Adjustable sway bar link

[plotfi]

Is adjustable sway bar link necessary with H&R sport with drop hats and Yellow Koni?

The rear is barely lowered but the front is significantly lowered.

I hear some knocking in turns at low speed. So I figured it might be the sway bar links. I was wondering whether I should get adjustable or regular links?!

[JGood]

Is adjustable sway bar link necessary with H&R sport with drop hats and Yellow Koni?

The rear is barely lowered but the front is significantly lowered.

I hear some knocking in turns at low speed. So I figured it might be the sway bar links. I was wondering whether I should get adjustable or regular links?!

Since it's just a street car (H&R Sports... I'm assuming it is), factory links are the best option. Most aftermarket adjustable links use spherical bearing joints, which wear out quicker then the factory ball joints, due to their non-sealed, metal-on-metal design. The point of adjustable swaybar links is to eliminate preload in the suspension, most common when using coilover setups that are adjusted differently on each corner in order to distribute weight evenly. This would leave the swaybars loaded in the resting position.

As an FYI, I found H&R Sports and drop hats to be a bad combo... The spring rate of the Sport springs is not stiff enough to keep the shock from bottoming out, since the normal resting position is only an inch or so from the bump stop with those drop hats. I swapped the H&R Sports for H&R Races, and the car actually rode better, because it wasn't bottoming out the shock.

[plotfi]

JGood,

Were you using "Yellow Konis" with H&R sport and drop hats?
The reason I included the drop hats was to allow for more spring travel and to prevent the struts from over extending at the resting position or when wheels are on the air.

My car drives very nicely and do not want to lower it anymore as it has the 87 325is front valance. I have thought about removing the drop hats to save that valance from hitting the ground.

[JGood]

JGood,

Were you using "Yellow Konis" with H&R sport and drop hats?
The reason I included the drop hats was to allow for more spring travel and to prevent the struts from over extending at the resting position or when wheels are on the air.

My car drives very nicely and do not want to lower it anymore as it has the 87 325is front valance. I have thought about removing the drop hats to save that valance from hitting the ground.

No, I was using Bilstein Sports.

You aren't preventing the struts from over extending, and that is not a concern regardless. They are designed to support the force exerted from a compressed spring. You aren't getting more travel either, you are actually reducing available travel. You are moving your cars shock movement range closer to fully compressed.

The Race springs without the hats will not be as low as the Sport springs with the hats (at least that was my experience). If you are happy with it as-is though, then leave it be. I know for me, I was hitting the bump stops. Maybe the Koni's compress further, so it isn't an issue.

[plotfi]

Were you using m3 bump stops? I think the fact that your car rides better with h&r race indicates that bilstiens match h&r race springs better.
I'm tempted to take drop hate off but I don't know how bad the reverse rack will be?!

No, I was using Bilstein Sports.

You aren't preventing the struts from over extending, and that is not a concern regardless. They are designed to support the force exerted from a compressed spring. You aren't getting more travel either, you are actually reducing available travel. You are moving your cars shock movement range closer to fully compressed.

The Race springs without the hats will not be as low as the Sport springs with the hats (at least that was my experience). If you are happy with it as-is though, then leave it be. I know for me, I was hitting the bump stops. Maybe the Koni's compress further, so it isn't an issue.

[AndrewBird]

Drop hats only change the ride height less than 1/2" (10mm). This is why I can't understand why people even bother. 90% of people aren't going to notice that amount of height change. Parking on an uneven surface would change the height more than drop hats do.