Rear Sway Bar endlinks? - Focaljet

**slipster17** · 08-27-2008, 02:11 PM

Ok, so this started with a comment from Cayse while we were at my apt for Carlisle All-Ford. I had just gotten my suspension done the weekend before and he was looking under my car at it and mentioned that I should loosen up the ends on my rear sway bar because they should be parallel with the suspension arms when the car is sitting. Mine were decided NOT parallel at the time. The ends of the sway bar were canted upwards at about a 45 degree angle to where they were secured to the arms by their little bushings.

I honestly didn't think much of it at the time and given the rest of the stuff that has had to be fixed on my car since then I kinda forgot about it.

Back to today when I took my tools and had a good look at the rear sway bar on my lunch break. The bolts on the endlink loosened up just fine, but the bar itself wouldn't drop any without me actually kicking it. The rubber bushings are hard as a rock right now and cracking in various places, and the thread on the bolt looks like it was rubbing on something (which oddly enough could be the noise I've been hearing from the rear...). I'm think they are pretty well dead.

There are aftermarket endlinks that I've seen, with longer necks in between the two set of bushings to accomidate cars with a suspension drop. Would looking at a set of these work better than going back out and buying a set of the stock end-links? And would putting the sway bar ends down to the point where they are parallel affect my ground clearance any?

Any help is appreciated.

**o2_designs** · 08-27-2008, 05:55 PM

I'm using the Energy Susp endlinks on both of my cars. I love them. I've never had a problem with them clearence wise...

**slipster17** · 08-28-2008, 06:43 AM

AND with pics too!

Thanks for that o2. That is just about exactly the height that mine would sit at to have the sway bar ends parallel. And I believe those are even the new bushings I was looking at over at Auto Zone, heh.

One other question that came up while I was playing around with this last night. The holes on the sway bar ends are supposed to be directly in line with the holes in the control arms correct? As in like, right below them? I stuck a pencil through the two holes because they didn't look to be in line.... and they aren't.

The ends on the sway bar are maybe 1/2 inch - 1 inch forward of the control arm bolt holes. Anything that is put through the two, even when the sway bar is parallel, sits at an angle between the two holes. I'll snap some pics to better explain what I mean.

Do I need to put washers or something on the bolts holding the sway bar to the frame so it will reach backwards a little more?

**slipster17** · 08-28-2008, 10:41 AM

Pictures from this morning after I dropped in a set of the Energy Susp end links.

Still not totally parallel.... and you can see some of the angle that the bolts have.

Close up

Am I just looking into this too much or is there something bent down under there?

**glowin3232** · 08-28-2008, 11:53 AM

The endlinks that came with my progress 22mm sway seem to be shorter than the ones posted above. I also notice that the ends of the swaybar itself dont seem to drop as low as 02designs or Slipster17, yet they are perfectly parallel to the bottom of the control arms and to the ground. The bar sits alot closer to the control arm on mine as well.

Here is a shot from the rear, as you can see there is much less of the sway bar showing than the cars above me.

again it looks different than the other bars that were posted

Does anyone know how it should look? Perhaps it varies depending on which swaybar you have installed...

**slipster17** · 08-28-2008, 12:22 PM

Thanks for more pics Glow.

I believe that o2 and I are both still using the stock rear sway bar, which could account for the distance seeing as it was made for the stock ride height. The progress bar is made more for cars that have have been lowered so it should fit better as your pictures show.

I would love to have my endlinks that short! But again, if I had a smaller neck on the endlinks I'd run into my initial problem which looked something like this:

After lowering my car, I didn't touch the sway bar because I didn't think I had to, and the ends of it were digging upwards into the bottom of the control arm, with the bushings rotting out.

**glowin3232** · 08-28-2008, 12:43 PM

Ah I thought those looked like the stock bar...

I'd recommend upgrading the rear bar if you're interested in getting rid of the understeer and body roll these cars have from the factory. Very noticable difference over stock, good bang for the buck in my book.

**MaroonZX3** · 08-29-2008, 12:30 PM

Something doesn't look right??? Those are way too low. Is the bar upside down? Could it be designed to go over the top of the LCA?

**slipster17** · 08-29-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaroonZX3

Something doesn't look right??? Those are way too low. Is the bar upside down? Could it be designed to go over the top of the LCA?

