my front end thread

[Previologist]

The sway bar links I have used are TRW brand and have held up for a number of years.

They seem to be phasing themselves out of the Previa sway link business, only a handful left. I'm considering those, and also Delphi, which seem to have a good reputation. But didn't I say that about the Ultra-8/ATM link? I'm also considering biting the bullet and getting OEM. But right now I'm not worried about it. They graded the one road I still have to drive for work that was rattling my fillings out. Either that or Tuesdays dust storm leveled it out. But I will replace it before I hit the long road home

[tbuyan]

Don't know about the Previa, but I have made sway bar links from steel rod and Heim joints for my Chevy van. Simple fab job, just don't use all thread - not stiff enough.

[Previologist]

Not simple for me.

I need to move on to getting my AC back in order..Things are heating up.

[Previologist]

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My Delphi link arrived. It has a large D followed by AK46G on the side, which leads me to believe its AC Delco. ACD's links all seem to have have a 46G in their number. Or maybe vice versa. At any rate at least it's painted, unlike the cheapie on there now.

[Previologist]

The Delphi link was a success-What a difference! My front end is as quiet as a kitten now!

That's the first and last time I order from Napa Online though. They will only replace defective parts, not refund, and I would have to get a mechanic or Napa employee to sign off on it being defective. And since I paid an extra 1 or 2 dollars for expedited shipping, they won't refund shipping at all.

So now I have a worthless link that cost me 30 bucks that I don't know what to do with...maybe throw it through the nearest Napa window?

On to the a/c...I tried to pull a vacuum and got nothing...now to figure out if its the loaner equipment or the van.

[man_btc]

I'm interested as to whether there was something obviously wrong with the link that any of us might be on the lookout for if we needed one ourselves? For instance, I've used NAPA-sourced brake calipers, but have learned - after one aborted installation - to test the sliding action at the counter, since some have moved roughly - or not at all(!) out of the box.

[Previologist]

There was nothing obviously wrong to me, but I'm surely no expert. I did try to move the ends before installing and the movement seemed "jerky" and sticky not smoooooth. But so did the movement on the Delphi, although to a noticeably lesser degree. I tried squishing the boots to see if I could feel grease, but I could not determine anything that way. I could hear grease in at least one end of the bad one though, when yanking on it once it was installed. And maybe that's the clue? I'm not sure if I should have been able to move it by hand at all since I'm in a habit of ignoring my suspensions until they cause problems (or I was, I'm hoping to change that going forward).