WTH? Plastic Front Stabilizer Endlink!

[swami]

when i took the front wheel off to do the '96 brake upgrade i saw that piece of plastic and said wth is that. i can't believe ford would put something like that on a SHO. i see rockauto has a patented improved METAL endlink. what's everybody else doing? TIA

 

[K-Dawg]

I use the plastic/composite endlinks that RCM sells. Nothing wrong with them, IMO.

 

[Mr95Gl]

The plastic design is perfectly fine if you live in an area with relatively smooth roads. That and their lighter (negligible) if your a weight savings fanatic. My own personal experience with them out here has been that they won't last very long with rough roads.

 

[shobote]

Iv'e had my plastic Ford endlinks on for 5 years and no problems. I like that they are lighter and also selaed, and not greasable joints, like the metal ones.

 

[rubydist]

The nylon parts are considered an upgrade from the earlier metal parts - they are actually stronger.

 

[hawkeye18]

Believe me, those plastic endlinks are plenty strong for any driving you'd do (i.e. not doing the Baja 500 with it). They only go through tension and compression, two areas in which plastic excels. Torsion, it doesn't handle so well but those end links don't go through that.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

The nylon parts are considered an upgrade from the earlier metal parts - they are actually stronger.

Might be considered an upgrade, but if you believe that they are stronger than the steel versions, you are on crack.

 

[Shoaz]

IMHO the plastic parts are the most desirable. They're plenty strong and they're far lighter than the metal parts.

Might be considered an upgrade, but if you believe that they are stronger than the steel versions, you are on crack.

They're plenty strong enough to do the job. I've never seen (or heard of) one failing due to inadequate strength.

 

[SuperHO]

living in Michigan and dealing with the moonscape we call roads, I'd much rather have the peace of mind of having them sturdy, beefy metal ones (mine are sealed, by the way) than having to replace em every 6 months due to some absurd crater that somehow got overlooked by our remarkable department of public works.

just to give some of ya'll out of staters an idea of what we michiganders deal with on a daily basis....

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I've had morning commutes to work like this...

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

:laugh_ti::laugh_ti:

 

[boat]

I have the metal greasable ones in my 94, I like them. More of a peace of mind.

 

[SHORANGERBIRD]

-if anyone can remember way back when....in the beginning years of the taurus and SHO, they were metal, then Ford switched to the new design nylon ones. and they are quite strong and never had problems with them. the ball socket usually gives way, normally by the boot tearing and dirt/water getting in....

 

[zak]

The material actually has fiber reinforcement in it IIRC. Pretty soon commercial airliners will all be made with fiber reinforced plastic, best get used to it . . . .

zak

 

[SuperHO]

last i saw, there weren't too many commercial airliners bouncing through michigan potholes deep enough to break the ball out of the socket of an end link.

 

[SeanMc]

My plastic ones lasted 14 years. Nothing wrong with them. I now that the ingalls metal ones.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I'm sure Pat McGrath has metal ones, but he bent his front sway bar (20.6 IIRC) a couple year back after hitting a very rough train track in the road.

 

[SHOGUN88]

I still have my stock ones on and they are perfectly fine, although I will be replacing them when I redo my suspension.

 

[swami]

i have a 20.6 front swaybar. got a 26mm for the rear when i redo my suspension.

 

[yamahaSHO]

That's going to be on the tail-happy side.

 

[SeanMc]

That's going to be on the tail-happy side.

I have the 26mm on my ATX, and it's easy to rotate the car, but yet it feels pretty neutral on both the street and track.