Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Easy way to change front sway bar end link?

Picked up two new front sway bar end links to replace them after an inspection of my vehicle revealed that they were shot (and new found noise in the front).

Anyway, put the front on jackstands yesterday, took the wheels off, and was able to remove the top bolt of each sway bar end link (which faces out) with no problem at all using a wrench to keep the bolt from turning, and an air tool.

What about the bottom bolt on each side?! Man, I hate doing a job halfway, not being able to proceed, and having to put it back together with the old parts! Couldn't get that damn nut off the lower bolt of the sway bar end link where it connect to the actual sway bar. Couldn't even turn it, and couldn't get the compressed air tool on it. It seems pretty hard to get any amount of torque on the nut since you're reaching into the wheel well behind the rotor. Even if I could turn it, I would need to get another wrench wedged in to prevent the end link bolt from turning in the end link ball joint.

Note, this is the nut that faces in towards the wheel well splash guard.

Anyone give me a tip on how to get at this thing??

Thanks,

Massiv.

I had the exact same problem that you are having. It's pretty tight back there. I don't have power tools and there was no way I could leverage it enough to do it with hand tools.

I ended up using an angle grinder attachment on my rotozip and cutting thru the bottom "bolt" as close as I could to the sway bar on each side. Then, it was just a matter of punching out the little piece that was sitting in the hole in the sway bar.

It took a while and I used a couple of cutting wheels to do it.

Good luck ....... MarkO

-edit- If you go with cutting the bolt, make sure you cover up the open area of the wheel well. Cutting generated a lot of sparks and I didn't want a stray spark getting into the engine compartment and maybe starting a fire. Just being ultra cautious.

Yow...

That sounds pretty heavy duty. I think my bro has a dremel, but not sure if has cutting wheels, or if that little thing is powerful enough to kick a$$. Maybe the way to do it is to climb under the car and see if you can get a wrench onto that bolt from below. I'm thinking the control arm might get in the way, unless the sway bar rotates up and back (which it will to some degree) which might grant access to it.

Massiv.

Forget the dremel.

I tried getting under the car too and trying to leverage it that way. No joy.

I'm not saying my way is the only way. I'm sure someone will chip in with another idea as many of us have chnaged these out at this stage.

Talk about ghetto - I had an old broken wind up child swing, so I cut of a 10 inch or so section of the leg. How did this help? It was just the right size to fit over the handle of my rachet, and just long enough to fit in the wheel well and give me enough leverage to break the bolt free after soaking it with WD-40. Any 10-ish inch section of pipe that will fit over your rachet should work fine, no busted kids swings required

I now have various sizes of "ratchet handle extensions" all cut from the same swing - it's amazing how a few extra inches of lever arm can get the job done!

I did the old trick of using large amounts of Liquid Wrench, putting a box-end wrench on there and then taking a hammer to the wrench. The shock helps the Liquid Wrench work, and helps break loose the rust.

By the by, I also did the bottom one first. I figured it was gong to be more difficult, and that it would be useful to have the top bolt still in there to keep things anchored and stable. It may have had no effect, but it seemed logical to me.

Actually, now that I am thinking about it, I got the bottom bolt loose first, but I didn't take it out all the way, just loosened it. The top one was then that much easier.

And I agree, the beer sure tastes good after doing suspension work! Durned rusty bolts!

Hey...

Good ideas... maybe Thursday night I'll throw liquid wrench or WD40 all over the nuts (but for sure not on the tires). Drive 40k to work each way on Friday, and the vibration should assist the liquid wrench stuff work. Then on Sat, it should be good to go!

The nuts are nylock nuts, so I can't see one working it's way off from just the lube.