SPL end link adjustment (front)

[GameTheory]

Hey everyone,

This may be a stupid question but when it comes to suspension adjustments I’ll admit I don’t know much.

I just got my front sway bar installed and went ahead with getting SPL end links as well. My question is, aren’t the housings around the spherical bearings supposed to be centered?

If so, is it possible to adjust them without getting the car up in the air if I can reach the lock nuts n all on ramps? Or will the suspension being under load cause any issues? Will I have any issues if I leave them as pictured below?

Thanks in advance for any help!
Below are pics of each side:
https://imgur.com/gallery/wKEYHJ0

[40 to 332]

Here's what SPL said when I wrote to them recently with a similar concern:

"Endlinks are always going to try and move to the edge of their articulation. Are you installing them without any preload - as in installing them when the wheels are at ride height with no load on the swaybar, as not doing this can exacerbate this. As long as they are not hitting the stud coming out of the rod end, then they are not going to wear the bearing any quicker."

You may want to try and adjust them to center with the car on ramps with no load on the bar ... and then inspect them after driving for a bit to see if that helps. Also make sure that you lube the swaybar bushings; otherwise, you'll likely experience some rubbing noise down the road.

[1/4atatime]

Originally Posted by GameTheory

Hey everyone,

This may be a stupid question but when it comes to suspension adjustments I’ll admit I don’t know much.

I just got my front sway bar installed and went ahead with getting SPL end links as well. My question is, aren’t the housings around the spherical bearings supposed to be centered?

If so, is it possible to adjust them without getting the car up in the air if I can reach the lock nuts n all on ramps? Or will the suspension being under load cause any issues? Will I have any issues if I leave them as pictured below?

Thanks in advance for any help!
Below are pics of each side:
https://imgur.com/gallery/wKEYHJ0

Was the bolt for your sway bar end links going into the arm/shock part a pain in the butt to get off? I've tried everything to get them off and they are stuck on there hard some idiot at the factory put them on way way too tight. I'm doing the entire suspension anyway so going to pull that whole arm off and try and get some better leverage or I'm going to bring it to a shop and get them off at this point.

[40 to 332]

My issue only concerned the articulation of the endlinks where they join the swaybar. The articulation at the control arms was not an issue. So, any adjustments I made were at the swaybar end only. There are a number of forum members that run SPL parts, including endlinks, that may be able to offer additional advice.

[GameTheory]

Originally Posted by 40 to 332

Here's what SPL said when I wrote to them recently with a similar concern:

"Endlinks are always going to try and move to the edge of their articulation. Are you installing them without any preload - as in installing them when the wheels are at ride height with no load on the swaybar, as not doing this can exacerbate this. As long as they are not hitting the stud coming out of the rod end, then they are not going to wear the bearing any quicker."

You may want to try and adjust them to center with the car on ramps with no load on the bar ... and then inspect them after driving for a bit to see if that helps. Also make sure that you lube the swaybar bushings; otherwise, you'll likely experience some rubbing noise down the road.

Thanks boss. These were installed while on a lift so I'm guessing that's what played into everything not being exactly lined up. I'll head out there today to see if they're actually hitting the rod ends or not.

Worst case I'm swapping out the fucas in a few weeks so I could just drop everything back down and reinstall it with hopefully minimal wear.

[Evildky]

You should be able to loosen the jamb nut and turn the link to straighten them out, it will make a negligible change in length. Drivers weight, passenger, etc will change the preload more than straightening out the links.

[GameTheory]

Originally Posted by Evildky

You should be able to loosen the jamb nut and turn the link to straighten them out, it will make a negligible change in length. Drivers weight, passenger, etc will change the preload more than straightening out the links.

I also got a reply from SPL (sent them an email at the same time I posted this). What they recommended was actually just rotating the rod end without loosening anything - effectively just rotating both the end and the jam nut while still tight so it's closer to center.

Have to just make sure nothing loosens up after driving, but it seems to have fixed the issue.