Front and rear sway bar end links

[BeenChevy]

Anyone find a good fit for front and rear end links after 1.5-2.5" level?

In that past I used jeep end-links but came across these on ebay (for the low) and figured I'd try em out:

Curious what others are finding out there as i'm striking out on much else.

For the front, I've used 3500 Silverado HD +1's but they're non-adjustable so still trying to find a decent set for a fair price. Let me know if any of you have found any good replacement options. If no, I may end up making my own for the front.

 

[BeenChevy]

Ended going with the rear links above and they seem to handle well.

In front with cognito:

 

[Thrust]

What's your thoughts on the rear ones? I put new GM endlinks on when I installed a Hotchkis rear sway bar. The GM ones pivot at the sway bar attach point where the ones you show are making the red bushing do all the work.

 

[BeenChevy]

Have yet to swap the pivoting with *new pivoting rear links which leaves bias in that regard. The pivoting design seems to go against my engineering-type thinking. The bushings are where you want the stress for an anti-roll/sway in my opinion. The pivot would make sense for stability during articulation though so there may be minor trade-off there.

Of 3 vehicles I've swapped to non-pivoting; and haven't looked back. Went with the longer rubicon links which performed well with rubber bushings and later swapped into black graphite impregnated energy suspension bushings in the jeep links which made little difference. In the 05 Tahoe I went with energy suspension bushings on both front and rear sway bars and end links and later swapped in black graphite impregnated on the sway bars themselves with no real change in feel.

What I can say is going from a worn pivoting to a new non-pivoting is an instant handling improvement on the highway - no question about it. The worn pivoting style allowed the rear to wag or lean in the wind with lesser predictability and control. I do a LOT of driving among the 3 vehicles so any change is noticeable especially when looking for specific improvements. On the 2015 XL I have the stock sway bars and beat on it quite a bit through higher speed highway maneuvers, favorite on-off ramps and round-a-bouts where I can break the tires loose or dig into the turn.

Were you able to notice anything when you upgraded to the hotchkis rear sb?

 

[Thrust]

I tend to agree with you on the sway bar end links. I'm sure there was some compromise in the design for customer NVH levels that sales said needed to be met.

I didn't notice a huge improvement with the Hotchkis, but on the XL I think it's only a small improvement over stock. On the Tahoes and Yukons I believe it was a large improvement. Which leads to me question on the end links. I feel like going with something more adjustable and has less vertical movement.

 

[Thrust]

Just a follow up on the Hotchkis sway bar. So it's been about 10-12 months since I installed it. I have been having some popping noise from the rear end as the Yukon enters into the driveway from the street. Narrowed it down to the sway bar by detaching the end links. Once I did that the noise disappeared. So I went and pulled the brackets that hold the sway bar bushings to add some teflon tape to the sway bar and PTFE grease to the bushings, and the Hotchkis supplied hardware was rusted solid. Had to use pb blaster to break them free. They are alan style bolts. I would advise anyone NOT to use the supplied hardware as it's not finished properly. I am going to get some chrome hardware.

 

[BeenChevy]

Where about's are you located? Here in MN i'm dealing with the same rust issues. For suspension parts I don't really trust chrome hardware unless I can confirm it's high-quality. Stick with grade 8 or better if possible and the zinc coated hold up to rust pretty well from my experience without sacrificing strength.

 

[Doubeleive]

if it's that much trouble finding something I would measure the oem set and find out how much extra length is needed and grab a longer bolt & sleeve from the hardware store and done.
measure what length you need
take 1 complete oem link with you to the hardware store
get 2 longer bolt's (same width and thread, pay attention to thread length or get full thread bolt's)
get a longer sleeve (this can be cut to length as needed for "2")
that's all you need as long as the thread and width matches you can use the rest of the oem hardware and make your own.

 

[Thrust]

Where about's are you located? Here in MN i'm dealing with the same rust issues. For suspension parts I don't really trust chrome hardware unless I can confirm it's high-quality. Stick with grade 8 or better if possible and the zinc coated hold up to rust pretty well from my experience without sacrificing strength.

Located in Kansas. Agreed on what you said about hardware. When I looked at the Hotchkis stuff I figured it would do this but also figured they would have provided something better. Plan is to hit the hardware store and find a better product. Factory ones were pretty cruddy when I removed them to install the sway bar.
Also to note I did spray paint the sway bar bushing brackets that came from Hotchkis. They are a shiny chrome when new, but now look very dull.

 

[BeenChevy]

If you don't find what you're looking for at the hardware store, the ones on thread 1 are $30 and limited lifetime warranty. I'd buy em again in a heartbeat. Quality pieces. Bushing can also be pressed out/swapped for something else. They adjust to the same length as the stock and you can go from there.

 

[Thrust]

Went to Ace hardware and got some A2-70 Alan head chrome bolts. They are metric.

 

[maxpsi]

I bought the adjustable Energy Suspension fronts, but rode around with the sway bar disconnected and kinda like it. I don’t think I’m going to reinstall the front endlinks.

