new endlinks wiht lowering springs?

I've posted this in a couple forums because i wasn't sure where i would get the best response.

Do i require different size endlinks because of my lowering springs? I've heard 1-5/8 instead of 1-3/4 or something like that.

Is this true? If so, why?

You want the arms of the a-r bars to remain essentially horizontal as seen in side view so that the fore and aft "error" caused by the arc of the bar ends is minimized.

In the rear the endlinks generally need to be shortened by however much the rear was dropped.

Up front it's a little more complicated, as a 1" drop of the chassis/body involves less than that much at the endlinks, perhaps only 2/3 as much as the drop. More accurately, it's the following ratio:

[distance from the endlink attachment point to the chassis pivot axis of the front LCA] + [distance from the LBJ to the chassis pivot axis of the front LCA]

Norm

Norm , what you say makes good sense but how do you do it , i.e. where do you cut the endlinks ?

Best bet is to just replace them. Poly bushed endlink kits aren't very hard to come by. For example, Pep Boys here in the mid-Atlantic region stocks them right out there on the shelves, and they come in various lengths. But if you need some oddball length just cut the sleeves from the next longer set to whatever length you need (otherwise you might need new bolts in order to have enough threads). For that matter, you could do the same with the OE pieces.

Norm

So basically if my endlinks are say 5" long stock, and i lower my car 1.8" then my endlink should be 3.2" long ? And we are talking about the sleeves not the bolts right?

Are the bushings the same width, or do they need to be changed?

thanks.

Originally posted by 93zder
So basically if my endlinks are say 5" long stock, and i lower my car 1.8" then my endlink should be 3.2" long ?

Yup. That's the way it works in the rear, anyway. For the front you need to either check the angle of the arms after re-installing things or do the math (in my previous post, and note that it's been corrected).

And we are talking about the sleeves not the bolts right?

Sleeves - yes. Bolts - not necessarily if you don't mind having a bunch of extra length sticking up and it won't hit anything. Keep in mind that bolts aren't always threaded all the way up to the head, so you might run out of threads before everything is snugged up. If that happens just replace the bolts with ones of the correct length - not a bad idea anyway, rather than re-use the OE bolts (which will probably be corroded a bit).


Are the bushings the same width, or do they need to be changed?

Endlink bushings come with the kits (~$20 per bar) and frame mount bushings are separately available; I haven't ever seen a length or width choice for either. :confused:

Norm

I'm going to see if i can just replace my sleeves, if not i will replace all of it - they can't cost that much.

thanks for the help.