END-LINKS! The Basics (FM Live)
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- This week on FM Live, Ethan gives us all the basics on suspension end-links. What do they do? Why do you need them? How to know if you need to replace or upgrade them?
For more info on sway bars and suspension tuning, check out our other videos, like this Sway Bar Theory video from Keith Tanner:
• Sway Bar Theory with K...
Adjustable End-Links and Suspension Kits at FM:
flyinmiata.com...
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*Starting at **1:20** I believe Ethan intended to say: "...parallel to the ground" not "perpendicular to the ground". In any form of competition, track days or just streetin' fun the smallest details are always the most critical ones. Cheers!*
Correct, the sway bar ends should be parallel to the ground. Thanks!
Great Job Ethan👍! Thanks for this informative video. Keep them coming.
Thanks! Will do!
The subtle genius of FM's design is having opposite threading at each end-connection, which allows length adjustment without unbolting an end from your vehicle and rotating it a full turn. I have brand 'G.R.' adjustable end-links on my ND2 and the front ones are a giant PITA to adjust because the connection between the ends is just a threaded rod. So 1) you have to unbolt at least one end from the vehicle and 2) adjustments can only be in increments of one whole rotation of an end, and not 'micro' adjustable like FM's turnbuckle design. Plus MUCH easier to adjust with wheels on the ground. Wish I'd known this a couple of years ago, and I'll probably retrofit with FM's endlinks because of this.
That's less a stroke of genius on FM's part and more an act of idiocy by the other manufacturer. Using opposing threads is standard in any kind of turnbuckle assembly.
Very helpful! Thank you!
You are welcome and we're glad this was helpful!
I notice my end links all the time being lowered.
A while back, I had bought a BARELY used FM2 suspension kit. It came with 4 oem links. Ionly replaced the front links because I was having trouble getting the oem front lower sway bar and stopped there because my buddy Paul kinda did all of the work as I took photos and videos lol.
But towards the end of 2022 I realized that :😱 I never tightened those links back up on the front as this popping noise would worsen for months. So I bought some adjustable matched their length to the oem and that ghost popping and loose feeling left. I wish I had figured it out sooner
It's a simple thing to overlook. Glad you got it figured out!
This was very helpful. Finally found some Whiteline adjustable end links for my 22' Corolla SE that I installed Eibach front and rear sway bars on. I set the rear to super stiff and the front as soft as it would go. The car handles great now. Still running stock suspension otherwise. The front suspension started making some noise that I believe is the stock ends links being pummeled to death. Lol It makes the most noise when there is a dip in the road which allows the suspension to suddenly extend. Thanks for the good tips on the install once I get the new links. Hopefully that solves my noise problem but at the very least, it will probably help the car handle even better when properly tuned.
Keith said in his video that there is absolutely no difference in swaybar behaviour depending on position. Can you comment on that? According to Keith, adjustable swaylinks are useful for corner balancing only, so we can eliminate a preload.
It's not necessarily "behavior", it's travel. Some cars have very tight tolerances, and to ensure you have full motion of your sway bar, you want to eliminate the "preload" and ensure they start at a good neutral position that gives them full range of motion in both directions.
@@FlyinMiataVideo Thanks for your reply. Well, this sounds just right, even though I've never noticed any issues with arb clearance in lowered miatas. Cheers!
@ In that very same video Keith stated that clearance is rarely an issue and not disturbing corner weights is the real benefit. And for that effect to show your cars has to be set up for 50% crossweight, for a start ...
How to tell end link knock from coilover knock?
That could be pretty hard to tell. I think I'd do the easiest thing and remove one end of the end link and secure it to the bar. If you still have a noise, I'm guessing it's your coilovers. A thorough nut and bolt check on the whole system isn't a bad idea either.
OK, this is kind of odd. I've watched (starting around 6:20) multiple times to make sure and I'm certain you have your left and right hand threads reversed. I'm experiencing no joy in pointing this out.
They only fit together one way. Please don't get hung up on if he accidentally called it wrong in the live video. Trying to put things together on a live broadcast can be nerve wracking! :)
I have an nb2 with your stage 2 suspension kit. I am running stock end links. Do I need adjustable end links? Also, can the sway bar bushings slip out of the brackets?
Adjustable end links are not required unless you are trying to corner weight your Miata. If the sway bar brackets are fully tightened down, the bushings shouldn't be able to slip out of the brackets.
Need a little help guys! Got an ND2 and I'm on coilovers. Lowered about 1 n half inches or so and we got our front adjustable endlinks doing their work for the front.....but the rear is using the oem endlink and it's definitely not right. I've been looking at getting adjustable rear endlinks but after buying a few of them from different brands they are too long even at their shortest travel to make the rsb be at the proper angle. What can I do or what brand endlink are the absolute shortest per say?
Reach out to our customer support team directly via phone or email, they'll be happy to try and help!
Would really love a video of different ways that a person working in a driveway without a lift could safely put the suspension in a neutral position and then show us how the end links should be adjusted. Can we do it one wheel at a time? Two wheels at a time? Jack stands under control arms supporting the weight, is that a safe way to do it? If the car is fully on the ground, on the ND at least, there's no way you could get under the front to adjust those end links.
You have to do two wheels at a time., one will not work because the sway bar will be under load. The easiest method is to use ramps.
The closest I found to a good method was to set the two sides to the same length (which should be approximately right) but leave the locknuts loose, then lower the car on its wheels and reach under and feel if the adjusters have bound up. If they have, adjust them slightly until both are in a loose state (there should be a narrow band of free rotation by fingertip). Then jack the car up _again_, take the wheels off _again_ and tighten quickly before you change something.
It's not a fun process but it does work. I tried jacking under the hub but it was not effective, and most definitely hairy. Unfortunately it was the only way to 'clock' the control arm bushes after fitting coilovers, so I asked the alignment shop to re-do that on the hoist.
Do you know what bolt size is used for the end links?
On the NA end links, you'll re-use the stock nuts and bolts, which are M10x1.25. The other generations have the bolt built into the end link.
nice vid - well described. one point - don't mismatch left/right blade adjustment settings. That directly varies the leverage arm distance left to right. It would have more roll stiffness when turning one way vs the other. not a bad thing to do for a oval speedway racecar setup though!
It will have the same roll stiffness in both directions, as the bar is free to rotate in the bushings and can thus self-adjust for the difference. If the center of the bar were fixed, it would be asymmetrical.
However, it can create a bit of a torque under braking that could lead to a the car wanting to pull. Is this amount high enough to be noticeable instead of just theoretical? We've never tested.
@@FlyinMiataVideo respectfully disagree.
The short ends of the swaybars are the levers that apply twist to the long section.
Like a seesaw, if you push/pull the lever from further away it'll create less twisting deflection on the long section.
Yes, the longer end will have more leverage. That would matter if the center of the bar were fixed and only half of it were twisting. However, a sway bar is free to rotate so it's really one end torquing against the other. The bar will rotate so that the load on each side is equalized. This is similar to what happens when you have a bad alignment and one front wheel has a bad toe angle (or you're on track and you've just slipped an alignment bolt on your Miata, which has the same result). You end up driving down the road with the steering wheel crooked so that the toe - and thus the side forces - is equal on each side.
Somebody's been watching too many of Keith's videos. Practice makes perfect my dude.
Def pickup my set when I get toy stage 2 pick up later this year.
Nothing wrong with taking inspiration from a master