end link help please

Hey folks, I'm having trouble getting my stock front end links off. Any thoughts? I could try to cut them, but I don't think I can cut close enough to the sway bar to get them off. I soaked them in PB blaster overnight and again today. If anyone has any tips or tricks, I would appreciate it!

Would it be stupid or dangerous to leave them off for the time being? I cut them in half to get the strut out and gain better access, but I think I just need to get a professional to cut them off of the sway bars. I'll be OK driving around for a little bit with no end links attached, right?

it's not *directly* dangerous but the car will handle like much, especially with so much weight biased to the front. Not a good idea and certainly not for long.

I've dealt with them both in a shop (good cutoff wheel, torch, lift, etc) and at home (basic jack, ratchet, wrenches, maybe a propane torch). Yes, ball joint style end-links are a monster pain. "low maintenance" my butt! old style last as long in reality and are WAY easier and cheaper to replace.

How are you trying to remove them? what tools do you have at your disposal? how are you trying to hold the stud part? how/where are you trying to cut them?

Check if the stud has a hex (square or any other flat face for grip) on the back side. some do, some don't. Others may have an allen socket in the end of the stud that's threaded to hold it while turning the nut. Lacking any of those (or if they fail) try putting a vice grip on the back side of the stud, clamp it down as tight as you can and don't worry about damaging the end-link. Sometimes pulling up or down on the bar gives enough friction on the stud to hold it but I've only used that method in combination with an impact gun. Last resorts would be using a cutoff wheel on an air air grinder or dremel to cut the nut in half or lacking those, using a nut-splitter to do so. Apply heat to the nut and threaded area but keep it off the sway bar itself as much as you can. If there's a lot of stud above the nut and you don't need it to hold on, use the cutoff wheel to lop it off and reduce how far you have to unscrew the difficult nut. I've actually used ever method listed in one situation or another.

I had to cut my 4 endlinks off when I did my suspension.. If all other methods proposed by the guy above me dont work (simple wrenching, with hex + wrench, wrench & vice grip), you can simply get a grinder, cut it in half, pull the strut out, then you can cut where the endlink and swaybar attach.. You must cut the back of the swaybar (Balljoint side) so when its cut, you can wrench the remaining bolt off without having to use the hex (Which in my case, was rusted & rounded out)

Best of luck! it doesnt matter if you grind a bit of the swaybar off... Just make sure you paint the exposed metal so it doesnt rust exponentially fast!

^if you don't have any easy way of cutting the end link...all i did was just tap the ball joint cap with a heavy hammer a few times...it'll nearly instantly just pop the cap off, leaving the ball stud in place...I just took some big vice grips, clamped on that as tightly as i could, and backed the nut off from the other side...easy...but destroys the endlink entirely...

since i first started working on this car...I've pretty much figured any suspension work will need endlinks...completely sucks, but...whatever.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think I will try the vise-grip on the ball method, since I already popped off the socket part of the joint. It is kind of unbelievable how rusty they are...and how much my car handles like an old Buick without the sway bar attached. I got some AAC end links, which I hope to have a lot less trouble with.

Anytime there are rusty bolts/nuts that cannot be gripped and a lot of rust is present, I just use my Dremel tool with cut-off wheels and cut it off.
Sometimes, it takes a lot of cut-off wheels and multiple cuts to remove the nut/bolt.

rit14623 said:

Anytime there are rusty bolts/nuts that cannot be gripped and a lot of rust is present, I just use my Dremel tool with cut-off wheels and cut it off.
Sometimes, it takes a lot of cut-off wheels and multiple cuts to remove the nut/bolt.

Click to expand...

This is what I would like to do, but my only cutting tool is a cutting wheel modified to fit on a drill. It is just too imprecise to use in this situation because I don't want to nick the CV boot (again).

^yeah that ball joint is a chromoly of some sort, right? Its pretty hard from what i remember, but big jawed vice grips clamp onto it pretty easily. I just did full coil overs front and rear towards the end of last year...the rear end-links hadn't been removed for over 9 years at that point...and the hex input for the allen key rounded out instantly on one side...the other actually came loose just fine...

so, just saying...you definitely can cut it with the right tools...but no need to if you have a good set of vice grips...its pretty troubling how easy it was to pop that cap off of the ball stud...in my case, at least...it just takes a little patience to get in the right position to tap it at the correct angle...when you do it, you'll immediately see it won't put up much of a fight...

Hahaha yeah I know what you mean about it being troubling. I just clamped them with my vice grip and pried them off with very little force. My hex inputs rounded off instantly as well, so I think I'm going to just try by hand again with the vice grip. Maybe I'll try and locate a torch.

^^Yea, No kidding,... I couldn't believe how much force it took to turn those nuts off. When I did my rears I was lucky in that once I had the vice grips attached, (which took every bit of strength I had to clamp them) the vise grips would rotate up and hit the frame or something (I forget what exactly) so I didn't have to hold both the v-grips and breaker bar.

I pushed down on the breaker bar with all my weight and the nut let go with a squeal that the neighbors two doors down could hear. I got about 3 full rotations on the nut when the stud snapped and it was off.

The hex end was useless,... I bent my allen key into a pretzel, then the hex bit on the ratchet striped the stud but I'm sure the propane torch helped me alot.

I recommend using anti-seize on the new end links,... it will help alot if you've got to remove them again.

I got them off today! Just some more PB blaster, vise grips, and the disassembled handle of a Razor Scooter repurposed as a ratchet handle extension, and they came loose pretty easily. I had to remove my fender liner to get a good angle, but it was no sweat with the vise grip wedged against the control arm and the extra leverage afforded by the longer handle.

My issue now is this: how much preload is OK on my front sway bar? I have AAC adjustable end links, and maybe I got the wrong size, but I can't adjust them long enough so that the bar ends are parallel to the ground when the car is resting on the wheels. As it stands now, the bar is angled upward. Is this OK? The car seems to be driving OK, but I know this might put stress on the other components.