I picked up a new front sway bar link today and plan to replace it to see if it fixes my cluncking noise that recently started on the front end. I have a couple questions for those of you that replaced one or two of these.

Is it easiest to replace these with with weight on or off of the front end?

Does anyone have the torque spec for the nuts?

Is anyone making aftermarket performance versions of these for an SS? These look to not last very long after reading all of the threads on here. Although I do have 49,000 on my 08' and this would be the first one I have had to replace.

Thanks, G.B.

 

Powergrid makes a nice performance link with hiem joint ends. It's not cheap, but the goodparts never are. WWW.powergridinc.com. 10mm=35 lbs. 12mm=45 lbs.

 

I would tend to say weight on, but the really important thing is to have equal weight on both front wheels. So if you want to do it with the front wheel off the ground, you have to lift both sides. With wheels on the ground, you want a fairly flat & level surface.

I would try and make sure that the link is the source of the clunk before going through the trouble of replacing it. I'm on my third set of links in 3 years... for my next set I'm going to try Moog replacements (they make them for the standard suspension).

Good luck

Yves

 

Yves, how much for the Moog units? I just paid $29 for the OEM ones at the dealer. I am pretty sure that is were my noise is coming from. There is no rattle back thru the steering wheel and the noise is a metal clunking sound. I have the extended warranty but this part is less than the deductible so I thought I would try and replace it to see if it fixes it. If I start to burn thru these I might spend the money for the links that Bunkie found.

I first thought that I would need weight on the fron when changing these links out. I will see if anyone else chimes in that has changed these.

Thanks, G.B.

 

I don't know exactly about the price (even if I did I'd be a Canadian price, so badly inflated), but I recall that they were in the same range as the OEM. I usually put the car on ramps, crawl under, grab the sway bar near the link and shake it up/down & front/back. That usually tells me if it's the link, the bushing or the lower control arm bushing.
Believe it or not, I've had variations of all three sources of noise. My front suspension was almost completely replaced (I mean: bushings, both links, both struts and one control arm bushing) under warranty last August and it's starting to knock again. I'm going to start buying these things in cases of 12....

Yves

 

Try this link for the Moog part. Hope it helps.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...S_665514726___

 

Thanks guys again for your input and informatiion. I already bought the link for $29 so I am going to replace it and see if that fixes the problem. If not, then I guess I will have to look at the control arm bushings or elsewhere. It looks like the Moog link is the same price as the OEM.

Can anyone confirm if you need to have the weight on or off the front to change these links? And does anyone know the nut torque spec?

Thanks, G.B.

 

Pretty sure Bunkie has you covered:

 

Oops, yes that will work.

Thats what happens when you try to work and surf on chevyhhr.net at the same time.

Thanks bunkie and jeramiejj. G.B.

 

Per Service Manual
1) Raise and support the vehicle.
2 )Remove front tire and wheel assembly
3 )Replace Stabilizer Shaft Link
Torque nuts to 59 lb/ft.