Some over on FF had made that comment as well. But I really don't see how that would have happened; this is still the stock sway bar and as far as I know it has never been taken off.

**DisrupTer911** · 08-29-2008, 01:16 PM

no its not upside down, it goes under but those endlinks appear to be way to long compared to the prothane or energy suspension pieces i've dealt with in the past.

**slipster17** · 08-29-2008, 01:20 PM

Seeing as how I don't think bending the ends on the stock sway bar is an option... I'm sure its made to withstand more force than I can exert on it... I'll have to be happy with the way things are ATM. I'll save up for a Progress rear sway or something that is made more for dropped car.

**DisrupTer911** · 08-29-2008, 02:54 PM

you don't need to bend anything, you just need the correct endlinks.

a factory bar and factory endlinks would work on a car on the lowest setting of the lowest coilovers if you so desired...

**RallyRacer** · 08-29-2008, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DisrupTer911

no its not upside down, it goes under but those endlinks appear to be way to long compared to the prothane or energy suspension pieces i've dealt with in the past.

I was going to say the same thing. Those spacers are too long in the pics.
Are you sure that you got a enlink kit for the Focus?

**paulicat** · 08-29-2008, 04:10 PM

^^ What he says, I just installed the energy rear end link kit yesterday. The spacers are roughly a little more than an inch long, noticably smaller than the spacers you have there. Sorry no pics handy...

**slipster17** · 08-29-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DisrupTer911

you don't need to bend anything, you just need the correct endlinks.

a factory bar and factory endlinks would work on a car on the lowest setting of the lowest coilovers if you so desired...

Quote:

Originally Posted by RallyRacer

I was going to say the same thing. Those spacers are too long in the pics.
Are you sure that you got a enlink kit for the Focus?

Maybe I can knock out a couple replies in one here,

This is where I get confused between the information I have and what I am seeing. I was under the impression that the ends of the sway bar (where the holes are) should be parallel to the bottom of the lower control arm. Now, what I did was, I adjusted the sway bar to make the ends parallel, measured the distance, then went out and bought a set of the endlinks based on that length. Not by the application.

Where my sway bar sits in the pictures, using those endlinks, the ends are just about parallel with the lower control arm (it could actually stand to be a little LOWER in order to be parallel).

What has me really confused is that, in addition, the ends of the sway bar with the hole do not sit below the holes in the lower control arm; they are about 1/2 inch forward, so that anything run between the two holes will sit at an angle.

So that is where I stand at the moment. No, these endlinks are not Focus Specific but by-golly my sway bar is almost parallel! But I don't think I should have had to lower it that much in order to reach anything resembling that parallel mark. This is what leads me to believe that something is not as it should be back there...

Thanks for all the comments guys, I realize that these endlinks are probably not what I should be using, but I think my concerns lay more with the sway bar itself at the moment.

**MaroonZX3** · 08-29-2008, 10:06 PM

I just went out and looked at mine, stock SVT swaybar on a ZX3. The ends of the bar do tilt up and outwards a bit. My link spacers are short, like maybe 1".

**loudfocus01** · 09-01-2008, 02:01 AM

That spacer you have in the middle is way too long. That is your problem.
I have the eibach 25mm rear sway bar with the poly endlinks that comes with it and
the spacer in the middle of the endlink is only about half the size of yours.

**Qwik1** · 09-01-2008, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loudfocus01

That spacer you have in the middle is way too long. That is your problem.
I have the eibach 25mm rear sway bar with the poly endlinks that comes with it and
the spacer in the middle of the endlink is only about half the size of yours.

Did you even read the thread???

His sway is STOCK. If he shortens the links, the issue he is having becomes WORSE. That is why he tried longer links.

He is trying to find a solution to the incorrect geometry-- as in the sway ends should NOT be pointed UP.

**o2_designs** · 09-01-2008, 02:57 PM

Neither of my bars are factory. My hatch is using a SVT bar. And my Wagon has a Steeda28mm bar. Both bars have the adjustable mount bushing(can't remember what they are called now). The actual brackets that mount the bar to the subframe towards the front...I bought the aftermarket adjustable ones in order to get the bar to sit level with the arms. Maybe that could be the next thing to look into...

And is it just me, or does the end links not look tightened down all the way? They seem really loose.

/EDIT//
Pics of mine after I did them. It was before I adjusted the front sway bar mounts. After adjusting the mount, the sway bar ends sit level with the arms. In the pic they sit just alittle tipped up still...before the mount was adjusted.

