Looking for advice on front & rear sway bar end-links.

Back in 2013, when there was only 12k on my car, I upgraded to a set of Eibach Sway Bars. Since then, I've been extremely content with these sways. Had the shop do the install, and since the car was basically brand new, I continued to use the OEM end-links. I mean, they only had 12k on them.

Now it's 2024, and there are 54k miles on the car. Also, the car has been lowered for the last 10 years. So today I'm consideration end-links again, and wondering if it's something worth pursuing. My thinking is that if there's any fitment degradation in the end-links because of the aftermarket sways and/or being lowered, that's a gradual thing until they fail... right? Basically, is it reasonable to question whether I would benefit from upgrading the end-links?

If the answer is yes, then what are the options? I seem to remember SPL and Whiteline made end-links for this car, and that SPL products are really pricey, although maybe they jump the shark for a DD. There's also OEM for OEM replacement, and there's Z1 Motorsports' inhouse hardware.

And it seems that Z1 sells all three aftermarket... here's links to the fronts:

$126 - Z1 branded - https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pro...s-p-27196.html
$166 - Whiteline - https://www.z1motorsports.com/sway-b...y-p-15337.html
$269 - SPL - https://www.z1motorsports.com/suspen...37-p-6598.html


Apparently I did this before, LOL. Eight years ago, in fact. Well, that's funny. But let's start over anyway. Prices have sure gone up.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/brakes-...-opinions.html

 

How would one know if the end links are worn? Any known symptoms? Has anyone trashed their own end links by lowering the car? I recall people proactively replacing when lowering, but am not sure of the benefits. OEM end links are actually pretty solid.

 

All good questions. Maybe my OEM end-links are fine after all these years, but IDK.

 

You get a 'clunk' when going over uneven ground (such that one side of the sway is moving but the other isn't).

On the (nonmoving) car, if you can wiggle them around a lot, the heim joints are probably worn and sloppy, which leads to variable weight transfer on the bar.

Higher performance (maybe) are an up-repair on a street car. IE, don't replace unless they're bad.

 

Cheers guys, @Rochester I'm a bit late to reply on this, but I saw this thread and had to chime in after my experience with Hotchkis sways and front SPL endlinks on my Q50. The rears are fine, but you absolutely do not want front SPL endlinks on the front. The teflon lining in the heim joint wears, and they get very loose and will clunk over even the slightest undulations in the road. I finally pulled the front endlinks off and went back to my stock endlinks, and voila, sanity has returned to driving.

From here on out, if when and if my stock endlinks go, I'll replace them with stock.

Figured I would check things out over here because it's the longest forum I've been a member of.

 

Z1 carries the OEM endlinks at a reasonable price:
-Roughly $20 each for the rear: https://www.z1motorsports.com/rear-s...k-p-27166.html
-$62 each for the front: https://www.z1motorsports.com/front-...k-p-10252.html

I'm at 75K miles, lowered, but still not sure if they are worn. I always ask the shop to check them out when other work is being done and they give me a thumbs up afterwards. No clunking.

I feel the same about the stock dampers. No leaks and still feels close to how it rode when new. I still may replace at 80K as a proactive measure since I did this on my 2004.5 G35 Sport and recall it making a noticeable difference.

Outside of the liquid filled rear diff bushing, I feel like this platform is vastly under-rated when it comes to the long term integrity of the suspension.

 

Nice! If you don't have clunking, they're probably not worn out. I replaced my stock struts / shocks on my G37 at around 75-80k miles. I went with Koni Yellows and kept my stock springs on them and retained stock ride height. The improvement in handling was quite dramatic and they made the G feel like it should have come from the factory that way.

 

@twin_snails Regarding the Koni Yellows, did you purchase/install the adjustable sport set?
https://www.z1motorsports.com/shock-...37-p-9606.html

If yes, did you test the various modes/adjustments? I was interested in this set as well, but the guy at Z1 tried to sell me coilovers instead because the price is roughly the same. As such, I fell back into the KYB Excel-G camp as I can get a complete set of these dampers for sub $300. The issue with KYB is that there isn’t a separate SKU for the Sport model sedan.

Ive considered buying a new set of OEM Shocks/Struts, but those push me back to the cost of the adjustable Koni Yellows.

 

Looks like prices have went back down!

 

Yes sir, that's the set I purchased. The adjustable sport shocks. I felt that the handling upgrade alone was worth the cost. Back when I got them, which was a long time ago, they were around $700 for the set from what I remember...but inflation has been a b*tch since then.

If I had to do it all over again, I would 100% go the Koni Yellow adjustable shocks. Even with the stock springs, the handling was dramatically improved.

 

To add some more detail and color, I think I had initially set the rears on setting 2 out of 5. I ended up setting them firmer at 3 or 4. It's important to do this while the rear shocks are off the car. I had to go back to my installer and have them pull the rears off to set to the stiffer 3 or 4 setting. Can't remember which one I settled on as it's been many years. I ended up setting the fronts a little stiffer...probably 4 or 5 out of 5 and I was very happy with the results.

 

IIRC even though there's not a 'sport' specific model of the koni yellows, they're designed for the 370z so they're between the Infiniti Sport and the Z in stiffness. I've got mine set on the lowest settings out of the box and IMHO it is comparable to the OEM tokikos.

RIP Tokiko, by the way. I'm not sure what Nissan will sell you as an 'oem' replacement now.

 

Nissan Value Advantage I'm sure. Generic one size fits all dampers, similar to the path that KYB appears to be taking. Most people wouldn't know the difference. Thanks for the insight on the Koni Yellows.

Tein also makes a set for our cars: https://www.z1motorsports.com/shock-...t-p-20760.html

I believe they are HQ'd in LA and build in Japan, so assuming decent quality?

For now I will cherish my Tokico Classics :-)