So for better or worse, I own a 4th gen Prelude and no one makes aftermarket adjustable endlinks for us. Progress makes some for the 5th gen but they are horrible and clunk after a month anyway. I'm not much of a hardware guy and this stuff is fairly new to me so bear with me.

So, I started looking into how to make my endlinks but have run into a fairly significant problem. Unlike the 5th gen, the 4th gen endlinks have a ball joint at the bottow (into the sway bar) and a bolt/rubber bushing at the top, which bolts directly into the knuckle upright without a nut (see picture at end).

Now the problem is that the lower stud is 12mm and for some crazy reason, the top bolt is 10mm. After doing some research into rod ends, I'm realizing that the bore through the bearing is always (maybe???) the same size as the thread size of the female rod end. Which brings me to the problem - how the heck do I put two different sized rod ends on one threaded rod!!

Now a couple 4th gen guys have done this and their solution has been to go with 7/16s hardware, except for the top 10mm bolt. They then put some wrapping or a sleeve around the 10mm bolt to get rid of the play between the 7/16 bearing and the 10mm bolt. That doesn't sound like a great solution to me. However, one guy said he found some copper sleeves that did the trick but I have no idea where to find something like that.

Any thoughts, advice? Thanks!

 

Copper sleeves as in copper piping for plumbing? Is that what he meant? If it is, I would imagine copper in general is pretty soft and probably not a viable long term solution.

 

Not sure what he meant exactly. I think he was just trying to describe the part or function, as in it was a sleeve over the bolt to reduce the play. I'd prefer something better as well but don't know what. Another guy just wrapped the bolt with tape!

 

http://www.pegasusautoracing.c...=3079

Maybe then you can dril it to the correct size?

Edo

 

I will talk with Function7 to see what they can come up with.

 

Here is another place you can get any size you want.

http://www.daltonbearing.com/B...s.asp

Edo

 

Drill and tap the upper mount for a 12 mm bolt.

 

Hmm, interesting ideas. Thanks a lot guys. I'll look into those sites.

 

http://www.marcuccimotorsports.com/
thats the prelude man right there!!!

 

Think the 7/16s route is the only real option here. I guess I could try to tap it but a) I'd be really worried about screwing it up and b) I'd have to take the knuckle off to get to it.

So I'm probably going to go with 7/16 female threaded teflon lined aurora rod ends, hopefully some bushings to get rid of the slop on the 10mm bolt, spacers (trying to find conical spacers -anyone know where to grab those?), retaining washers, some jam nuts and lock nuts, and the threaded rod. Hopefully that's it.

I wish all this stuff was in one place. Every shop sells one or two of those things but not all of them!

 

ive seen that setup numerous times...
and i think it has a binding problem
with those big washers next to the ball...the joint doesnt have much movement

also....when you have load on the suspension....the knuckle goes inward making the top of the endlink go inward

with mine...i made it so that when the suspension is drooping...(no load)....the endlink angles more to where the upper end is facing more out

im the one who shoved a peice of copper sleeve to get rid of the slack...seems to be working
i had to cut the sleeve some to fit
im still looking for something that fits perfect tho..

 

Yeah I IMed you about that sleeve. That's what I want to grab but I can't find anyone who makes a bushing that thin! I still have to call the above company though. Also, you're right about the washers and I don't plan to use them in that way. I'm going to get some small spacers, ideally conical in shape if I can find them, so that the ball can move freely throughout the full range of movement. I actually found a company that uses "ball joint" adjustable rod ends, like oem, that have double the articulation but I can't use them because of the 10mm/12mm problem. I guess I could also get some rod and try cutting my own threads... hmmmmm

 

anyone with a lathe could make those bushings very easy and very cheap.

 

btw...im still on the progress endlinks...they suck donkey *****
its hard to see in the pic...but right after the sleeve on the knuckle....theres a little sleeve type thing that came with the progress endlink kit
it works really well to give maximun movement