This is under my hatch...thats a SVT sway bar...

**CaysE** · 09-10-2008, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slipster17

Ok, so this started with a comment from Cayse while we were at my apt for Carlisle All-Ford. I had just gotten my suspension done the weekend before and he was looking under my car at it and mentioned that I should loosen up the ends on my rear sway bar because they should be parallel with the suspension arms when the car is sitting. Mine were decided NOT parallel at the time. The ends of the sway bar were canted upwards at about a 45 degree angle to where they were secured to the arms by their little bushings.

I honestly didn't think much of it at the time and given the rest of the stuff that has had to be fixed on my car since then I kinda forgot about it.

Back to today when I took my tools and had a good look at the rear sway bar on my lunch break. The bolts on the endlink loosened up just fine, but the bar itself wouldn't drop any without me actually kicking it. The rubber bushings are hard as a rock right now and cracking in various places, and the thread on the bolt looks like it was rubbing on something (which oddly enough could be the noise I've been hearing from the rear...). I'm think they are pretty well dead.

There are aftermarket endlinks that I've seen, with longer necks in between the two set of bushings to accomidate cars with a suspension drop. Would looking at a set of these work better than going back out and buying a set of the stock end-links? And would putting the sway bar ends down to the point where they are parallel affect my ground clearance any?

Any help is appreciated.

Slip, I think you misunderstood me. I meant to say you have to loosen the swaybar bushing bolts that attach to the subframe, not loosen the endlinks. The brackets that hold the bushings should have slotted holes in them. When you lower the car, you have to raise the bushing mounts to keep the bar at stock geometry, so just slide the brackets all the way up. In the end, you'll be using SHORTER endlinks, not longer.

**slipster17** · 09-10-2008, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaysE

Slip, I think you misunderstood me. I meant to say you have to loosen the swaybar bushing bolts that attach to the subframe, not loosen the endlinks. The brackets that hold the bushings should have slotted holes in them. When you lower the car, you have to raise the bushing mounts to keep the bar at stock geometry, so just slide the brackets all the way up. In the end, you'll be using SHORTER endlinks, not longer.

Oh-HO!

Then yes, I most certainly DID misunderstand you. At least you came back to set me... and my sway bar... straight.

I didn't think I saw any slots in the actual bracket when I was putting the new end links on, but I also didn't pay them too much attention. In any case, there will be some upgrading going on end of this week/ start of next week. I have an SVT sway bar and new Engery suspension bushings ordered and on the way. I'll get this all cleared up when I strip it down for that

Thanks for the help and the tips guys!

Pics will follow after our regularly scheduled commercial break...

08-27-2008, 02:11 PM	#1
slipster17 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Palmyra/ Carlisle, PA Posts: 866	Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Ok, so this started with a comment from Cayse while we were at my apt for Carlisle All-Ford. I had just gotten my suspension done the weekend before and he was looking under my car at it and mentioned that I should loosen up the ends on my rear sway bar because they should be parallel with the suspension arms when the car is sitting. Mine were decided NOT parallel at the time. The ends of the sway bar were canted upwards at about a 45 degree angle to where they were secured to the arms by their little bushings. I honestly didn't think much of it at the time and given the rest of the stuff that has had to be fixed on my car since then I kinda forgot about it. Back to today when I took my tools and had a good look at the rear sway bar on my lunch break. The bolts on the endlink loosened up just fine, but the bar itself wouldn't drop any without me actually kicking it. The rubber bushings are hard as a rock right now and cracking in various places, and the thread on the bolt looks like it was rubbing on something (which oddly enough could be the noise I've been hearing from the rear...). I'm think they are pretty well dead. There are aftermarket endlinks that I've seen, with longer necks in between the two set of bushings to accomidate cars with a suspension drop. Would looking at a set of these work better than going back out and buying a set of the stock end-links? And would putting the sway bar ends down to the point where they are parallel affect my ground clearance any? Any help is appreciated. __________________ *It's not just a Ford Focus... It's a TRANSFORMER!* and his name is... _R E C A L L_ *2001 Egg Yolk Yellow ZX3* see it on CarDomain

