Whiteline Endlinks - Clunk Reduction

[TurboLag23]

Hey!

I have Whiteline front/rear endlinks on my BRZ, and the fronts developed a clunk recently. I found that the nuts connecting the endlink to the sway bar had come loose, so I retightened them to spec. Lo and behold, clunk came back about 60 miles later. There's an audible and tactile clunk from the sway bar itself when the car is jounced at ride height, and the swaybar-endlink nuts are loose again.

Plan is to remove both endlink nuts connecting to strut, drop sway bar down for access, then replace nuts/washers connecting endlink to sway bars. The swaybar-endlink nuts will be torqued with sway bar unloaded, since torque wrench won't fit onto the nuts with sway bar at ride height (hits frame).

I have the following remediation tools in-hand:
-Enough Grade 8.8 M12x1.25 Nylocks to double-stack on all connection points (endlink to sway bar, endlink to suspension, both sides, front & rear)
-Blue Loctite
-Spare Whiteline ball-joints for the front (4x), including the top-lock nuts and a bunch of extra washers
-My trusty torque wrench

Which of these options/combinations has everyone had success with, and is it OK to torque endlink nuts with sway bar unloaded. For the latter, I see no reason why not because freely-rotating balljoints, but please tell me otherwise if I'm wrong.

Thanks!

[FeRS]

I had the same issue with the end links coming loose. I just used blue Loctite and tightened it up firmly.

To note, I found that my end links were making contact with another control arm to make my clunk and could have been causing extra shock that backed off the nut. Shortened them and the clunk is gone now.

[Compelica]

Have noticed clunks happening recently on mine as well after I had my endlinks swapped to Whiteline. Will have the fasteners checked and report back.

[whataboutbob]

I had Whitelines at one point, this ended up being my solution. No more clunks.
https://www.splparts.com/products/fr...t-version.html

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by whataboutbob

I had Whitelines at one point, this ended up being my solution. No more clunks.
https://www.splparts.com/products/fr...t-version.html

I was actually considering trying the SPL's next. My Racer X endlinks have gone clunky no matter how much I tighten them. And the Whitelines I had before that seized up on me. Seems like I have bad luck with endlinks lol

[NoHaveMSG]

Double nut them works the best. It is usually the upper nut at the strut the comes loose the most common.

[smg1138]

What do you mean by double nut?

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by smg1138

What do you mean by double nut?

Tighten the included nut with the end link, then add a second nut and tighten it over the top of that one.

[TurboLag23]

Hey - wanted to post a quick update on this, in case anyone else has had this same problem.

I wound up removing the endlinks entirely, and found out that one balljoint (driver's side, connected to sway bar) was completely seized. Judging by the comments, it looks like I have company in this regard haha. I replaced all four ball joints with the ones Whiteline shipped to me, and tuned lengths to match OEM endlinks.

I installed the passenger's side endlink, and torqued all bolts to spec. Then, I installed & torqued the shock-side nut on the driver's side endlink, but left the passenger balljoint completely disconnected from the sway bar. I reinstalled wheels and dropped the car onto wheel stands, then jounced the car and allowed the suspension to settle for at least one day. I loosened the adjustment nuts on the driver's side endlink, and eventually needed to lengthen the endlink 2 3/4 turns (which is around 3/8") to get it to drop neatly into the sway bar hole. Only then did I connect the final ball joint and torque that nut to spec. This technique ensures that all endlink preload was eliminated with the suspension loaded.

I have paint-marked every single nut on both endlinks (strut nut, sway bar nut, two adjustment nuts), and checked it regularly since the repair was complete (roughly 300 miles). So far, no budging or backing off, and the ball joints still rotate freely side-to-side (knock on wood)!

Installation notes:

1. When adjusting the driver's side endlink, I tried weighing the driver's seat down with a friend + dumbbells to equal my body weight. This had no effect on the endlink adjustment, so (with a data point of N = 1), weighting the car before endlink adjustment is optional

2. I opted to go with single Nylocks, since they were too thick to make full contact if double-stacked. Fortunately, I consulted with my engineer buddies before the install, one of whom informed me that Loctite can actually degrade the nylon strip in Nylock nuts! Therefore, I opted to forego the Loctite.

3. I found out the hard way that using a torque wrench on the endlink nuts that connect to the sway bar is pretty much impossible because the chassis is in the way. I wound up using an open-end wrench and a very accurate luggage scale, which I positioned 6" away from the axis of rotation, acting at a 90-degree angle to the wrench. Because the radius was 6" (half a foot), I doubled the torque value (in ft-lbs) to deduce force load (in lbs) for the luggage scale, and was able to accurately torque the bolts by pulling on the luggage scale to this new specified force.