Who Makes the Best Front Anti-Roll Bar Endlinks?

[RJasonKlein]

Who makes the best adjustable front anti-roll bar endlinks for a lowered vehicle and why do you think so? My car sits one inch lower than OEM on MCS coilovers and I'm looking for well-made, durable, and good looking front endlinks that will hold up well for daily driving and autocross. I already have SPL Parts rear endlinks, and would like to find a set of front endlinks of similar quality, so what are my options?

[FirstWinter]

Whiteline, Perrin, and SuperPro make front endlinks to name a few. I've been looking for reliable ones as well since I've installed coilovers. Not many adjustable front endlinks options are available from what I've seen.

[Captain Snooze]

Ok, this will probably not be the sort of answer you're looking for. I understand this. This went against my "quality at all costs" mentality. BUT.....
When I had sways on my car I went through a couple of different brands trying to find ones that would be the correct length to give the best geometry at the sway bar.
I ended up with these. Yeah, they do not look like quality items but at least I could cut them to the length I required.


http://www.esetuning.com/whiteline-u...th-w23180.html

[JazzleSAURUS]

Front is tough, I like the whiteline fronts.

I wish Kartboy made some beefy 'lightly shortened' ones for the guys running -.75/-1.5 inches.

I really like their products.

[RJasonKlein]

@Captain Snooze I appreciate the feedback - are the variables related to geometry tied to clearance issues as the wheel goes through its stroke or just getting the optimal mechanical advantage for the bar itself? How do l determine it to figure out what length endlink I need?

[jamal]

I think KLC179 would be a good choice. They are adjustable and use sealed ball joints like OEM. The older WL ones with just open bearings did not hold up well though.

Those universal cut-to-length ones are only like $50 though.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by RJasonKlein

@Captain Snooze I appreciate the feedback - are the variables related to geometry tied to clearance issues as the wheel goes through its stroke or just getting the optimal mechanical advantage for the bar itself? [1] How do l determine it to figure out what length endlink I need? [2]

1/ I was thinking for the best working condition the angle the sway bar made with the endlink should be more than... stuff it... see my back of the envelope diagram:



This is with the car on the ground. With the Whiteline endlinks the angle the endlinks made with the swaybar would pass through 90 degrees (which is the best mechanical advantage). With other endlinks the angle started out less than 90 degrees and only got smaller*.

2/ I don't remember how it was worked out. I had my car at a friend's workshop. We had it up and down on a hoist figuring it out but I don't remember the method.

3/ I do remember after the sway bar was set to the position I was happy with the end of the (Eibach) sway was making contact with the lca. This was fixed by grinding the ends of the say bar so they no longer made contact. Nail polish was used here .

* NOTE WELL
I may have got the angles wrong. That is, my problem may have been that the angle between the endlink and sway started out more than 90 degrees and only became larger. If that is the case just swap the smileys on the diagram. The issue was under working conditions the sway bar never passed through 90 degrees with the endlink.

I hope this makes sense.

[RJasonKlein]

@Captain Snooze I really appreciate the drawing and explanation!

[Shankenstein]

I'm a big fan of the Perrin end links. They're not adjustable, which seems important for your situation... but if you can live with the length, there's significant value in simplicity.

It's an anodized aluminum bar with Grade 8, Zn-Cr04 plated hardware. Bushings are stiff polyurethane and haven't required additional grease yet.

Being in New England, I prioritized corrosion resistance and service life... and I love that most parts can be replaced on McMaster-Carr, if necessary.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by Shankenstein

I'm a big fan of the Perrin end links. They're not adjustable, which seems important for your situation... but if you can live with the length, there's significant value in simplicity.

It's an anodized aluminum bar with Grade 8, Zn-Cr04 plated hardware. Bushings are stiff polyurethane and haven't required additional grease yet.

Being in New England, I prioritized corrosion resistance and service life... and I love that most parts can be replaced on McMaster-Carr, if necessary.

I have Perrin's end link as well.. simple design

[RJasonKlein]

@Shankenstein and @zc06_kisstherain great minds think alike. I currently have the Perrin front endlinks and they're awesome, but they're too long for my MCS coilovers. I figured if I had to replace them, I might as well get adjustable ones...which lead to me creating this post.

As an update to everyone that posted, I now have a solution: I contacted SPL Parts and they're in the final stages of pre-production on new adjustable front endlinks, and they should hit the market in about three weeks. I told them I'd gladly be customer number one, so problem solved.

Thanks again to everyone that offered help - I love this forum!

[fuddbutter]

Adjust the stock ones?

Mine is slammed, still had enough adjustments in them to compensate.
I have replaced them recently as they had worn out with Hardrace ones.

The lower you are, the longer you need them..
as you can see in the photo, the body of the coilover comes up lifting the swaybar up with it.
The ones in the pic are not adjusted, to get the clearance for the swaybars to not hit the body above they are almost adjusted all the way out (which i never took a photo of)
I believe these are the longest ones that Hardrace make too.

Fixed length ones seems a bit silly TBH.

[e1_griego]

This is what I used with my MCS: http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_...ber=KLC180-195

They're shorter than the normal whiteline 86 offerings.

[renfield90]

Good thread, I'm subscribed.

If your geometry is like mine and you have issues with your sway bar hitting your control arm, you will want shorter endlinks, and quite a bit shorter than OEM. There was some (red ones I think?) someone linked to somewhere that looked short enough to do the trick but I didn't save it. The universal whiteline ones would be a great alternative.

Now that said, regardless of your geometry situation you want the longest endlinks you can. This is to help with steering bind, since the strut rotates when steering and the endlink is attached to that point. Imagine a hypothetical, stupid short endlink just a couple inches long. You probably couldn't even go lock to lock at that point.

Lastly, one overlooked item is the size of the housing for the endlink bearing. If they are really large like the OEM ones are, this will impact your ability to run large negative front camber since they may hit the inside fender wall. This is especially true when steering and when severe enough, can lead to steering bind.