DIY Heavy Duty rear Swaybar End-links

[Moose]

DIY Heavy Duty Rear Swaybar End-links

As I prep to install my Rear Progress Rear Swaybar I wanted to change out the endlinks to something more robust.

I could have just ordered the nice Corsport or Hotchkis units but I wanted to make my own ... its more fun

So for comparasin I ordered a OE endlink to provide me the dimentions I need to work around
OE Rear End-link



I then went out to my favorite Industrial Supplier and poked thru there hardware ... in particular the Aurora Rod ends. I also picked up some grade 5 (hardended) hardware. For Simplicity I used Imperial Parts as they are easier to source, but I could have ordered Metric to match the rest of the car



Per Side ...
Aurora 3/8"x24 Rod-Ends 1-male Right hand thread, 1 Female right-hand thread
2- 3/8"-24 x 1.5 " Socket Cap(hex) Grade 5 bolt
2- 3/8" Nylok Nut (Self-Locking)
1- 3/8" Standard Nut (to lock the two rods-ends together)

Then I assembled them ...



Just in case I ran into problems with rotational clearance I radiused a spare 3/8's nut




And with a 1/4" longer bolt, I assembled it with the rod-ends


Total Cost
~$6.00 ea for economy Aurora Rod-ends
~$16.00 ea Premium PTFE lined Rod-ends
~$10.00 in Hardware

Total (Economy) - $20 a side
Total (Premium) - $40 a side

As a note ...the similar Corsport have neoprene sealed bearings which should extend there life ...


Rod Ends, Spherical Bearings & Bushings - Aurora Bearing Company

Aurora Rod End and Spherical Bearing Index

Taaaa Daaa

Moose

[aki]

Nice! I'm too lazy and scared for such an undertaking, haha

[8thgenuser]

Thanks for sharing!

[07mugencivic]

nice.

[Zeuceone]

That's one hell of a brain you have. Edit the part to say nylon self locking nut. You put nylon bolt(self locking)

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Zeuceone

That's one hell of a brain you have. Edit the part to say nylon self locking nut. You put nylon bolt(self locking)

Thanks --- good catch

No special brain .... Frustration created this .... It came from an earlier project years ago when my EK was snapping OE endlinks monthly ... I built something similar to permanently and cheaply fix the problem ...plus the afterrmarket had no solutions ...so I HAD to do something myself.

Moose

[Asif22]

Wow very creative...Good work!!

[miketat594]

Nice work, thats the same way I made a solid mount for getting rid of my ETD.

[obert]

Nice DIY !!!!!!!!!

[instructor74]

Not just a nice diy but it also gives you the opption of preloadding the sway bar

[SiAzul]

nice job man Im getting my RSB soon, i might need to do something like this

[Kakashi]

Very nice work.

[JEA86]

^^ amazing work and he has been extremely helpful cause tonight i will have the same setup as he has!

[JEA86]

it actually ended up costing me

46.58 for the Rod ends (all 4 of them)
4.24 for the Hex cap bolts
5.68 for the 4 nuts

so ended up being about 56.50 for everything

[GTIWV]

i just installed these for jeremy...well...he helped some.

but they are not hard at all to install. the hardest part is using the freaking allen wrench and tightening the bolt.

now we just gotta wait and see what jeremy says about them, if they help or not. if they do, i think i might do this to my GTI, the cheapest end links for me are 134.99

[sh33t_0f_p4p3r]

question.... what do endlinks do? i mean what does the corsport endlinks do that the stock ones dont? sorrry if thats a newbie question but i would like to know exactly what endlinks are for and do

[instructor74]

Originally Posted by sh33t_0f_p4p3r

question.... what do endlinks do? i mean what does the corsport endlinks do that the stock ones dont? sorrry if thats a newbie question but i would like to know exactly what endlinks are for and do

The end links allow the swaybar to be connected to the control arm. The endlink has to be able to pivot in many directions at the same time as the suspension moves through its range of motion. The stock end links are a balljoint style so there is a little bit of play in the joint. By replacing them with a hyme joint like the op did it will take out away the play of the ball joint type of endlink. Each style has its own problems as you can see with the hyme joint is that there is no rubber boot to keep the dirt and water out. So that creats it own own issues with a daily driven car

[Moose]

The second biggest advantage behind the lack of play in the Heim joint based endlink is that they are independantly adjustable for length - this allows you to properly set pre-load on the swaybar.

They are also MUCH stronger than OE, a big advantage when you are going to a much thicker / morew aggressive swaybar that stresses the OE endlinks

Moose

[sh33t_0f_p4p3r]

so if was to get corsport endlinks, it could make my rear end stiffer (not that i would notice) but that would be the point correct?

[JEA86]

These things are Nice and yes Eric (GTIWV) installed them with me and we loved this setup alot! he is actually gonna try this on his GTI if all works well with my car But i must say people get out there and get these parts!