What do you think about solid front sway bar links. I recently bent my front right corner and replaced everything (front stabilizer, end links and front right lower control arm) and when i put on the the end links, the nut that connects to the lower arm on both sides will spin the whole bolt inside the link if pressure is applied to tighten the bolt. Its not quite easy enough to spin the bolt by hand, but it can be pushed from side to side. I re installed everything and used an allen wrench on the end of the bolt through a 14mm wrench to tighten them securely. Would solid links help to add rigidity or would it just make a mess of my handling? I could easily fabricate a couple of solid pieces that are the same measurements, but is it worth it? Thanks for the input.

 

you're supposed to use a hex wrench to hold the bolt in place and a 14mm to tighten the bolt...

i would get under the car and tighten it up.

did you read the service manual?

 

Thats what i meant. I got under there again and held them steady with the allen and retightened with the 14mm and the passenger side tightened about 1/4 turn more. Its tight and secure, but are they supposed to flex that much themselves off of the car? as in are they supposed to spin or move back and forth?

 

i don't know what you mean by "they" are flexing or moving back n forth...what is "they"

if you're holding the bolt with the allen wrench, then it shouldn't be "spinning" or moving...

the endlinks do have a range of movement, yes. and you do need this range of movement...if not, you'd probably break something.

 

Thank you very much. by "they" i meant the bolt indeed was spinning without the allen wrench holding it. Otherwise it works like it should, tightens firm while holding the allen in place. I definitely will not try to make solid endlinks. I also double checked the manual and it showed a range of movement. Thanks again for your help, sometimes its easy to get caught up in worrying there's more to it than there really is.

 

^
sounds like you're all set...

not sure if one of your questions was that the bolt loosened after a drive....but the manual does state to re-tighten the bolt after 5 minutes of driving.

 

I did drive it and came back to tighten, that's how i got the extra quarter turn out of the passenger side. Thanks again, really appreciated your help last night.

 

besides the endlink being loose and possibly getting damaged from contact (not sure how possible this is)...there is no other damage i can think of.

did you feel your car OVERSTEERING like crazy? maybe you should check your rear sway bars also.

did you buy the car used?

 

wow.

well, have you checked to see if your rear sway bar is connected?

you'll notice a huge difference.

i can't imagine how you drove around with so much oversteer.

 

LOL