Whiteline front sway bar + endlinks

[Mindsucker]

Just installed KW V3 coilovers and a whiteline sway bar and the whiteline swaybar is causing some mysterious clunks.

Had to cut of my oem endlinks during the install because of some rust (driven for 2 winter season's) but managed to measure my cut stock endlinks pieces and they where 250mm. When I mounted the whitelines I first set them in the shortest mode which is 195mm. Since I,m lowered about an inch I extended the endlinks to 225mm and took the car for a testdrive and at first it seemed like the clunk was gone but after a few miles it slowly got back. When I finally got home it even seemed to rattle a little which bugs the hell out of me since I torqued everything in the front suspension down to spec and re-checked everything to be sure. Even checked the underbody panels to make sure they where bolted down properly. Endlinks also clears the LCA so I,m really stuck in here. Any suggestions what's causing the clunk?

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[Mindsucker]

Another thing i noticed, the oem sway bar goes down and behind the LCA while I see the whiteline goes the same way in some pictures and in others it goes right above the LCA. Which one is correct for the whiteline?

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[GSpeed]

I believe it should be above the control arm. That's how ours is installed, and we don't have any issues. Here's a picture for reference.

[Mindsucker]

Actually used that picture among many others as reference while installing mine. Maybe that's the right way for the adjustable one...? How much are you lowered and how long did you set the endlink? Is the middle part of the endlink supposed to be stiff or are you supposed to wiggle it? Read somewhere that you should be able to turn it with very little effort but at the same time the oem doesn't have that option at all. This thing is driving me crazy.

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[GSpeed]

Originally Posted by Mindsucker

Actually used that picture among many others as reference while installing mine. Maybe that's the right way for the adjustable one...? How much are you lowered and how long did you set the endlink? Is the middle part of the endlink supposed to be stiff or are you supposed to wiggle it? Read somewhere that you should be able to turn it with very little effort but at the same time the oem doesn't have that option at all. This thing is driving me crazy.

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We're lowered 1" in the front. We have the endlink set to its minimum length, which I believe is 200mm.

The middle of the endlink will be stiff, yes. The ball joints at each end will be tight and very difficult to turn by hand. That being said, make sure there's no preload on the bar. You should have one endlink disconnected when you set the car down, and adjust and connect it with weight on the tires.

[Mindsucker]

When i installed them i used a jackstand to put some load on suspensions but will try to get it up on a lift and re-install them with car on the ground and see if that helps.

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[Mindsucker]

So re-installed endlinks yesterday lined up the endlinks with car on the ground and tightened everything up. Worked fine on my way home but after some driving today the clunk got back. These endlinks are really driving me crazy! Have to get back and re-install them AGAIN!

[cjd]

Before you try reinstalling, pay attention to what causes the clunk (turns, bumps only on one side, bumps only on both sides...) then, once you have the car up on stands try to reproduce the clunk. If it's silent, keep a close eye on how everything moves, maybe you can see an odd sideways wiggle or something.

Sometimes you just have to re-torque stuff after a bit, and it's good from then on.

C

[Mindsucker]

When standing still i heard clunking from the passenger side while turning the steering wheel. While driving it clunks when going over bumps in the road but it really hard to tell where it comes from since it sounds like the whole damn swaybar is loose (and i made sure several times it's tighten down properly so thats not the case). Will focus on the passenger side and re-torque the other one and see if that will help.

[GSpeed]

Do you have the lateral locks installed? Basically just some wheel collars that prevent lateral motion of the ARB.

[Mindsucker]

Yes, they are installed like 3mm (1/8") away from the swaybar bushing as the instructions said.

[Mindsucker]

Took of the front wheels today after work to locate the problem and the locking nuts to the adjuster was a bit loose and the bushings had twisted so they where pointing in each direction. Also the top nut mounted to the coilover was a bit loose so tightend it down, re-aligned the bushings and clunk dissapeared. Hope it will do for now and if it happens again, atleast I know whats causing it.

Thanks guys for all the tips and help and hope this could be useful to others with the same problem!

[D18]

Yea I installed front and rear sway bars and end links from whiteline this Spring and I have been retightening the end links all summer to get rid of the clunks. It seems like just as I solve one clunk a new one manifests. Just this week I retightened the rear passenger and I'm finally clunk free again, let's hope it lasts.

On a slightly separate topic, when adjusting the rear end links on the ground, I find that the neutral setting results in the end links being a significantly different length. I haven't measured, but it could be close to 1 cm. Is this normal?


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[OkieSnuffBox]

Yep, that's the point. Bring the bar back to horizontal (or as close as you can) and eliminate any preload one direction or the other.