Sway bar end links too short

[Chyleton]

While installing coilovers, I ran into an issue. The sway bar end links are not long enough to bolt back into the hub. This is after I lowered to coilover by 2 inches. When I ordered the coilovers from BC racing, they told me I wouldn't need to modify anything for the installation and some people said they were fine keeping the OEM links. What did I do wrong? What are my options?
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[nikh23]

I also have bc coils. I had to place a small floor jack underneath the outer edge of the sway on either side and jacked it up a bit so they lined up on both sides then torqued them down


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[Chyleton]

I also have bc coils. I had to place a small floor jack underneath the outer edge of the sway on either side and jacked it up a bit so they lined up on both sides then torqued them down


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Doesn't that add a lot of stress on the link ball joints and sway bar bushings? I would need to jack it up about 2 inches

[nikh23]

You could also try extending the coils to stock height. Bolt everything back up then shorten the coils after they're tightened down


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[ColtonBH]

Jack up the car from the subframe, so both sides are off the ground. You should then be able to bolt everything up.

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[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Other side still hooked up to the stock strut?

[golfgod]

That's a common problem when you lower a car.
Notice when your car was at stock height, the sway bar arm geometry was pointing forward parallel with the road. That's the correct geometry. When you lower a car, and hook them back up (jacking up the suspension to do so) you'll notice that they are actually pointed upwards.
That leads me to the point of your end links aren't too short, they are actually too long now. You have to loosen the sway bar bushings to take that preload of the bushings by the way. The proper way is to bolt the top bracket (that you show in your pictures) up and keep the bottom unhooked, load the suspension to ride height, POINT THE SWAY BAR BACK DOWN TO PARALLEL, then measure the height of the end links you will need. It's all about the geometric pointing of the sway bar that keeps your car tight through the turns.

On that note, you could do as I did and cut and weld them back together with a strengthened sleeve around the weld, OR just simply loosen the sway bar bushings, jack up the suspension until you line up, then tighten the bushings after the car is loaded on the suspension. The car rides just fine that way but you would notice an improvement if you used shorter end links...by the way, when you lower a car or do any kind of modifications to the suspension, you have to loosen ALL of the suspension bushings, drop the car back down on to full load ride height THEN tighten all of the bushings back down. This way, the bushings are used as designed allowing motion both up and down equally. If you don't do that, you'll notice that you actually force the bushing already tightened down, past the point of doing any good and they already have twist on them and then amplified even tighter when you stress them driving.
I hope this makes sense and you understand what I'm trying to say.


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[golfgod]

That's a common problem when you lower a car.
Notice when your car was at stock height, the sway bar arm geometry was pointing forward parallel with the road. That's the correct geometry. When you lower a car, and hook them back up (jacking up the suspension to do so) you'll notice that they are actually pointed upwards.
That leads me to the point of your end links aren't too short, they are actually too long now. You have to loosen the sway bar bushings to take that preload of the bushings by the way. The proper way is to bolt the top bracket (that you show in your pictures) up and keep the bottom unhooked, load the suspension to ride height, POINT THE SWAY BAR BACK DOWN TO PARALLEL, then measure the height of the end links you will need. It's all about the geometric pointing of the sway bar that keeps your car tight through the turns.

On that note, you could do as I did and cut and weld them back together with a strengthened sleeve around the weld, OR just simply loosen the sway bar bushings, jack up the suspension until you line up, then tighten the bushings after the car is loaded on the suspension. The car rides just fine that way but you would notice an improvement if you used shorter end links...by the way, when you lower a car or do any kind of modifications to the suspension, you have to loosen ALL of the suspension bushings, drop the car back down on to full load ride height THEN tighten all of the bushings back down. This way, the bushings are used as designed allowing motion both up and down equally. If you don't do that, you'll notice that you actually force the bushing already tightened down, past the point of doing any good and they already have twist on them and then amplified even tighter when you stress them driving.
I hope this makes sense and you understand what I'm trying to say.


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Edit...I misspoke I apologize.
Your sway bar will actually point DOWN using the stock end links.

When/if you shorten the end links, they will point up more parallel properly


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