Adjustable sway bar links

[325isdan]

Hi all.

My car came with adjustable sway bar links front and rear. They were install incorrectly (not under load) and clunk.

My question is how do I first adjust them as in how do I know what length to set them at?



Thanks

[Madhatter]

Are they clunking because there is no load on the swaybar, or are they clunking because someone installed them incorrectly (so the ball wasn't centered on either end) and they wore out the joint?

[325isdan]

Not centered. when the car is on the ground you can see that they are twisted. They have play in them as well. again when on the ground I can wiggle the sockets (?) back and forth..

[325isdan]

they do not look worn out. Just not installed correctly.

[Madhatter]

If you have any play in them at all, they are worn. You should be able to turn them, but you don't want any wiggle movement in the ball ends.

They are pretty well designed as replacement items, same with rose joints. They don't last as long as traditional links because the dirt, grit and grime gets inside and does cause wear. Especially on road cars that are often doing hundreds of miles a week.

[325isdan]

Thanks Mad

it's deffinetly just back and forth movement not up and down. Car was and is only a sunny day weekend car so there is no dirt build up.

Might just go back to stock ones.

[digger]

i would forget about those adjustable rodend style links that come without boots to prevent ingress of dirt,water etc on a street car, they will wear out within a matter of months and make noise as they get unloaded .

[Jb325is]

If they both (left and right on one axle) wiggle when the car is on the ground that means they were installed correctly. If you don't have side to side play (twisting motion with your fingers) then your swaybar is bound and your end-links need adjusting.

To set them, park your car on level ground, preferably with someone close to your weight in the seat. Disconnect one link and adjust the other so that the swaybar arm is parallel to the ground. Then adjust the other to fit. When you have everything tight, the heim joints should both move freely.

Like digger said though, on a street car they will be noisy as hell

[325isdan]

oh then maybe they are set correctly.

It's OK to run oem style end links on a lowered car? my car doesn't sit as low as say Eibach springs.

[Jb325is]

Sure, the adjustable links certainly work better, but the noise is a compromise.

Also, rgardless of whether you keep your adjustables or go back to stock, you should periodically clean and re-grease your swaybars, bushings, and links(adjustable only obviously)... so they actually move freely. They don't really work if they can't and a lot of people completely skip this maintenance

[325isdan]

hmm good point jb325.

what do you grease your sway bar bushings with?silicone?

[Jb325is]

Just synthetic grease. I usually use the Mobil1 you can get at autozone for this kind of stuff.

[325isdan]

awesome. thanks

[Northern]

Disconnect one link and adjust the other so that the swaybar arm is parallel to the ground.

Shouldn't that be perpendicular to the strut?

[Wh33lhop]

Shouldn't that be perpendicular to the strut?

If you have M3 style attachments to the strut, yes. If they're stock attachments to the control arm then they should be perpendicular to the control arm's arc of travel, which is roughly parallel to the ground.