Worn Endlink Question

M

mtnbiker26

Bike Geek
So there's been a clunk/clink when driving over potholes lately. Not bad enough to feel but I can hear it. At first I thought was my breaker bar rolling around in the hatch. When the car is parked I can rock it side to side and get the same noise. I crawled under there today and 3 of the endlinks have play at the swaybar side. The swaybar is tight to the endlink but the ball and socket part has a tiny bit of play. Does the ball and socket normally have any play or should it be solid? Does this sound normal for a P5 with 96k on it? The roads here are terrible. Thanks in advance.
 
Should be solid - no play.

If you have never done struts - maybe do them at the same time.

Lowering springs too? Eh?
 
if the hex bolt that holds the links in place is not overly corroded, takes only 10 min to replace. struts are also pretty easy to do yourself
 
nilsonov said:
if the hex bolt that holds the links in place is not overly corroded, takes only 10 min to replace. struts are also pretty easy to do yourself
Click to expand...

No matter how much rust there is an impact wrench will get those nuts off super easy. I wouldn't even bother trying with a spanner and an allen wrench.
 
CheeseHelmet said:
No matter how much rust there is an impact wrench will get those nuts off super easy. I wouldn't even bother trying with a spanner and an allen wrench.
Click to expand...

+1

Just replaced all four endlinks this past weekend and an impact wrench made it cake.
 
So everything was super corroded. Two days of PB Blast and an impact wrench loosened the nuts but the stud was so corroded that the nuts wouldn't thread off. If I had a die I would have tried chasing the threads but I've yet to invest in a set. I wound up using a cut-off wheel on the studs to get the endlink out of the way and then used a grinder to remove the rest. Good times. Took over an hour per wheel. The noise is gone. Paid $175 for the parts at the dealer and another $12 for new nuts (he he) at the hardware store.
 
mtnbiker26 said:
So everything was super corroded. Two days of PB Blast and an impact wrench loosened the nuts but the stud was so corroded that the nuts wouldn't thread off. If I had a die I would have tried chasing the threads but I've yet to invest in a set. I wound up using a cut-off wheel on the studs to get the endlink out of the way and then used a grinder to remove the rest. Good times. Took over an hour per wheel. The noise is gone. Paid $175 for the parts at the dealer and another $12 for new nuts (he he) at the hardware store.
Click to expand...

Damn, that sucks. The trick in that case is to grab the stud from the other side with a pair of vice grips then hit it with the impact wrench. Yes, this will most likely destroy the dust boot but if the endlink is broken, who cares?

Anyway, glad to hear to you're all good now :)

EDIT: The nuts you bought at the hardware store, were they for the endlinks? If so they better have been locknuts, regular nuts will loosen over time. If that's the case, I hope you used some threadlocker.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, there were just regular nuts on there which I thought was weird. I bought 10.9 grade and used blue threadlock and torqued them to 45 foot pounds.
 
can someone post a pic of the endlink so i know exactly what im looking for please. i know my front struts need replaced so im looking at gettin normal struts since its just a work dd car. dont need anything special.

i cant even find endlink when looking through autozones website.

please help.
 
buzzkill_75 said:
can someone post a pic of the endlink so i know exactly what im looking for please. i know my front struts need replaced so im looking at gettin normal struts since its just a work dd car. dont need anything special.

i cant even find endlink when looking through autozones website.

please help.
Click to expand...

Here's what the front one looks like:

DMjDW.jpg


They're sometimes called stabilizer bar links.
 
I remember Justanothermp5 found some rear endlinks for our cars that were much cheaper and stronger than the stock ones. It was for some Ford SUV...
 
CheeseHelmet said:
I remember Justanothermp5 found some rear endlinks for our cars that were much cheaper and stronger than the stock ones. It was for some Ford SUV...
Click to expand...

Front endlinks from a 2002 Ford Escape will work on the front of a Protege. They are $19 each at autozone (vs ~$30 for the Protege links), much thicker, and have grease fittings. They also don't use an allen key which is nice. I just installed them on my car last week.
 
Dermen said:
Front endlinks from a 2002 Ford Escape will work on the front of a Protege. They are $19 each at autozone (vs ~$30 for the Protege links), much thicker, and have grease fittings. They also don't use an allen key which is nice. I just installed them on my car last week.
Click to expand...

Thanks, my memory sucks ;_;
 
get the 2002 ford escape front endlinks... they will only fit on the front though...i bought them from rock auto and installed them yesterday..everything is good and i like the design of how they didnt use the hex pattern.
 
So they're not part of tie rods then? Is the RV escape the fwd version for end. Links? And I should replace if im doingthe front struts right?
 
buzzkill_75 said:
So they're not part of tie rods then? Is the RV escape the fwd version for end. Links? And I should replace if im doingthe front struts right?
Click to expand...

Nope, tie rods are a completely different thing.

Tie rods = steering
Enlinks = suspension

And yes, you should replace your endlinks if they haven't been changed in a long while. In fact there's a very good chance that you'll damage them while removing them so it's worth having a backup set.
 
Thanks cheese. So I need struts end links and the new mounts correct.

Autozone has free shipping and gift cards for spending over 100 dollars right now too
 
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