Adjustable front sway bar endlinks

Linky

Has anybody used these? They seem expensive. Are there any alternatives out there?

There is the stock replacement or go to NAPA. If you do racing you will need em, otherwise stock will do fine.

That's too much. If you know where to look, I'm sure you can put them together yourself for much cheaper.

And the ad says heim joints are bad, it's been my understanding that heim joints are good.

well heim joints take maintence [or at least the occasional inspection], which you can interpret as "bad".

either way its nice to see a new product [I've never seen any discussion on adjustable front endlinks]

So, you adjust their length, but I don't see how that can help you unless you're oval tracking, in which case you might adjust them unevenly to preload the bar to resist lean to the right. Otherwise, if you adjust both links to the same length, the effect will be zero, regardless whether they are short or long.

way overpriced.

I can build something similar for half the price.

~Josh

Originally posted by Pole120:
way overpriced.

I can build something similar for half the price.

~Josh

Again, why? I just don't see the advantage.

Originally posted by RogerB:

So, you adjust their length, but I don't see how that can help you unless you're oval tracking, in which case you might adjust them unevenly to preload the bar to resist lean to the right. Otherwise, if you adjust both links to the same length, the effect will be zero, regardless whether they are short or long.

+1

Waste of money.

Just so everyone knows,If you go to ford to buy new endlinks,all they carry now are the light alloy links from the Mondeo.I work at a Ford dealership and, went to buy a new link, and realized what they had done.Plus,they only cost me like $13 a piece instead of $25 from SPmotorsports.

Adjustable end links are nice because your frame, bushing mounts, and endlinks mounts aren't always perfectly symmetrical. You also might need to adjust your endlink mounting points when corner-balancing. You want zero preload on your swaybars, so to do it right you should disconnect the endlinks, corner-balance, adjust them to zero preload and then reconnect the endlinks. It's a fine-tuning kind of thing that makes the difference between 1st and 2nd: it's a very small gain, but real.

Unless you're running coilovers and corner-balancing the car correctly already, it's worth absolutely nothing.

And yes, there are much cheaper ways to make them. $50 worth of parts from McMaster-Carr would do just as well, and $100 worth of parts would be better quality. Or you could buy a RH and LH die, and cut and thread a stock endlink, and just put a hex RH/LH shaft in the middle.

starjammir, that was a worthless BS post-whore response. You didn't have a clue what these were for, so why did you post? I'd prefer an honest "I have no idea why you'd need them" to your "if you're racing you'll need them" crapshoot.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

And the ad says heim joints are bad, it's been my understanding that heim joints are good.

A greased, booted ball-joint will last longer and be smoother and quieter than a Heim (or "spherical rod-end") joint, especially in a dirty environment. However, they're more expensive and good Heim joints can be lined with Teflon or other materials for long life and smooth action. They're also easier to fasten/unfasten since they have a bolt hole, and you don't waste a joint if you crossthread or strip something. They're also harder to work with and find, which is why you often don't see them on custom stuff. I'd imagine in general Heim joints are slightly lighter as well.

But of course, I'm sure you could find a workable ball-joint rod-end from McMaster for our application, if long, quiet, maintenance-free life is important for you. It's probably not if it's a race car, where these parts would be useful, so I don't see any reason to fab some with the better joints.