building my own swaybar endlinks
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,922
Likes: 12
From: Belcamp, MD
building my own swaybar endlinks
So I've begun digging into the process of building my own sway bar endlinks...nothing really earth shattering, just trying to save a buck or two and put some notches on my DIY belt.
The only real issue I'm running into is deciding on a supplier. There are a lot of different ways to go about doing them and a few things to consider in terms of maintence, durability and noise control. For now I haven't settled on anything yet because next week I'm going to talk to a local race support shop that builds end links for their customers and shop race cars. I'm hoping they can clear up some of my concerns of noise, corrosion (I've got road salt to contend with) and some other details as well.
If I had to do it today without putting much thought into it, I would probably go with the PowerGrid-THK OEM ball joint style. Performance wise, they should be the quietest and maintenance free and honestly the easiest to spec out and install...Cost wise they're typical at about $30 per assembly for each wheel for a male to female configuration (so $60 an axel). My only concern with them is overall strength compared to the traditional race type (i.e. SPL Pro Endlinks), but I think the weakness would only be in the rear due to the smaller size they would have to be. The THK style up front would probably prove sufficient in terms of strength and performance, so I might mix up the two styles.
The last thing I have to think about is if I want to keep them metric or go standard. Standard measurement parts are more vast and easy to come by, where as metrics are a little more limited in options. Also by going standard, I'd have to drill out my holes in my sway bars to ensure a proper no-play fit.
I hope to start buying pieces by next week if not by this weekend, so feel free to leave some comments and questions. I'll do my best to answer them, but Im by no means a suspension guru or some awesome engineer.
The only real issue I'm running into is deciding on a supplier. There are a lot of different ways to go about doing them and a few things to consider in terms of maintence, durability and noise control. For now I haven't settled on anything yet because next week I'm going to talk to a local race support shop that builds end links for their customers and shop race cars. I'm hoping they can clear up some of my concerns of noise, corrosion (I've got road salt to contend with) and some other details as well.
If I had to do it today without putting much thought into it, I would probably go with the PowerGrid-THK OEM ball joint style. Performance wise, they should be the quietest and maintenance free and honestly the easiest to spec out and install...Cost wise they're typical at about $30 per assembly for each wheel for a male to female configuration (so $60 an axel). My only concern with them is overall strength compared to the traditional race type (i.e. SPL Pro Endlinks), but I think the weakness would only be in the rear due to the smaller size they would have to be. The THK style up front would probably prove sufficient in terms of strength and performance, so I might mix up the two styles.
The last thing I have to think about is if I want to keep them metric or go standard. Standard measurement parts are more vast and easy to come by, where as metrics are a little more limited in options. Also by going standard, I'd have to drill out my holes in my sway bars to ensure a proper no-play fit.
I hope to start buying pieces by next week if not by this weekend, so feel free to leave some comments and questions. I'll do my best to answer them, but Im by no means a suspension guru or some awesome engineer.
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,922
Likes: 12
From: Belcamp, MD
nope...havent found the time or sourced the materials...its been a nagging thought in the back of my head, but I'm at the early stages of planning my wedding thats only a few months away....slight chance I might even sell the car, so we'll see.
For me the biggest issue was in the rear (seems to be common for most others too), so when I make a set, it will be for the rear first. I finally got a hold of a stock endlink recently to use as reference, just got to get around to it. I've laid out so many options in terms of sourceable parts, I just got pick something and give it a try really. Once I have the parts, it maybe a 20-min deal to assemble everything and then another 30-mins to get them on the car.
For me the biggest issue was in the rear (seems to be common for most others too), so when I make a set, it will be for the rear first. I finally got a hold of a stock endlink recently to use as reference, just got to get around to it. I've laid out so many options in terms of sourceable parts, I just got pick something and give it a try really. Once I have the parts, it maybe a 20-min deal to assemble everything and then another 30-mins to get them on the car.
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