im replacing my front and rear sway bar links.

from buying kits and pieces on their own i accidently have 2 sets of front and 2 sets of rear sway bar links.


both links for the front and both for the rear are like a quarter of an inch shorter than the last one.


i have just put on the rear set. and before i put the tire back on i want to make sure i didnt mess up.

i know the easiest thing on the suspension and im questioning it so just bare with me.


here you can see what im talking about

the picture with four different sway bar links that was sent to me

the one on far left in black bushings is supposed to be for the front.
the one second from the left in pale pinkish red is also supposed to be for the front but is slightly longer.

the one second to the right in bright dark red is supposedly for the rear and is very long.

the one on the far right is teh original stock rear sway bar link

see all the slight length differences

does it make a huge difference in performance. im doing all this work and i dont want it for nothing or something i need to do again soon

the last two pics show the before and after of the original and new rear sway link

i am only know they are the front or rear based on what the company sent me.

i wouldnt know they sent me front instead of rear by accident.

so the question is which sway bar link is longer and what is bad about having the wrong link in place? and we're talking about quarter of an inch difference.

 

keep in mind im just looking for stock replacements.

not interested in lowering kits

also i just want to make sure before i go for a few drives and somehow snap or break bolts or swa bar if thats even possible

i just want to do this once and move on

thanks guys

 

ive taken another look. seems that the rear sway bar link bolt is alittle longer with more threads and the center pipe that is inbetween the lower an upper bushings is slightly longer.

i already put the rear links on that are slightly shorter and second guessing myself and what was sent to me.

so if anyone can lend some help it would be great

 

The front and rear end links for thirdgens are the same length. The bright red link "looks" like the ES version I'm using (on front and rear).

JamesC

 

ok great thanks that makes sense now. the black links i have for the front are the same length as the bright shorter red ones i alreayd installed. i was jsut making sure tehy didnt send me the wrong end by mistake.

thanks a bunch
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what confused me was the length of the bolts. some are stock length which has a lot of threads that extend out and arre obviously not needed and some after market that i guess trimmed the bolts shorter but are still the right length for the sway bar to do its job

 

The length of the bolt isn't super critical...

Ideally, you'd want the bolt & sleeve length to be such that the sway bar is in the center of its possible range of travel, which is usually with its arms more or less level, with the vehicle at normal ride height. Raised or lowered vehicles often require longer or shorter end links than stock. ES, and alot of other aftermarket mfrs, make theirs in size increments as opposed to "by application", and you just pick the one that comes closest to what you need.

¼" difference in length isn't going to make any difference, unless the car is ALOT different from stock ride height, and your ¼" takes it further in the wrong direction.

In these cars, the fronts usually need to be shorter than stock, and the rears need to be longer, if the car is lowered. But that's only a generalization, just use whatever fits your car the best.

 

ok thanks that puts me at ease