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New Rear Endlinks

TribalTour

CEG'er
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
78
Location
Point Place, Toledo, Ohio, US
Just updated my rear endlinks. modified original parts, and some new bushings(freebies - recall parts sitting at the shop that were never turned in), looks and works great. here's how I did it...

Stripped rust and knocked out the sleeves in the tops of the oe links.
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Gave a nice coat of some respectable primer and paint(though it won't last long...
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Here's the bushings, retaining washers, new bolts and nuts to go through sway bar(needed for extra length) original lower nuts.
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And here they are installed...
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they look great under there. One thing though... there seems to be a lot of leaverage on the top bolt. If that is a 21mm sway bar it may bend that top bolt or bend the link itself. I modified my stockies and i used the original top bush but packed it with washers to stop any lateral movement. It was as stiff as you like with a roush bar. Anyway, might be worth keeping an eye on, hope it works for you... G..
 
well you could see how they hold up, but the closer the top bush is to the bar..the better IMHO. I found the original top bush ok, if you stopped it from sliding from side to side (that's what the washers did). Let us know how they work, yours are the only ones i've seen like that On later models, i think the sway bar end was turned thru 90 degrees and the endlink bolted straight thru and only acted in compression avoiding all leverage. ....G.
 
Well, I've had them in for a week or two(I posted way after I put them in) I haven't noticed any negatives. It's been a few days since I've looked underneath, when I go out there later I'll take a look and see how the look since they've had time to settle them selves in. If I remember I'll take a pic or to for an update.
 
Where did you get the new bushing kit? Mine are gone and the thing rattles all the time.
 
Those look like the universal energy suspension bushings to me. Should be available on the shelf at a parts store.
 
there seems to be a lot of leaverage on the top bolt.
Not only this, but what is keeping the nut tight? Compression of those bushings alone is not sufficient to maintain a safe clamp load. The stock ones clamp against a rigid metal collar for this reason, PLUS they use a Nylock nut. It looks like you're just tightening down against those compliant bushings with a standard nut. Yikes.
 
Basically, I borrowed the bushings from some moog kits we had at my former shop(recalls that were never taken back:cool:) there is a collar in the center, and as far as using a nylock nut, in this type of application would be unnecessary as the bushing provide more than enough compression to keep things together, the reason the used one on the stock design is because the nut held the collar to the sway bar, no oposing compression seeing as though steel has little elasticity. I've had tem on for a good amount of time now and they seem to be holding up nicely, so for a free repair/upgrade, I guess I can't complain. some mods to the bushigs were required to make everything fit right. If ever again I'm bored I guess I could figure out exactly what I used and how I made it work... but then again I didn't plan on actually doing this. It was basically a result of boredom at a slow repair shop were I no longer work (thank god)
 
Not only this, but what is keeping the nut tight? Compression of those bushings alone is not sufficient to maintain a safe clamp load. The stock ones clamp against a rigid metal collar for this reason, PLUS they use a Nylock nut. It looks like you're just tightening down against those compliant bushings with a standard nut. Yikes.

well I'm digging this one up again as well, but I'm just curious also what is keeping everything tight up against the link? I removed my endlinks tonight and was surprised at how long it took for me to unthread the bolt going thru the top of the endlink. The OP says there is a collar between all that rubber, but I fail to see anything other than a bolt thru a large opening sandwiched with a ton of rubber. This isn't going to keep things tight- sure, it may keep things quiet for a while or silence a huge noise for now but the pics show nothing in regards to what he put through the center for the bolt to anchor up against to keep things rigid. If I could get new center collars, I could just reuse my old endlinks and buy the new bottom bushings for $5 at rockautoparts. OP, can you elaborate on what you used as a center channel keeping things tight?:shrug:
 
wow this looks weird. you have too much horizontal offset on the sway bar connection, which may affect your turning and would even cause you to tip your car over. Rather than doing all those stuff, I would recommend you to install a dependable aftermarket product, which is not made in china.
 
wow this looks weird. you have too much horizontal offset on the sway bar connection, which may affect your turning and would even cause you to tip your car over. Rather than doing all those stuff, I would recommend you to install a dependable aftermarket product, which is not made in china.

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