Adjustable Front Sway Bar End Links

[wret]

I needed a new front sway bar end so I decided to give the adjustable ends I had seen on ebay a shot. They actually fit very well. They are advertised for Miatas and RX-7's but the dimensions looked about right. Sure enough, the size was compatible. I measured the OEM end at about 120mm from center bolt to bolt. The adjustable ends adjust from about 110mm to 140mm (without modification). The ends come with spacer to keep the bolt heads and mounting surfaces from interfering with the ball movement. 50mm M10 bolts were needed to install them with an extra nut over each bolt to act as a spacer.

I emailed the seller to inform him that his ends had a broader application. He was happy to hear it and told me that he would package the ends with the necessary bolts and nuts if there was enough interest. The two-link package sells for about $70 delivered.

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Just wondering why you would need adjustable links? I understand the whole adjustable sway bar mount points. I am just confused, im not too good at suspension theory yet.

 

[Defiant]

1. On using bare Heims on the street, is crud an issue? Are there seals available you could adapt, or would "sealing" them with RTV be to any use?
2. Are those mounting bolts enough? I'm a little surprised to not see grade 8s, or maybe even Allen heads.
3. I'd try jam nuts instead of regular nuts, to shorten the standoff from the mounts, and reduce the lever arm at the mounts.
4. I don't mess with this stuff, so I'm just asking.
5. And what about sourcing through Grainger? Could you beat $70?

 

[tstkl]

what about us 1g guys? Im pretty sure our swaybar links are much shorter than 110mm, but hey, its always worth a shot.

 

[wret]

1. On using bare Heims on the street, is crud an issue? Are there seals available you could adapt, or would "sealing" them with RTV be to any use?
2. Are those mounting bolts enough? I'm a little surprised to not see grade 8s, or maybe even Allen heads.
3. I'd try jam nuts instead of regular nuts, to shorten the standoff from the mounts, and reduce the lever arm at the mounts.
4. I don't mess with this stuff, so I'm just asking.
5. And what about sourcing through Grainger? Could you beat $70?

1. Obviously wear from dust and dirt will be a concern. I haven't yet thought of a way to seal them. I'd be happy to report on long-term wear issues. One advantage to the heim joints versus OEM is that they are very easy to replace.
2. Yes, grade 8's or harder would be recommended.
3. Without spacer nuts the top joint is very close to the shock fork though I don't think that it would actually rub without the nut. The geometry seemed better with the spacer nuts, making the pull more perpendicular, but you may be right about the lever effect by using thick nuts.
5. I haven’t checked Grainger but heim joints at McMaster-Carr seem to be a little more than double the price I paid.
6. When tuning your suspension it is desirable to have no pre-load force from the anti-sway bar, though you really only need one adjustable link.

 

[Rick@AP]

For us handling noobs, please explain the use of this mod.

Thanks!

 

[wret]

For us handling noobs, please explain the use of this mod.

Thanks!

To correctly corner-weight a car, the sway bars should be un-linked. This is to assure they are not contributing to the weight or force at each corner. When they are reattached, with the suspension in a nuetral, level position, they should be adjusted so they do not add(or subract) from the spring resistance. This is easy to do with at least one adjustable end link on each end of the car.

 

[ACM]

I made mine up a few years ago from bits sourced at a local roundy-round shop. Not LH & RH threads, but not $70 either The rear link can be made usinf one male and one female, but they need shortening in order to work

For limited street use - a few thousand miles annually and no winter use - conventional bearings are OK, but otherwise make sure the parts are Stainless Steel with Teflon liners, then they will last longer than one winter. The SS bearings in my ShockTeks have done several years with limited winter use and are still fine.

There are seals available, a rubber lip bonded to a steel washer, but they're pretty fragile and not very protective. They won't stop the joints from rusting.

Best place I know of for quality joints is www.AEDMotorsport.com - they are very helpful, they don't have a wide range of metric sizes though. HRPWolrd.com does though, they carry the Fluro line of bearings out of Germany, they have off-the-shelf sizes for the front lower shock absorber bushings and also the gearshift cable bushings, all in SS.

Charles

 

[bpestilence]

I am not lazy, I just am not home to get under the car right now and measure the bolt sizes I need.

Anyway, I am gathering materials to make heim sway bar end links and trailing arms. I need to know what bolt diameter the sway bar end link bolts (I assume 10mm) and trailing arm ball joint and bushing bolts are.

Thank you!

My thread got moved bummer. Hopefully someone can still tell me the diameter of the trailing arm bolts and ball joint.

Oh, and to add to the thread, here is the place I buy my Heim joints:
Sphcl Rod End, DIN Metric, Male, Teflon Race, Wide Housing -- Midwest Control Products Corp.

Metric, stainless, teflon race. Cheap. The 10mm ones cost less than $4 a piece if you buy 4 or more. So 4 RH heims and a standard 10mm sleeve and you have adjustable end links for like $20. You just have to undo one end to adjust them.

Edit:
I have the information that I wanted about the bolt size. Just measured it on my car. The sway bar end links are in fact 10mm. The lower ball joints are 14mm (same size for control arm and trailing arm) and the trailing arm swivel mount is 12mm. Now I am going to get the necessary parts to get my heim parts together.

 

[turbosax2]

I'm trying to build my own end links. Does anyone know where I can find spacers like in the 1st post of different lengths? Or better yet, high misalignment spacers for a 10mm rod end that doesn't reduce the bolt diameter?

 

[pagosa dsm]

I have heim joint on both front and rear control arms I have had them on for over 3 years.I have some photos in my gallery.If they wear out they cost all of 40.00 for all of them

 

[turbosax2]

pagosa, do you know where I can find spacers?

