there are no true 'upgrades' for the rear of any Protege from what i can tell...There are adjustable rear endlinks available from AWR...but i've read multiple posts from users saying its far form an upgrade, constantly need to be tightened, and that the adjustable nature is only valuable in racing applications...plus, they are far from cheap.

The situation with the rear is annoying, too...To my knowledge, the MSP and MP3's both use a rear strut setup with a different end link mounting point...i've never seen them side by side...but its been confirmed multiple times that those cars spring perches are different, and that the strut tube was changed slightly...all of which would make a different endlink flange plausible...

So these cars use slightly longer rear end-links than that of the regular sedan and p5...They are not really upgraded or anything, just longer, and WILL NOT fit on a regular sedan or P5...they push the sway bar down into contact with the rear control arms, and will make all kinds of noise because of it...

the factory P5 rear endlinks are 184mm iirc...so when sourcing parts, be sure of that measurement...the links in the ~190+mm range won't work, just went through this a few weeks ago...but even the dealership was trying to sell me the wrong size after taking the VIN from my car...not sure where the parts database got so messed up, so just be ready to check the size at the counter when replacing the rears...
 
Oh, this is cool.
I know that that generation of Ford Escape was a rebadged Ford/Mazda collaberation of the Mazda Tribute.
Is there anything else from the Ford Escape that is compatible with the Protege5?
 
Will these work on an '03 lx? Dumb question, but I see mostly 5 owners commenting... I need a replacement because I'm trying to install tein s-techs and the stock links wont come off. I' think I'll be cutting them off.
 
Question: I bought the greasable moog links...do I have to grease them as soon as I install them? I don't have a gun or grease right now, but want to install them.
 
MazdaSpeeder said:
Question: I bought the greasable moog links...do I have to grease them as soon as I install them? I don't have a gun or grease right now, but want to install them.
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I just picked up a pair myself. It looks like they come pregreased. If you pull the rubber boot to the side you can see the grease inside them. But I would call wherever you got the from to be sure.

I have not installed mine either.
 
Just called Moog...they said that there is some assembly lube in them, but they recommend greasing them at installation. He said you could run them for a little while without it, but it's better to grease them.
 
DOES IT MATTER WHAT ENGINE SIZE ON THE ESCAPE. I SEE THESE "MEVOTECH Part # MK80104" ON ROCKAUTO.COM AND THE PART NUMBER RUNS FOR ALL MODELS THAT YEAR, WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK. AND THESE HAVE THE GREASE NIPPLES.
 
915_P5 said:
DOES IT MATTER WHAT ENGINE SIZE ON THE ESCAPE. I SEE THESE "MEVOTECH Part # MK80104" ON ROCKAUTO.COM AND THE PART NUMBER RUNS FOR ALL MODELS THAT YEAR, WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK. AND THESE HAVE THE GREASE NIPPLES.
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The 3.0 V6 engine is the AWD drive version.
 
All I know is, the moog ones are really high quality. No plastic on these at all. The stockers had plastic cups around the ball, and that's what failed. I would spend a little more and get the moog ones.
 
When I finally got these on, the grease fittings on the tops of the endlinks rub against the strut...I don't think it's a huge deal, but did anyone else have this problem?
 
I was doing some digging, thanks to Mazda247 for some rear end links and came across a REAR END LINK upgrade form Moog. Part #K80868 is super beefy and designed for "sport suspension" for the MP5s. The price difference is about $4 dollars more on Amazon, but I feel quite worth the cost to performance offset. From what I was able to decipher from the pics on the Moog website the #K80869 is not as beefy, more stock suspension oriented. I am upgrading to the Progress rear sway bar so I figured this was a great time to update the end links also. I will be installing the bar today so I will report back how the install of the bar and end links went.
 
FYI my Escape Moog endlinks failed within a year, I just replaced them with proper P5 Moog endlinks (part #K80258) and it looks like they have been re-designed. The new ones I got have a different boot and are far better sealed and are just as thick as the Escape ones.

Instead of the half-domed rubber boot that sits on top, these boots are smaller and kind of sit inside the ball joint. I can't seem to find a pic of the new style boot

Edit: I contacted moog and indeed they're a new design, here's what it looks like for anybody interested: http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_en1/MOOG_PS_Bulletin_214005_K90349_EN.pdf
 
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