08-27-2008, 05:55 PM	#2
o2_designs Resident Wheel-Whore Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Land of 10,000 Lakes Posts: 9,514	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? I'm using the Energy Susp endlinks on both of my cars. I love them. I've never had a problem with them clearence wise... __________________ *~~Boost Crew supports single mothers~~* *_/ ResidentWheel-Whore\_* 'Bone Stock'2002 TwilightBlue ZX3-Neglect has led to a nasty whine from under tha rusty hood. (CHROMED) STS Prep'd 2001 Pitch Black 5spd Wagon-(666-STFU) "...That way I don't have to clean my sheets..."-Pappy, 2008 *o2 has already won so he is no longer eligible.-Ataru*

08-28-2008, 06:43 AM	#3
slipster17 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Palmyra/ Carlisle, PA Posts: 866	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? AND with pics too! Thanks for that o2. That is just about exactly the height that mine would sit at to have the sway bar ends parallel. And I believe those are even the new bushings I was looking at over at Auto Zone, heh. One other question that came up while I was playing around with this last night. The holes on the sway bar ends are supposed to be directly in line with the holes in the control arms correct? As in like, right below them? I stuck a pencil through the two holes because they didn't look to be in line.... and they aren't. The ends on the sway bar are maybe 1/2 inch - 1 inch forward of the control arm bolt holes. Anything that is put through the two, even when the sway bar is parallel, sits at an angle between the two holes. I'll snap some pics to better explain what I mean. Do I need to put washers or something on the bolts holding the sway bar to the frame so it will reach backwards a little more? __________________ *It's not just a Ford Focus... It's a TRANSFORMER!* and his name is... _R E C A L L_ *2001 Egg Yolk Yellow ZX3* see it on CarDomain

08-28-2008, 10:41 AM	#4
slipster17 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Palmyra/ Carlisle, PA Posts: 866	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Pictures from this morning after I dropped in a set of the Energy Susp end links. Still not totally parallel.... and you can see some of the angle that the bolts have. Close up Am I just looking into this too much or is there something bent down under there? __________________ *It's not just a Ford Focus... It's a TRANSFORMER!* and his name is... _R E C A L L_ *2001 Egg Yolk Yellow ZX3* see it on CarDomain

08-28-2008, 11:53 AM	#5
glowin3232 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sarasota/Orlando, FL Posts: 127	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? The endlinks that came with my progress 22mm sway seem to be shorter than the ones posted above. I also notice that the ends of the swaybar itself dont seem to drop as low as 02designs or Slipster17, yet they are perfectly parallel to the bottom of the control arms and to the ground. The bar sits alot closer to the control arm on mine as well. Here is a shot from the rear, as you can see there is much less of the sway bar showing than the cars above me. again it looks different than the other bars that were posted Does anyone know how it should look? Perhaps it varies depending on which swaybar you have installed... __________________ Bright Atlantic Blue '00 zts sedan, tan leather interior, SVT intake airbox/snorkel, bored stock TB, stainless 2.25" Thermal R&D catback, SVT front clip, 17x7" TD Monzas, Eibach pro-kit springs & dampers, Progress rear 22mm sway, poly lower engine mount bushings

08-28-2008, 12:22 PM	#6
slipster17 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Palmyra/ Carlisle, PA Posts: 866	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Thanks for more pics Glow. I believe that o2 and I are both still using the stock rear sway bar, which could account for the distance seeing as it was made for the stock ride height. The progress bar is made more for cars that have have been lowered so it should fit better as your pictures show. I would love to have my endlinks that short! But again, if I had a smaller neck on the endlinks I'd run into my initial problem which looked something like this: After lowering my car, I didn't touch the sway bar because I didn't think I had to, and the ends of it were digging upwards into the bottom of the control arm, with the bushings rotting out. __________________ *It's not just a Ford Focus... It's a TRANSFORMER!* and his name is... _R E C A L L_ *2001 Egg Yolk Yellow ZX3* see it on CarDomain

08-28-2008, 12:43 PM	#7
glowin3232 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sarasota/Orlando, FL Posts: 127	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Ah I thought those looked like the stock bar... I'd recommend upgrading the rear bar if you're interested in getting rid of the understeer and body roll these cars have from the factory. Very noticable difference over stock, good bang for the buck in my book. __________________ Bright Atlantic Blue '00 zts sedan, tan leather interior, SVT intake airbox/snorkel, bored stock TB, stainless 2.25" Thermal R&D catback, SVT front clip, 17x7" TD Monzas, Eibach pro-kit springs & dampers, Progress rear 22mm sway, poly lower engine mount bushings

08-29-2008, 12:30 PM	#8
MaroonZX3 TEAM Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Livonia, MI Posts: 183	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Something doesn't look right??? Those are way too low. Is the bar upside down? Could it be designed to go over the top of the LCA?

