Ok, I was dumb and I ordered my sway bar links from rockauto.com without checking if they are exactly the same as the one currently on the car...

The one I received are these:




which look way shorter than the ones that are on the car, which look like this:


At first I thought that I should not even think about this. But then again, if changing both sides, maybe the sway bar will be just a bit lower but still would work...

Any ideas? And if these are not stabilizer bar links for 4th gen maxima, what are they??? I think I also notices one of these on ebay selling as 4th gen sway bar links. Rock auto actually sells both kinds and call the first ones sway bar links and the second ones stabilizer bar links. Aren't these one and the same thing?

 

Thanks Zack. Those sway bar bushing nuts are in maaad tight. Apparently its not necessary to loosen according to Cardana.

I hope this is a way around those sway bar bushing nuts. Let me know if it wonr work but Im gonna go cheeck it out.

 

Got it all changed out to MOOG without having to loosen the buching nuts. I just pulled the sway bar up a bit and had more than enuff leverage to get it out. BTW MOOG ships their links with 15mm nuts rather than 14mm.









old parts

 

I posted picks of the MOOG Links. I left the L shaped valve on it, for adding grease later on down the line.

 

Well I just got done installing my Moog endlinks with ES bushings. I also installed the ES 20MM front sway bar bushings. It's a night and day difference. I really can't feel too much of a difference in the steering, but the whole front end feels a lot more solid. When I hit bumps its a stiff (not jarring) feeling, doesn't feel like it's rattling or loose anymore very tight feeling.

Tomorrow I possibly will put my subframe bushings in.

 

I'm having trouble removing the Nut on the outside on the lower control arm. It seems the inside stationary nut that you grab with a wrench has broke loose, so the whole thing spins, and I have nothing to grab onto to stop it from spinning when I turn the outside nut. I tried to squeeze it with a wrench, but of course Its not enough, I'm thinking hack saw right about now, only problem is i can barely fit my hack saw in there. Sawzaw? Please help any ideas?

 

DUDE Thanks, so much I've been trying to figure out what was making that stupid clunking noise, when I would go over bumps, and my max has about 127k on it, now I know

Thanks bud I will replace these ASAP

 

ended up replacing the end links (as well as the suspension) on mine recently, same clunking sound that some of you guys mentioned is now gone

Alex that was what I ordered from rockauto.com and had installed on my Max, so far no problems w/ it

 

I ordered mine from advanced auto parts, $19.99 per side. My old nuts stripped out completely, I had to take a sawzall and do work. But it was worth it, no more clunk, and car is tighter and quieter.

 

will the endlink replacement and new bushings get rid of my wheel hop?

 

Im wondering the same thing...I need to replace my endlinks, as well as the bushings in my LCA's...Ill probably just get new OEM LCA's and replace the endlinks with MOOG's this spring

 

I just changed my sway bar end links because my Maxima developed an annoying squeaking sound when I turned right or went over a bump. It was especially noticable at low speeds like when driving through a parking lot.

Some observations. If you have a squeaking noise and you suspect it may be something like a ball joint, control arm or other suspension component but cannot pin it down closely inspect and consider changing the sway bar end links. This is especially true if the end links are old. It is much less expensive and time consuming to change the end links then most of those other suspension parts and there is a good chance you will fix your problem. I was able to feel a vibration in the sway bar and the end links when someone pushed down on the car causing the squeaking noise. Otherwise I could not see any problems with the links. Only the link on the drivers side made noise.

There is a good chance you will not be able to remove the nut located at the bottom of the end link due to rust. The way to go is to get a Dremel tool and cut the nut off. It can be difficult to get at the nut with the Dremel but with some patience it can be done. Hope this info may be helpful to someone.

 

hitek22, do you have a loud horrible harsh banging on the bottom of your car like someone is hitting it with a sledge hammer, I do when I shift really hard or pop the clutch? just wondering.

 

Of course I found this post after making my own article: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Sway-Bar-Link

 

What does a traction bar do in our maxies? IS that mod worth it?

 

I'm going to do this on my wifey's 140K SE. I looked at those things yesterday and they are definitely old and funky. What about replacing the sway bar bushings as well or the mounts themselves? Think it's necessary while you're in there? The sway itself had some rusting and flaking near these bushings on my car.

 

And another question, is it ok to have the wheels in the air when you do this? On my Suby, I had to use ramps to keep the suspension compressed. But I also didn't need to remove the wheel to get to the links...

 

Yes...that's how you have to do it. Did you not read the writeup on the first page?

It's hardly necessary unless they're torn up. And what do you mean the mounts themselves? You mean the metal brackets?

 

I sure did read the write up on the first page. I also read this write up:

http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Sway-Bar-Link

where it says the suspension needs to stay compressed and I wasn't 100% sure where the jackstands were placed in the first write up...so I just wanted to clear up whether I need to worry about keeping the suspension compressed or if it's it ok to put the jackstand in the normal place behind the wheels?


