Rear Sway Bar drop links

[geoff_k]

Hi there

I am just going through and looking at the rear sway bar on an 1980 SC. The bushes in the drop links look shot and I am wondering if you can just replace the bushings or have to buy a new drop link for either side. If I can just replace the bushings which part Number should I refer to

thanks in advance,

Geoff

[Derek911]

Not being a smart azz, but instead of parts, the first purchase should be a good set of books. I am currently reading, yes reading like a book, Bentley's shop manual. Not to mention that I already read all of the other popular must have books. Answers and instructions are well documented in books, tech articles, and previous posts. To answer your question, yes they can be changed, as with all of the rubber and plastic on the car or new link parts installed or a new sway bar. That is up to you, your budget, and skills.
Everything you need is in the parts section of the host, simply looked up by year and model of car.

[bkreigsr]

901 343 782 00 should work.
best to have the whole link in a vise and press the old ones out (two sockets work well) and the new ones in.
Pelican lists several upgraded bushings for more control.
Bill K

[Craig_D]

I swapped mine out for Tarrett drop links

[geoff_k]

Derek - since your so clever, point to one of those articles. I have a large collection of books and not one of them mentions redoing a drop link. If you cannot do that then stop putting negative comments on this forum. Here is your chance to prove how clever you are or prove that you are a smart azz. I am happy to be proved wrong.

[geoff_k]

Hi Bill,

thanks for your feedback .I was looking at that bushing too but cannot find anything written that talks about refurbishing that part. I just thought it seemed a waste to throw out such a part where it looks like it only the rubber bushing that needs replacing

thanks again

[Craig_D]

Hi goeff_k, if you're going for a totally stock machine, then I get it, but the rubber that's there only deflects the input of the sway bar, making for a slower responding car.

The Tarretts don't add any NVH to the car at all, and make the feedback for turn-in, and left/right transitions much crisper.

Just a thought. Cheers

[bkreigsr]

Originally Posted by geoff_k

Hi Bill, thanks for your feedback .I was looking at that bushing too but cannot find anything written that talks about refurbishing that part. I just thought it seemed a waste to throw out such a part where it looks like it only the rubber bushing that needs replacing
thanks again

I only threw that out there because I redid mine with those bushings when I converted my 77 from the old style drop links to the newer ones, and upped the rear bar from 19mm to 22mm.
Bill K

[geoff_k]

Hi Craig,

a quick question. When you changed to the tarretts, did you need to upgrade the chassis mounting?

geoff

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by geoff_k

Hi Craig,

a quick question. When you changed to the tarretts, did you need to upgrade the chassis mounting?

geoff

I didn't upgrade the mounts, although I did swap from SC sways to the larger Carrera G50 sways before doing a full suspension upgrade.

I've done one track day and a few thousand canyon carving miles without any evidence of cracking/tearing of the stock chassis mounts.

I loved the improvement to the sways with the Tarretts. I'd done that a few thousand miles before my full suspension upgrade, so I got to sample the stiffer sways and the Tarrett end links on their own for a while.