Sway bar end links....

YellowCrewCabber · Post by **YellowCrewCabber** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:59 pm

Installed the new sway bar bushings and end links this evening. Much better now. How tight should the end links be??
Jeff

green02crew · Post by **green02crew** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:05 pm

I cranked them down pretty firm. Poly is a better material to crank on then rubber without worrying about it "exploding" out. Thats the best way I can think to describe it.

Horsehammerr · Post by **Horsehammerr** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:39 am

When I changed to poly I thought I should tighten the Crap out of them. It took two sets of end link bushings to figure out why they were sqeezing out from under the washers. Just tighten them snug and they work great. Extra tight does nothing but over compress the bushings,FYI and my own experiance.

green02crew · Post by **green02crew** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:15 am

That is what I was talking about! Poly can go tighter than rubber, just not overtight as stated above. You can tell, it won't tighten till it stops like a bolt but they will squish down a bit and it will be more difficult to turn. About 40ft lbs should do it.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:24 am

The listed specification for the stabilizer endlink nut is 11 lbft.
With a six inch long wrench, most will have 9 lbft when it is good and snug.

BikerBoomer · Post by **BikerBoomer** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:19 am

has anybody modded factory sway bars with new holes to make them tighter? just curious as its along the lines of endlinks.

I did this with my subie and it was loads of fun. I could force snap oversteer by putting the rear ones at there tightest and the fronts at stock. it made lots of fun awd drifting. and just for fun one day i unbolted the fronts and it made it way to unpredictable in the corners.

just an idea. to clearify what i mean by modding here is what i mean-

drill holes in the factory sway bar that would essentiall shorten it and make it slightly stiffer without having to go larger or remove the swaybar.

Anybody done this?

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:19 pm

HenryJ wrote:The listed specification for the stabilizer endlink nut is 11 lbft.
With a six inch long wrench, most will have 9 lbft when it is good and snug.

Polyurethane bushing require more than 11ft pounds of torque to tighten them down.

When you tighten the end link nuts make sure the vehicle is on a level surface with the tires on the ground.

20-30 ft pounds should be enough preload for the nuts.

The correct preload on the polyurethane bushings is achieved when they just start to squish down and expand and 11 ft pounds ain't going to do it.

BikerBoomer wrote:has anybody modded factory sway bars with new holes to make them tighter?

Moving the swaybar endlink holes toward the front of the vehicle will increase the leverage (higher rate) which in turn creates less front end sway.

The design of our front sway bar make drilling new holes very difficult because the factory holes are forged and flatened on the ends.

It's possible that somebody makes a sway bar with multiple holes for tuning, but I'm not sure if you will find anything like this for the 4wd S10's.

Our front sway bar is already huge and when you add polyurethane bushings it works pretty good so I don't see any reason for a larger bar or one with a higher rate.

Steve

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:23 pm

I've got the quick disconnects that Miles custom made with the (EDIT-ES not Daystar) kit. They are attached with wing nuts for hand tightening. I use vise grips when I reattach them. It is still to loose for me so when I am done with a wheeling trip I replace the wing nuts with a hex head fastener and tighten them up until they bulge.

To bad we do not have the aftermarket support that other rigs have. Turn a knob and you are discoed!

YellowCrewCabber · Post by **YellowCrewCabber** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:36 pm

I bought the E.S. kit and the sway bar bushings have greaszerts. The nuts for the endlink bolts are the elastic stop nut type so it's null getting an accurate torque reading. I put the bolts on the same as the OEM.(bolt head on bottom) I have 4 threads of the bolt sticking out of the nuts. So I would say there is about a 20 to 30ft pounds of torque. (which I agree with btw) I may tighten them up a tad more. We'll see. Sure made a difference. Instead of that quick second truck leaning and then turning it leans a little and turns at the same time. More responive now.

YellowCrewCabber · Post by **YellowCrewCabber** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:39 pm

That daystar kit you have looks pretty neat.

green02crew · Post by **green02crew** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:42 pm

Glad it all worked out for you!

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:45 pm

I too have the poly sway link bushings. Big improvement over stock. Much more firm handling and steering. Yes they can be over-tightened. I know I did it twice. Thought the first time was deffective bushings. After getting hit in the head with the "stupid-hammer" the second time I backed off and excellent results ever since. I stopped at around 30ft lbs the last time and have 20k on since then with no more split bushings.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:47 pm

YellowCrewCabber wrote:That daystar kit you have looks pretty neat.

It was the ES kit that he used as a start to build from. That is why we had trouble finding a complete Daystar kit. My bad! I apologize.

YellowCrewCabber · Post by **YellowCrewCabber** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:48 pm

Thank you. Didn't realize how worn out and not so great the stock one is.

YellowCrewCabber · Post by **YellowCrewCabber** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:51 pm

f9k9 wrote:
YellowCrewCabber wrote:That daystar kit you have looks pretty neat.
It was the ES kit that he used as a start to build from. That is why we had trouble finding a complete Daystar kit. My bad! I apologize.

Heck that's okay Reed.

rlrnr53 · Post by **rlrnr53** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:46 pm

Reed, hopefully your water fowl have gone south for the winter!

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:18 pm

rlrnr53 wrote:Reed, hopefully your water fowl have gone south for the winter!

Thanks but, they really haven't flown far enough. Got a story that I might reveal after the holidays and when the ending is known.