Whiteline RSB Clearance Issue - Solution [BP/BL]

[mra32]

Scroll down for the TL;DR version.

 

I've seen a handful of posts regarding the Whiteline rear sway bar making contact with the rear toe arm but never came across a solution to them other than buying adjustable end links and dialing them all the way out, so I figured I'd post my solution. I also HATE bling parts. I bought the whiteline bars because they were silver and not some other weird color that IMO does not belong under a car. I have also seen some other brands implicated (Hotchkiss) but it seemed to be more prevalent with Whiteline (but I may be guilty of confirmation bias here). I also was able to confirm that this is a 'post revision' sway bar. I did search and search before posting this but if this has been covered before, please forgive me.

 

Anyone who has this issue should be familiar with the sound, a tinny tap from the rear at nearly full droop, before the suspension becomes loaded again. The evidence is clear, especially when the rear is jacked up with a wheel off. There is paint worn off the black toe arm and your sway bar end link may even be resting on the toe arm. Somewhat paradoxically, bolting the end links to the 'softer' setting on the sway bar makes this problem even worse. I was content to live with this very minor occasional issue and the incidence seemed to decrease over time so I was happy.

 

Fast forward a few years to me "testing out" my new KONI shocks on the shite roads leading into work. I've broken enough sway bar components in various cars to immediately know the springy BONG/CLANK sound I heard was sway bar related. I had broken one of the rear sway bar bushing clamps. My blissful ignorance had ended and my no noise, no problem has become a big problem.

 

When I got home, not only was the sway bar bushing clamp broken, but the skinny brackets they bolt to (which I had known is a common failure point, but I was still gonna send it) were also mostly broken. I'm nearly certain that the sway bar end links contacting the rear toe arm is mostly responsible for breaking these. The problem is, the most accepted way to fix these is to add the AVO brackets which space the bar back even further which make the contact issue even worse!

 

Not having enough time to take the subframe out, weld up reinforcements and put it back after work in one night, I just put the AVO brackets on and crossed my fingers. Obviously the contact issue was back and worse than before so I decided to employ the lengthen the sway bar endlink trick, but wayyy cheaper and wayyy less bling.

 

I spent some time comparing MOOG sway bar end links and I found 2 candidates that would work. I stopped searching after finding the one I was gonna buy, so there could be more, but thats up to someone else to find out.

 

The criteria were heavy duty, greaseable, ends pointed in the same direction and about 0.5" longer than the legacy ones. I found 2 that would work:

 

Ford Mustang SN95 Rear sway bar end links, MOOG part number: K80102

1991 Saturn SC1 Rear sway bar end links, MOOG part number: K90520

 

I bought the Saturn ones because they were like under $10 each and right around 1/2" longer than the Legacy ones. I just bolted them up and they are perfect so far. The mustang ones are about 1mm shorter than the Saturn ones and there might be some nice aftermarket options for those too. Maybe you can get a few more options for adjustable end links if that is your thing.

 

Hope this helps someone with the same issue as me

 

 

TL;DR Version

 

Problem: Rear Sway bar end links hit the rear toe arm

Solution: Longer Rear End links, MOOG P/N's: K80102 or K90520

Edited July 26, 2020 by mra32