shinronin

has anyone installed the rear AWR sway bar endlinks on an adjustable rear sway bar?

last friday i attempted to fit them up with the PT rear sway bar on the soft setting and there was hardly any clearance to the subframe i.e. if the rear suspension were to compress even a moderate amount it was going to hit the endlinks. i just talked to AWR and they're going to send out another set of endlinks with a shorter adjuster body (i.e. 2" vs. 2.5").

i'll post back here with an update once i try to fit up the shorter rear endlinks. i'll fit them up on both the soft and hard setting to make sure clearance is good for both.

scsi

i plan to go with the same set up some time in the future (assuming you have the PT and AWR front end components as well) so i am interested in the answer to this as well.

shinronin

yep, i have the PT (full stiff) and AWR fronts and all fits well. of course i didn't try to fit it up with the PT bar on full soft, however, i'm pretty sure fitment isn't an issue in the front at all.

scsi

just curious what other endlinks are out there and what makes the AWR ones better? also, these endlinks are adjustable. how do you "tune" endlinks? finally, i was thinking of first getting the AWR endlinks and using them with my stock bar for a while and get bars later on when i have more money. will this provide any benefits (or downfalls)?

thanks!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I never installed them, sold them to another forum member unused, first time I've heard of this.

Were they longer than the OE ones then? The OE endlinks are the same on all four corners, or so I thought

shinronin

the rear OEM endlinks are ~1/2" shorter than the fronts.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

ok, then maybe they screwed up and sent you front ones rather than rears since they already have the shorter body available

front full hard and rear full soft should be the only thing you'll need to check, the issue in the rear is the frame bracket clearance as you noted, going stiffer will move it further away

clearance issue in the front is the distance from the shock body to the endlink assembly, it gets closer as you move the endlink forward to the stiffer positions

The RB front bar I had on there previously had enough slop in the stoips that the endlink heads banged up on the shock bodies, those crappy urethane side stops they use are worthless IMO, I much prefer PT's using welded metal stops

scsi

would it be okay to use these endlinks with the stock bar? would it be a little bit stiffer? is this reasonable or should i just get the bars and endlinks all at the same time?

how can the adjustments be used? is it just to make sure the bar is not loaded when sitting still? or can the bar actually be preloaded to increase or decrease stiffness?

shinronin

as teamrx8 mentions here the AWR endlinks are heim joints (metal on metal with teflon lining) which means no deflection under stress. whiteline makes endlinks (non-adjustable iirc) and AP (also non-adjustable) used to make them. i'm not sure vivid racing or the like sells the AP endlinks any longer. [tangent]i have previous gen front and rear AP sways with endlinks if anyone's interested. i need to put up a f/s ad.[/tangent] i don't know if any other company makes endlinks.

the AWR endlinks are a racing part that does need maintenance (at the very least to keep the heim joints clean) and probably isn't the right choice for everyone. however it is the best choice of endlinks if your overall goal is to minimize suspension slop and if you have a need to adjust sway bar preload. the adjustability of the AWR endlinks isn't so important to me (i have them set at zero preload). i bought them because deflection bad, heim joints good.

shinronin

heh, i led into my call stating that they sent me two sets of front endlinks and tony (?) chuckled and said all four are supposed to the same length. i pointed out the rear OEM endlinks were ~1/2" shorter. he mentioned they have shorter adjuster bodies for the lotus elise, etc. i can only assume AWR didn't factor in adjustable rear sway bar positions. but to their credit they're sending me shorter rear endlinks at no charge which i'll test fit asap.

shinronin

of the permutations you've mentioned i'd go with the PT bars and stock endlinks. the PT bars accept the OEM 10mm end link bolts.

yes, the adjuster bodies enable one to adjust sway bar preload.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

so tony is the contact? mine have the same 4 bodies.. wondering.

beers

shinronin

tony's the only one i've spoke to at AWR besides the very nice lady who answers the phones. if yours are all the same length, then, yes, you're in the same boat as me.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

if they are going to swap them out let me know... this weekend is brake weekend...

sway weekend is at least a month away..

beers

scsi

are the stock endlinks strong enough for the PT bars?

why would one wish to preload the bar?

Ronn

Anyone know would Racinb Beats Endlinks work with the front PT Sway bar? Is it OK to use the stock endlinks for the rear? What would be your recommendation?

My set up is Koni yellow shocks (adj. both front/back) and racing beat springs (Both are not yet installed but will soon). I mostly drive car for fun on weekends and probably almost never auto cross my car. I just don't want the endlink to fail while I am out driving miles from home!

scsi

i believe you will need to drill to use the RB endlinks because the stud is 12mm instead of 10mm

Ronn

Thanks SCSI for answer my post. I think I am going to use racing beat endlinks that I had ordered for the front and stay stock in the rear. Now PT front bar has 3 adj. holes I assume that the same endlinks (racing beats) will be long enough to use on any of those 3 holes. I plan to use the stiff set up on the bar and use softer setting on the front shock. For the rear I will set it 1/2 way.

shinronin

ronn, the PT sway bar arm holes are 10mm wide. the RB endlink bolts are 12mm wide. the issue isn't length. if you were to use the front RB endlinks for the front PT bar you'd have to drill out (enlarge) the PT arm holes from 10mm to 12mm. the issue isn't the length of any endlink bolt but the diameter of the sway bar arm holes and endlink bolts.

Ronn

Thanks shinronnin for the clarification. I know that the hole will have to increase from 10 mm to 12 mm but not sure about the length of the endlink. I need to go do some reading about suspensions!

shinronin

i don't see why they wouldn't be. they just have a lot of rubber.

there's some schools of thought on whether or not preload is worthwhile or not. the cons probably outweigh the pros imho. google for 'sway bar preload' and see what you think.

scsi

are there any other endlinks that are worth looking at that would require less maintinance than the awr ones, or are they all similar? whiteline, agency power, rb, etc?

i will google sway bar preload soon. im supposed to be doing homework right now

thanks for your help!

shinronin

i've never seen the whiteline endlinks, i've only noted their existence in whiteline's catalog. i think i have some pics of the AP endlinks at home. i'll link to them later. the RB endlinks are OEM style, but a bit beefier and more robust.

shinronin

alrighty, the shorter adjuster bodies for the rear arrived yesterday. i'll try to get them installed thurs. with pics, but the moton coilovers take precedence.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

could you measure them?

beers