Yeah I was talking about the metal brackets/rubber grommets that the bar actually swivels in. I would think it's a good idea to at least re-grease these while I'm in there.

 

It appears that the article is only having you jack up one side at a time, so compressing the suspension would likely just make it less of a PITA. With the whole front end up, nothing to worry about.

Well you could replace the bushings, but I don't see what you'd gain by replacing the bushing brackets.

 

^^Thanks, I ordered the parts, I'll do cartwheels if this gets rid of the clunking!!!

 

I changed them out tonight. Had to cut off both lower bolts. I replaced with all OEM parts, greased the sway bar bushings and all is well. Not a single rattle or clunk on the test drive.

This is the miracle cure!

 

Followed the directions in post and changed sway bar end links. Easy job until I noticed trans fluid leaking from seal around drivers side trans axle. Any ideas why this happened? Or did the seal become dislodged? Thanks for any help.

Noodles

 

Seals sometimes fail. More likely, it was damaged when the axle was installed, or swinging tools around in the area.

 

Where did you guys get your ES bushings?

 

I just finished the right side, what a PITA. No air tools needed, but a dremel or sawsall is.

 

Same thing with mine, the joys of living in New England . But it was well worth it full ES swaybar bushings on mine now

 

^^Me too, and the car was from MA. What the hell do you use on the roads up there? Repairs aren't fun until the sparks start flying!

 

just changed my lower control arm,sway bar bushings, link bushings now i got a tighter suspension,,....

 

I've had that annoying noise for about 2 years. I actually looked forward to winter so I wouldn't be able to hear the noise . I changed the strut/spring assembly last year with no luck but thanx to everyone who posted.........I changed the link, went with MOOG parts and the annoying noise is finally gone!!!! Thanks again!!

 

Just an update on the endlink replacement for those who still need to do this...


I ordered a pair just now from our good old friend Dave Burnette at Southpoint Nissan...came out to about $73 and change for the endlinks, bushings and hardware....apparently Nissan came out with new bushings that are MUCH stiffer than before (according to Dave B)...


Will try to get these on this weekend (as well as new axles from Raxles) and will keep people updated on how they feel...

 

I paid around $15 per link (2).
carpartswholesale.com

Actually I recently bought two control arms that included links and inner/outer tie rod ends, all brand new for less than $150.

Those bolts for the control arm were sure hard to get out though!

Oh, and for the links I had to use a sawzall.
In fact I had to cut out the ball joint nut, damn rust.

 

Another great tool to remove the old LCA links is a dremel with a reinforced cutoff wheel.

 

what does the clunk sound like? does it happen when u turn the wheel or could u hear the clunk when parking?

 

I put in Moog end links in my Max, definetely much beefier than the stock units.
With those endlinks, poly swaybar bushins and poly CA bushings, the steering feel is a LOT tighter.

 

The sound is either a clunk or squeak (my experience) when you are turning slowly and hitting some bumps.....VERY annoying. The sounds come from either side, and will not have a definative pattern... sometimes clunks other times squeaks.

These links are not hard to change...just get both tires off the ground by using jack stands and pull the tires off. Personally, I wouldn't mess with trying to remove the old ones with tools....CUT them off, like I said eariler DREMAL TOOL is my best friend.....I tried tools and it can be a PITA if you have a broken link. About a 2 hour fix (if you have problems pulling them off)and about $30 - $50 later your car will feel much better in the corners.

 

Just replaced mine yesterday. While I was there I also replaced the swaybar bushings. As it turned out, the swaybar bushings have really worn-out, resulted some clunking noises... Extra two bolts and $8 parts, definitely worth for the effort.

Here is the picture of new and old bushings.

 

Original thread didn't mention to compress the suspension, but the respond to this question and the wiki how to showed that the suspension need to be compresses. Does it matter?, what happen If you do it with wheels of the ground and suspension uncompressed?

 

That looks awesome man.

 

Nice write-up, hey.

One word on some of the non-oem links out there. Some of the aftermarket links have an internal hex on the end of the link stud for holding the stud static as you tighten the locknut. These links do not have the hex or flat that ends up on the opposite side of the arm flange from the nut. With this internal hex, you can't use a socket to tighten the nut - you gotta use an open end wrench.
This isn't a problem if you install the link with the control arm off the car. However, I found it impossible (practically )to tighten the nut on the car with an open end. I had to remove the LCA to install the link.
These were Deeza links from Rockauto - they seem to be decent quality. I noticed that some other OEM links are also internal hex.

And yes, the vast majority of my suspension rattle came from the sway bar links. The link ***** were very loose as it turns out after 155k in the '99 I30.
I also replaced ball joints, LCA bushings to ES bushings, innter and outer tie rods, new bellows and sway bar bushings (ES). The other lesson learned was get a proper inner tie rod tool and the right size crows foot. The Harbor freight tool worked great for me. The local loaner tools from OReilly and AZ were crap.

And maxima.org is a great resource for my 2 '99 I30s!