08-29-2008, 01:16 PM	#10
DisrupTer911 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bloomfield, New Jersey Posts: 14,961	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? no its not upside down, it goes under but those endlinks appear to be way to long compared to the prothane or energy suspension pieces i've dealt with in the past. __________________ -2002 Liquid Grey Zetec ZX3 : 2009 Ice White R-Design C30 : Strictly \| Focused myFlickr : Canon : Sigma : Tamron : Induro : Vivitar : Domke : Crumpler [FJ] \| Sponsors \| Store \| Guidelines \| Ext. How-To \| Int. How-To \| Mid-Atlantic \| [FJ]

08-29-2008, 01:20 PM	#11
slipster17 TEAM Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Palmyra/ Carlisle, PA Posts: 866	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Seeing as how I don't think bending the ends on the stock sway bar is an option... I'm sure its made to withstand more force than I can exert on it... I'll have to be happy with the way things are ATM. I'll save up for a Progress rear sway or something that is made more for dropped car. __________________ *It's not just a Ford Focus... It's a TRANSFORMER!* and his name is... _R E C A L L_ *2001 Egg Yolk Yellow ZX3* see it on CarDomain

08-29-2008, 02:54 PM	#12
DisrupTer911 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bloomfield, New Jersey Posts: 14,961	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? you don't need to bend anything, you just need the correct endlinks. a factory bar and factory endlinks would work on a car on the lowest setting of the lowest coilovers if you so desired... __________________ -2002 Liquid Grey Zetec ZX3 : 2009 Ice White R-Design C30 : Strictly \| Focused myFlickr : Canon : Sigma : Tamron : Induro : Vivitar : Domke : Crumpler [FJ] \| Sponsors \| Store \| Guidelines \| Ext. How-To \| Int. How-To \| Mid-Atlantic \| [FJ]

08-29-2008, 04:10 PM	#14
paulicat Rookie Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 18	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? ^^ What he says, I just installed the energy rear end link kit yesterday. The spacers are roughly a little more than an inch long, noticably smaller than the spacers you have there. Sorry no pics handy...

08-29-2008, 10:06 PM	#16
MaroonZX3 TEAM Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Livonia, MI Posts: 183	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? I just went out and looked at mine, stock SVT swaybar on a ZX3. The ends of the bar do tilt up and outwards a bit. My link spacers are short, like maybe 1".

09-01-2008, 02:01 AM	#17
loudfocus01 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 99	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? That spacer you have in the middle is way too long. That is your problem. I have the eibach 25mm rear sway bar with the poly endlinks that comes with it and the spacer in the middle of the endlink is only about half the size of yours. __________________ Bronze on white FTW.

09-01-2008, 02:57 PM	#19
o2_designs Resident Wheel-Whore Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Land of 10,000 Lakes Posts: 9,514	Re: Rear Sway Bar endlinks? Neither of my bars are factory. My hatch is using a SVT bar. And my Wagon has a Steeda28mm bar. Both bars have the adjustable mount bushing(can't remember what they are called now). The actual brackets that mount the bar to the subframe towards the front...I bought the aftermarket adjustable ones in order to get the bar to sit level with the arms. Maybe that could be the next thing to look into... And is it just me, or does the end links not look tightened down all the way? They seem really loose. /EDIT// Pics of mine after I did them. It was before I adjusted the front sway bar mounts. After adjusting the mount, the sway bar ends sit level with the arms. In the pic they sit just alittle tipped up still...before the mount was adjusted. This is under my hatch...thats a SVT sway bar... __________________ *~~Boost Crew supports single mothers~~* *_/ ResidentWheel-Whore\_* 'Bone Stock'2002 TwilightBlue ZX3-Neglect has led to a nasty whine from under tha rusty hood. (CHROMED) STS Prep'd 2001 Pitch Black 5spd Wagon-(666-STFU) "...That way I don't have to clean my sheets..."-Pappy, 2008 *o2 has already won so he is no longer eligible.-Ataru* Last edited by o2_designs : 09-01-2008 at 04:08 PM.