I got a set of ES Sway bar end links for my stock front 22mm sway bar on my 98ex. The car had been feeling sloppy and felt like it wanted to roll over and play dead even on moderate twisties.
I picked up a set of ES endlinks for about $10-$12. The stock bushings are about $4 each, you need 8, so over $32 to replace the stock rubber. ES is a good alternative.
After installing the bushings I ended up with quite a bit of understeer but the front end behaves much better in the twisties and I feel comfortable (once again) pushing the car. You might be thinking "Understeer... thats bad right." Well the fact that I got a lot more understeer after the install tells me that my old endlinks were shot and not doing their job, which makes the sway bar useless. I'm also running ES sway bar mounting bushings on the front and rear sways.
Installation is very simple. Jack the car up, remove the wheel and you have easy/instant access to the sway end link. Extremely straight forward. Just remember to tighten both sides down the same when installing the new end-links to have the same amount of preload. If not, then you will tweak your chassis which can lead to inconsistent handling.
My only "gripe" about the ES endlinks is that they completely replace the stock pieces. I would have rather they just replaced the bushings on the stock endlinks. While the bushings are roughly the same size, the hole in the center is larger on the ES endlink, so I couldn't just swap the bushings alone. Not a big deal...
Here is a pic of the ES endlinks :
Here is a pic of the old 7yr old, 118k miles stock endlinks :
Notice how the bushings have been pressed into wedges... They were useless.
I got them from www.blackphoenixtech.com . Looks like the site is being reworked. I have also bought energy suspension bushings from www.lightningmotorsports.com , but they never had the endlinks in stock and never knew when they were getting them in.
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This is probably going to be my next purchase. I just bought and installed front sway bar bushings and that helped a lot because my steering felt really sloppy (and it's only a 2000). But I think very soon I'm going to need a rear sway bar because just with the new bushings my car is pushing through turns a lot more, now.
yup... those urethane sway bar bushings really make the sway bars come alive... I had understeer like crazy just from the front sway bushings (not even the endlinks)... However that is a good thing... My car felt sloppy before those as well and means that the sway bar wasn't doing its job due to the bushings.
Mods: Custom mesh grill (gutter guard!!!), DIY gunmetal headlights, Hella Optilux Driving Lights, Reverse Indiglow Gauges, Del Sol Seats, Type-R Style Quick Shift Auto Knob, "Racing" Pedals (haha, "Racing")
I just finished putting these on and the test drive was a lot more fun. My car is now much more responsive, but I have understeer like crazy now. My endlinks looked almost exactly like your picture. These are a must upgrade because that rubber sure does get crappy pretty quick. But I wish I could afford a rear sway bar...
I did not see a torque spec, but you have to have them tightened evenly to make sure that you don't tweak the swaybar unintentionally. I just broke out a ruler and measured how much of the thread was sticking out past the nut after I tightened it down and make sure that I did it the same way on both sides.
I did not see a torque spec, but you have to have them tightened evenly to make sure that you don't tweak the swaybar unintentionally. I just broke out a ruler and measured how much of the thread was sticking out past the nut after I tightened it down and make sure that I did it the same way on both sides.
aa ok I get it now, so how tightly should it be snuged down?
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The nut should be tightened just enough to snugly hold the bushings without movement.
Because the bushings just continue to compress as you tighten this down there really isn't a torque spec for them. Also the nut has a Nyloc center to keep it from falling off anyway.
would old ass end link bushings be the cause of the popcorn chattering noise i hear coming from my driverside front wheel well whenever i go over bumps? when i go over bumps, it literally sounds like the wheel well is popping popcorn...
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that whole assembly with the control arm was replace over the summer...and even before that was replaced, it made the noise last winter time
it only chatters when its below 50 degrees outside....
...the warmer it is outside, the less it makes the noise...so if its say 45 degrees outside, i start driving, it'll gradually go away after about 30 mins of driving. and the colder it is outside, the longer it takes to go away as i drive
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Originally Posted by jRbuMp
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