Cut sway bar link

[talltim]

I had my car up itn the air today useing thread lock blue and torqueing down my shifter linkage bolt and I went to check the swaybar link bushing to see the condition. The passanger side was cut! Likely happen with the last owner. He kept it up well but I find little things overlooked. Ive been fixing them as IU see them. Well here goes one more. I'll do this on this evening. @ bolts so I dont expect trouble. It should be a big difference! I basically havent been using a front swaybar these last 3 weeks.

[talltim]

Well it corners like it should. Flatish. Much better than before. This should hold me off from buying springs for a few months. It looks like it was done with bolt cutters. Im saving the peices. The other side is tight so Im not really all consumed with the need to replace that side. I still am feeling that I have the shifter too tight. I'll mess with it in the morning

[meGrimlock]

hi what brand of sway bar link did you use? were there any issues with the install? anything i should prepare for if i try this install? thanks.

[talltim]

I used a Moog . Pretty simple job a wrench, rachet, allen keys maybe a pair of pliers. Just take the tire off and go. You can go to autozone and buy the endlinks for a ford escape. Cheaper and heavier duty. Have to search for the part number and other specifics. I read about it here or on mazda247.com. Simple install; if you do tune ups and oil changes you are over qualified

[Mazda_Powered]

Ya they're easy to install! Just not so easy to remove the old link sometimes haha, I've had to spend 20-30mins to cut my links of my 626 (same design as the 99+ Pros) then spend 2 mins bolting the new ones in.

I was able to use a grinder with a warn out cutting wheel, probably around 4" in diameter.

[talltim]

thats why I said to have a pair of pliers or vise grips around. if the old bolts are rust just clamp it down

[meGrimlock]

I used a Moog . Pretty simple job a wrench, rachet, allen keys maybe a pair of pliers. Just take the tire off and go. You can go to autozone and buy the endlinks for a ford escape. Cheaper and heavier duty. Have to search for the part number and other specifics. I read about it here or on mazda247.com. Simple install; if you do tune ups and oil changes you are over qualified

the key is moog parts. i did some research on part numbers and the thicker rod is not due to the tribute end link but because of their "problem solver" product. moog's greasable tribute end link has a thicker rod and there is a protege greaseable "problem solver" end link that also has a thicker rod and similar grease fittings in socket. the only difference is the length, the tribute end link is roughly 10.5mm shorter. moog supplies other aftermarket labels so you may get lucky with a thicker end link in a repackaged box or find a normal end link.

wrong info, see my next post below

[talltim]

Well the part I got didnt have greasable ends but was high quality. I got it mainly for 3 reasons, 1 I wanted it now, 2 it is all they had in stock, 3 with store credit I had it was 3 bucks. I had just noticed it was broken and I wanted to see how much difference it would make. Worked very well. If I wasnt in a hurry to just repair and wanted to upgrade I would look more into the larger ones from a ford escape or go for aftermarket one when I had cash to do a bigger sway bar

[meGrimlock]

my mistake! sorry to confuse everybody. i picked up moog protege endlinks and they are not "problem solvers" even though the box might say otherwise. these are the same thickness as the OEM part.

moog's pictures are either mislabeled or someone didnt do any double checking. the image for protege part K80258 looks like it is upgraded thickness, and the image for tribute/escape part K80104 appears to be your run-of-the-mill replacement part. OEM and other aftermarket brands are not guaranteed to be the beefy upgraded kind.

here is the actual info:

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pdf_en1/MOOG_PS_Bulletin_29004_K80104_En.pdf

here are the moog protege endlinks in the attached pic. im sorry for the bad info.

i tried to install them yesterday but ran into stuck bolts. not enough space for my cheater pipe and not enough tools to break the rusted nut with my noodle arms. i drowned them in PB blaster so i will try again next week.

[talltim]

try tapping on the wrench with a hammer. And consider stringing 2 wrenchs together for more torgue

[meGrimlock]

finally got off my lazy butt, took me 8 hours to get the Right (passenger) side end link off! how do you torque this down? a normal wrench will just spin the ball joint in the socket. tightened as best i could with the allen wrench in the hex socket.

btw, the new end link is producing a lot of clunks in the bumps. i had to raise the control arm a little to get the studs lined up to the holes in the strut and anti-sway bar or else theyre at weird angles. i didnt feel comfortable tightening them while pointing at different directions. could that or the improper torqueing contribute to clunks? also the nut supplied in the kit is larger than OEM 14mm nut. i think its 15mm but closest i had was 5/8"

future project: Left (drivers) side

[funktional]

I just removed front and rear end links from my 14 year old New England Protege..........best method of removal is a long, thin style vice grip and an impact wrench. I no longer own a compressor since selling my home so in its place I purchased an electric impact wrench from Lowes (Kobalt). This thing is the bees knees.......and I recommend anyone with an older vehicle who doesn't have access to a compressor to invest the $150 in it. Axle nuts? Zipped right off. Subframe mounting bolts? Zipped right off. The wrench initially turned the the whole tie rid links so I popped the caps off the endlink balls, cleaned all the grease off the ball and clamped the vice grip just before the ball and the impact wrench zipped the nuts right off.

[meGrimlock]

ok i found online that people use crowfoot wrenches on their torque wrench to properly torque the end link nuts. that makes sense for the top nut, how about the bottom nut where its facing the opposite direction, and there is even less space to work in?