Front Swaybar Endlink Question

[TPI Monte SS]

Kind of a general question for the suspension gurus. If your front springs are stiffer and shorter than OEM, should you run stock-length endlinks or something else?

I'm asking because I just bolted a hollow 34mm front swaybar from an F-body into my G-body (F-bodies make good parts donors!), and the car already has Eibach 1" drop springs in it. Not sure if I should keep the stock-length endlinks, or go shorter or longer?

Opinions wanted, post away.

[Tom Welch]

if they need to be shortened then the sleeve that the endlink bolt goes through can be cut. If the stock parts fit I would just use them.

[Norm Peterson]

The simple answer is that you probably want them to be a bit shorter, so that the arms of the bar are approximately horizontal (parallel to the LCA chassis pivot axis, if you're being picky). That way, at static ride height the bushings should be close to being loaded only in compression due to the endlink bolt/nut torque with a minimum of bending being developed in the endlinks. In turn, that lets the bar work about equally freely in bump and rebound, and the bar stiffness effects should be about as close to linear over the range of suspension movement as can be achieved without getting involved in a whole lot more work.

On edit, spring stiffness does not affect the geometry, only the amount of motion. So I'd ignore that, beyond realizing that any reduced suspension motion will help the bar stiffness remain more linear.

Norm

[TPI Monte SS]

Thanks for the tips guys. Norm, I will check to see if the arms are parallel later on today. And Tom, thanks for the great idea of just cutting the sleeves. It'll save me some $$. :)