 

[Thrust]

So follow up on this, I still get a popping noise when turning slowly in and out of the driveway. I believe it is the cross member attach bolts based on other threads/comments about this.
Also had a "clanging" noise when going over bumps at speeds less than 50mph. Found out one of the rear GM sway bar links was defective. You could hit the sway bar at the connection and hear the same clanging noise. Wasn't a loose bolt/nut either. The articulating bolt in the link is loose inside the housing causing the metal to metal contact. So I ordered a pair of Hellwig HEL7961 adjustable end links. Once I get those, no more noise.

 

[BeenChevy]

The hellwig rear links look beefy with that outer sleeve. Glad you did away with the junk stock rear links with your hotchkis setup. So far the $30 rear links I bought off e-bay in post #1 are working out great. Probably should have bought 2 sets as they're sold out.

As for the noise you hear turning slow out of the driveway... if not the cross-member bolts - I had similar on the 05 Tahoe and it turned out to be a bad bushing in the panhard bar. Swapped it with a cherry red one from spohn and about a week later the noise was back. Turned out that the nut used to lengthen or shorted it had loosened and needed a little lock tight and the clunk noise has been gone ever since. If you can get a pry bar in there you could see if those bushing might also have slop.

 

[Doubeleive]

So follow up on this, I still get a popping noise when turning slowly in and out of the driveway. I believe it is the cross member attach bolts based on other threads/comments about this.
Also had a "clanging" noise when going over bumps at speeds less than 50mph. Found out one of the rear GM sway bar links was defective. You could hit the sway bar at the connection and hear the same clanging noise. Wasn't a loose bolt/nut either. The articulating bolt in the link is loose inside the housing causing the metal to metal contact. So I ordered a pair of Hellwig HEL7961 adjustable end links. Once I get those, no more noise.

check the condition of the rear panhard bar & bushings, if the bushings are worn and if the bar "bolts" are not super tight it will make a pop noise, needs to be torqued as tight as you can get it.

 

[Thrust]

Got the endlinks installed this morning. The old ones (20 months old) were on their way out. One of them was notchy in it's movement due to moisture intrusion and it causing rust. There wasn't much grease in the boot either.
But enough of those. The Hellwig units are ALOT better and I can tell a difference with the way the truck handles corners. Remember this is also paired with a Hotchkis sway bar.
I forgot to look at the panhard bar. I will this week.
I also got the Brembo's sorted. Borrowed a neighbors Snap On diagnosis tool to use on the ABS system. Had some air in the system after doing the swap. Thanks everyone for the great input and topics. Forum has been a time and money saver.
Edit:
Drove the Yukon to work. WOW what a difference the sway bar links made. The stock rear sway bar links are not your friend. For those looking at a Hotchkis sway bar you must not re-use the stock links. Get the Hellwig or something comparable in design.

 

[Thrust]

So I pulled the stock panhard bar to find the body side bushing has leaked all it's grease out. Assume it is filled with grease as the fitting and housing were all caked with dirty grease. The bushing was also free to move around, where as the axle side was still stiff.
So I ordered a QA1 Panhard Bar taking the risk that it would fit, even though it's not listed for my model year (2015+). Looks like hole to hole distance is off by about @ 3/16 inch and the bushing is about an 1/8 inch too wide. I'm not to worried about hole to hole because I can shift the axle to get it to line up unless someone says otherwise.
I tried to slide it into position to see if the holes would line up but it won't even fit into the bathtub brackets. The axle and body side bathtub fittings are too narrow, where as the stock one drops right in. It starts to go in as the fittings have a taper to them. Any thoughts? It would appear any of the aftermarket arms would have this same issue.

 

[BeenChevy]

So I pulled the stock panhard bar to find the body side bushing has leaked all it's grease out. Assume it is filled with grease as the fitting and housing were all caked with dirty grease. The bushing was also free to move around, where as the axle side was still stiff.
So I ordered a QA1 Panhard Bar taking the risk that it would fit, even though it's not listed for my model year (2015+). Looks like hole to hole distance is off by about @ 3/16 inch and the bushing is about an 1/8 inch too wide. I'm not to worried about hole to hole because I can shift the axle to get it to line up unless someone says otherwise.
I tried to slide it into position to see if the holes would line up but it won't even fit into the bathtub brackets. The axle and body side bathtub fittings are too narrow, where as the stock one drops right in. It starts to go in as the fittings have a taper to them. Any thoughts? It would appear any of the aftermarket arms would have this same issue.

See if you can get a photo of that. I'd imagine you can pry them open a bit to get the replacement panhard in. Do you have a caliper you could measure the inside of the brackets compared with the new part? Thinking of swapping all the rear arms and pan hard as well.

 

[Thrust]

Update: I finally took the stock panhard bar off and chucked it in the trash. In it's place I installed a Spohn panhard bar. It fit like a glove.
I did compare the Spohn unit to the QA1 unit. As you can see in the picture, the QA1 unit is larger in diameter, but the ends are also wider, which was the main reason I couldn't install it. So for anyone wondering.....