Rear Swaybar Endlinks Upgrade?

BraveUlysses

New member
Does anyone sell solid rear swaybar links for our cars? I've got one that is on its way out (leaked fluid out of the joint) and the partznet price is 38 for each side.

I am hoping there is a cheaper or better solution than OEM or Napa. Any thoughts?
 

turbo4wd

Moderator
BraveUlysses":3o1ihps9 said:
Does anyone sell solid rear swaybar links for our cars? I've got one that is on its way out (leaked fluid out of the joint) and the partznet price is 38 for each side.

I am hoping there is a cheaper or better solution than OEM or Napa. Any thoughts?

I made a custom set when my one of my stock ones broke a couple of days after being installed with the whiteline adjustable sway bar.. I think the cost of the materials alone cost me about $30.. but the end result was a stronger link with no fitment issues with the bar.

If I were you, and I had no whiteline swaybar, or no fitment issues with the swaybar, I'd just spring for the OEM..

Because the other side of my story is that the parts are very hard to source if I wanted to duplicate another set.. and labor intensive because I have to go to 2 different sources for parts.. both of which are in opposite directions from where I live.. LOL

oh the joys of being a "new" alltrac owner back in the day... :p
 

gtfour77

New member
I found the mercedes sway bar links on ebay......
here is the link. They work perfect, they are extremely close to our stock ones and are nice and cheap. I race on them all the time and they are flawless....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... ename=WDVW

Hope this helps. And the best thing is that they don't have the hex so they are very, very, very easy to get off.....I think it's a 17mm nut...
Good luck.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I used racing beat miata endlinks. Think they ran me around 50 usd. My stock ones had to be cut off. Next I am looking into making a custom brake line bracket for my rear teins, since the white line sway bar ripped the off.
 

ChrisD

New member
MIG407":1f5ok5c2 said:
...any one have ideas for the front ones?

I'm still debating. It seems that if you can find some high strength ball joint ends or spherical bearing ends, a male+female, you can screw them together and they will work since it is so short. I have heard that you should look for some that are teflon coated or that do not require lubrication.

I have several of these on ebay, however, none that fully satisfy everything I have said above. Either no strength is listed, they require lubrication, or are only available as female ends.

Also, I am not sure what the advantages / disadvantages would be to using spherical bearing ends versus ball joint ends.
 

daveryan

Member
Just got these today from the eBay link above. They measure 4.25 inch from center to center.

MBlink.jpg


Note the welds that don't seem to be in gtfour77's pics. No nuts were supplied, but they are 17mm. I'll be installing them over the weekend assuming they are compatible - haven't checked yet.

UPDATE: a side-by-side comparison seems to show that these are longer than stock. My stockers are OK so I'll wait until I get an adj Whiteline before installing - if at all. I imagine longer links on the stock bar would make it less stiff.
 

BraveUlysses

New member
I put the Racing Beat Miata endlinks on my 185 yesterday, and I'm happy to report that the quality and finish on the links is great. I installed them, no problem, since they're adjustable length (so you can preload them if you would like).

60 dollars shipped (for the pair) is certainly better than the $50 list (each side) for the Toyota part.
 

maroon_185

New member
well yesterday I went out and around town and to sort of beat a light I took a turn rather fast, my swaybar is on its stiffest setting and the car just flatout turned, but right as I came out I heard a clunck from the rear end I was like hmm I wonder what that was, well I look up under my car this morning and the ball and socket on the swaybar end has pulled apart, the other side is fine but the left side is now in two pieces. anyone else taken a hard corner and had this happen
 

maroon_185

New member
and tonight while cruising the other one broke, the exact same way, except the turn was in the opposite direction. pisses me off.
 

ChrisD

New member
Thats not good news. :doh:

Mine have held up to 3 passes down the 1/4 mile so far, and some typical city driving for about 250 km's.

This weekend I will be driving a total of probably around 20 hours, possible track time too. Hopefully they hold up.

Now, what can I do to prepare for a side-of-tha-road fix if needed?

hmmmm....7 hours on broken end links doesn't sound too appealing...
 

ChrisD

New member
Here's a question...

Fully adjustable end links are nice and all, but can someone help me grasp what the actual effects of adjusting them are? In other words, what affect does this have if you shorten the link? And what if you lengthen it? Will it make a significant difference in handling? Stiffness? Torque on the sway bar?
 

jprine01

New member
If you change the length of the rods it shouldnt really* have any effect on the stiffness/strength of the swaybar.

The swaybars pivot at the bushings mounted to the car, no matter what you do with the endlink it doesnt change the pivot point. When you use shofter or longer links your changing the angle of where the bar sits. The angle the swaybar is at has no effect on its resistance to bending, when you grab both ends and push them in different directions (twisting the bar) it doesnt matter where its oriented.

That is as long as their's no interference with your other syspenion stuff/body.

If you adjust them differently from eachother you will preload the swaybar, basically making your car want to lean to one side.. Not sure why you would want to do this unless you were driving circle track or something.
 

Glenn653

New member
shortening the sway bar endlinks will increase the torque on the sway bar and as such make the ride stiffer. It might also cause the rear to sit a fraction of an inch lower. Adjusting from side to side further enhances tuning the suspension to help with weight bias and roll tendancies. Usually, it is recommended that you adjust both end links to the same length unless you have a good feel for the effects and a track to test on. Remember, adjusting the swaybar links doesn't affect weight distribution, mearly the way the suspension responds to the weight as it shifts latterally.
 

jprine01

New member
shortening the sway bar endlinks will increase the torque on the sway bar and as such make the ride stiffer.

Can you explain how you came up with this?
Assuming your endlinks arnt bending at all.. If you move the strut (your tire) one inch upward, the endlink is pulling the swaybar up one inch.. Doesnt matter if your endlink is a half inch long or six inches long its only going to move one inch..

Oh and I dont belive the changing the ride height thing. :shrug:
 
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