A few months ago I wrote to see if anyone had replaced their Windstar front stabilizer without dropping the subframe like Haynes instructs. No one knew then, but I finally got around to it. It's not easy, but it can be done (at least on our 1996). First get the van up on jack stands and remove both front wheels. Make sure it's on there solid and pretty high, as you'll probably need to crawl under to install the new bar. Then remove the nut that holds each end of the stabilizer bar to the front strut. I used a 19 mm box wrench with a cheater, as there isn't enough room to get my impact wrench in there. The stabilizer is held to the van with two brackets accessible from each wheel well. This is the hard part with the subframe in place. You can definitely loosen the two bolts on each bracket with a 13 mm box wrench (a 12-point). Problem is, as the bolts come out, you lose clearance between the lower bolt and the body. A reversing ratcheting box wrench comes in real handy here. You'll eventually lose so much clearance that you can't get the box wrench off, so loosen as far as you can, take off the wrench, then go the rest of the way with your fingers. If necessary, you can get a regular box wrench (which is thinner than the ratcheting variety) in there working from behind, and slowly alternate flipping the wrench back and forth to get the lower bolt off. A broken stabilizer can now easily be removed, but threading the new one through is tricky. Start on the passenger side wheel well. Turn the wheels far left. You may also need to disconnect the oxygen sensor wires because the bar has to pass between the wires and the steering rack. You'll see what I mean. After a few tries (and maybe working some from underneath) you should be able to get the bar all the way through, but I also had to disconnect the left tie rod from the steering knuckle for final clearance. Easy with a puller borrowed from Autozone. The remaining hard part is replacing the lower bolt on each bracket. Mine were much harder to insert with my fingers than they were to remove. I had to use the regular box wrench working from behind, turning the bolt about an eighth of a turn at a time until I had it threaded in far enough to get in there with my ratcheting box wrench. Tighten down the brackets, reattach the bar to the front strut, reattach the oxygen sensor wires, and you're done. Took me over 3 hours total, but I could probably do it again in an hour or two. Hope this is useful for someone. Mark Salvetti Saugus, MA 1996 Windstar 3.0L 2001 F150SC 4.2L V6

When your stabilizer broke what were the indications? Thumping sound, etc.?