 

[greengoblin]

For those that want seals:
Seals-it Rod End Seals

These might work too:
Seals-it Rod End Boots

If you want to cut the chase out of it Whiteline makes universal kits . They are spendy but damn nice. :

http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/catalogues/WL_0401.pdf

You would need.
Front: KLC40-135
RearKLC40-060

If you just need spacers Whiteline sells those too: KLC40-02

Kevin

 

[turbosax2]

Thanks for the info Kevin. I already purchased the Seals-it rod end boots so I'll report back if they work or not. I'm getting my main stuff from Midwest Control Products, ss and teflon race so hopefully they'll last a long time at a reasonable price compared to big name brands. I'm building 4 front end links (a set for my brother too) and I estimated a total cost of about $45 per end link including the rod end boots and safety retaining washers from Pegasus. A bit cheaper than the Whiteline ones and hopefully equal quality .

I think that spacer kit will work for me, I'll have to look into it more so I can order all my parts. Mine will have a range of about 120-145mm.

 

[Jeff99GS]

I see you have already found a solution to your problem. I was just wondering if you could cut the stock link right in the middle, thread the 2 ends and use a coupling nut like this to connect the 2 halves? This should allow for some adjustment if cut properly.

 

[turbosax2]

That's definitely a solution that will work. Mine were *kind of* destroyed during removal, so I need to build all new ones. Building them this way should be cheaper than new oem ones and cheaper to fix if a rod end goes bad.

 

[greengoblin]

Thanks for the info Kevin. I already purchased the Seals-it rod end boots so I'll report back if they work or not. I'm getting my main stuff from Midwest Control Products, ss and teflon race so hopefully they'll last a long time at a reasonable price compared to big name brands. I'm building 4 front end links (a set for my brother too) and I estimated a total cost of about $45 per end link including the rod end boots and safety retaining washers from Pegasus. A bit cheaper than the Whiteline ones and hopefully equal quality .

I think that spacer kit will work for me, I'll have to look into it more so I can order all my parts. Mine will have a range of about 120-145mm.

Post up your part list when your done. Are you going to build rear ones?

 

[turbosax2]

Post up your part list when your done. Are you going to build rear ones?

Yup, I'll post up a parts list and some pictures. I wasn't planning on building rear ones right now just because I haven't needed to take them off. The only reason I'm building front ones is because I ruined mine while removing them. I'll get some measurements on the rear ones and think about it this weekend, it's probably cheaper just to build them all now so I don't have to pay for shipping twice. Both my sway bars are still stock.

 

[turbosax2]

Here's our front sway bar end links.

Parts to build 2 front end links:
Midwest Control Products
(2) M10x1.5x70mm hex bar turnbuckle
(2) RH M10x1.5 spherical rod end, stainless housing/ball, teflon race
(2) LH M10x1.5 spherical rod end, stainless housing/ball, teflon race

Summit Racing
(1) Seals-it Rod End Boots RERS2 (pack of 6, only use 4)

Pegasus Auto Racing
(4) 3068-M10 - Metric Rod End Retaining Washer, 10mm
(2) MJAM-10X1.50-L - Metric Jam Nut, 10x1.50 LH
(2) MJAM-10X1.50-R - Metric Jam Nut, 10x1.50 RH

McMaster-Carr
(1) 94205A270 - SS M10 nylon locknuts (pack of 10)
(1) 90854A213 - Class 10.9 M10x1.50x60 bolts (pack of 10)

OnlineMetals
(2) Stainless T-304/304L, Seamless Tube, 0.5" x 0.049" x 0.402", Cut to: 0.44"
(2) Stainless T-304/304L, Seamless Tube, 0.5" x 0.049" x 0.402", Cut to: 0.74"

Local Hardware Store
(4) M10 SS washers (.079" thick)


Minimum size of the end link (center of bolt hole to center of bolt hole) is 120mm, maximum is 160mm. Stock is listed as 120mm in the first post but mine were larger than that (forget exact spec off hand). The rod purchased is the shortest one sold, but if necessary, it could be ground down some to shorten the end link. Grind it down too far and the rod ends will bottom out in the rod, though.

I purposely bought the spacers longer than I needed so I could trim them to fit myself. I ended up getting the new sway bar end links to sit at nearly the same angle the stock ones did. If you order from OnlineMetals, be forewarned that their cuts were horrible on the little spacers and required a lot of cleanup, so it's a good thing I bought them long. I ended up with about a .69" spacer on the top (plus the .079" spacer for a total of .77") and a .42" spacer on the bottom (plus the .079" spacer for a total of .5"). You have to watch out for clearance to the shock fork though, I only had about 4-5mm of clearance but they never touch in the whole steering range. Use my measurements only as a guide. I set the end links to the same size as the stock ones until I can properly set them up.

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[twicks69]

Very nice post Eric!

I might have to do this to my car while it is on jackstands and give it a try!

Thank you!

 

[greengoblin]

Sweet ! Thanks sir.

Kevin

 

[greengoblin]

What was your total cost to build these anyway Eric ?

 

[turbosax2]

Good question, I didn't keep track. Plus, we built 4 fronts at the same time (for 2 cars) so it cost a bit less per person. Just adding up the prices from the links above, I'd guess about $120-140 per set (including shipping cost).

Just as a quick update, these have survived some street driving and a track day on Brian's car.

 

[greengoblin]

Thats right around the cost of the whiteline units from what I found. They just don't have the dust covers.

 

[turbosax2]

Ya, but I know exactly what parts went into these. I'm not saying Whiteline is bad or anything, I just have no clue what kind of quality parts they use. And if a rod end goes bad it's a cheap fix to replace it with an identical part.