teejnut

iTrader: (6)

Hi Everyone,

I was helping a friend install Eibach springs in his 93 SC300. The front wasn't so bad but the back was a pain in the butt! I tried to hammer out the rear sway bar endlink and i screwed it up and the bolt won't go on there anymore. The threads on the tip are smushed together on one of the bolts on one of the endlinks.

So two questions:

1. Should I disconnect both sides? Or just leave the one bolt on one of the endlinks off? Talked to Glendale Lexus to search in the area and no one has it in stock other then Santa Monica and they are closed on Sundays. So will need to drive it for a few days.
2. Where's the cheapest place to get the endlink?

Thanks for the help!
TJ

Project300

All is not lost.

You will need to get new endlinks and/or hardware from the dealer for the side that you hammered tho. I recommend new links and hardware on both sides. Just be sure to use an allen wrench and a box end wrench for the other side when removing and installing the endlinks. Hammers are not recommended, but a cutting wheel or grinder might be necessary.

You can temporarily drive without the rear endlinks attached, but don't take any turns quickly or the back end will lean and scream. You'll be fine in the mean time .

teejnut

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the tip. If I disconnect both endlinks will the sway bar stay in place or will it move around?

SCoupe

This is probably of little value at this point, but I changed springs and struts about ten days ago, the first side took 2 hours, the second 15 minutes. There is no need to pull end links to do this. I'm sure you ran into the same nightmare I did, just to much pressure to clear the assembly out of there. I definitely wanted to hit something hard with a hammer, but restrained myself, lol.

Out of desperation and a testament to the clutter in my garage actually being useful at times, I used a small "bottle type jack" and a 12" chunk of 4x4 to apply downward pressure on the axel hub, well, on the rotor to be specific. Bingo, out of there in minutes, re-installed to.

Project300

Thats a good point. If you intend to drive it after you disconnect both ends then you should take out the whole sway bar too. You might be able to use something to just hang the end of the bar up and out of the way too. Just go really easy thru the turns and be super careful if the road is wet.