monroepaul

Recently I posted on here about making my C5 Z06 a little stiffer for HPDE events. The general consensus was T1 sway bars and poly bushings. My question is when I went to order the T1 sway bars I can also purchase T1 end links with them and I wasn't sure if I should use those or stick with the stock ones with the new bars. Also where is the best place to get the poly bushing because I haven't found too many places that carry them. Thanks in advance

rudyarias

Poly bushings are not a good idea iof you plan on using it as a daily driver. The OEM metal end links will work with the T1 bars if you're looking for a "quiet" ride.

NASAblue

If your planning on lowering or have lowered your car get the adjustable endlinks. W/O them the sway bars will experience pre load and make the car too tight and twitchy.

Ask me how I know....

I wouldn't worry about the poly on the sway bar mounts, oem isn't going to deflect that much. If there's a problem they are easy to access & change.

rudyarias

Twitchy in what sense?

NASAblue

since the sways are preloaded there it allows less variation beteen the right and left side when you making a turn, causing a tight condition.

It was most noticable for me in the rain the rear kept sliding around.

If it helps to explain, the car was totally unforgiving and took a lot of throttle "coaxing" to get through turns at speed and on line.

rudyarias

I've never had that problem in the dry or rain on the track with the OEM end links/T1 sway bars.

NASAblue

did you lower your car?

How far?

I lowered mine a finger and a half b/c it looked jacked up (1/2" to 3/4"). Had to crank a little height back into the front and it helped the condition out considerably, the adjustable end links took care of the rest of the problem. Handles great, as the car turns it gets progressively tighter w/ steering input, not just super tight or twitchy right away.

Had the same problem on my jeep after the suspension lift. Fixed that too, needed longer links, it was incredibly loose.

rudyarias

Yes, both of them to the last two threads of the OEM bolts. The T1 end links gave the car a loose feel when driven on the street.

NASAblue

If the T1 links are adjustable and it felt a little loose, I would have diled those up a touch. However, since this is just u and me continuing this conversation, we could probably call it driver preference....

Just a consideration from experience.

rudyarias

The problem is that both cars are not dedicated for the track. If it were a dedicated track car the end links would not be an issue. The "loose" is a result of the end links getting wet on top of the miles I rack up each year. I literately had the pivot ball end of one of the T1 end links come off from wear at 30k of use before switching back to the OEM end links. If I wanted a car to constantly maintain for street/track use. I would have gone out and bought a Noble M400. My Z16 at 48k is lower than my other Z06 "Lap Dog" and has not had any issues on the track with the OEM end links on the T1 sway bars. I prefer the OEM links overall for street/track use with T1 sway bars.

thetaxman

You can only preload the bar if the links are unequal lengths
Stock links work fine, I have them.

I've used Poly bushings for years. No squeaks if the bar isn't bent.

My car has a frame height of 3 & 7/8ths" all the way around

PA Z06

Great info guys, thanks

wtknght1

Not true. The purpose of the adjustable end links is so you can cornerweight your car properly and then zero (no pre load) the sway bars.

When you cornerweight a car, you raise and/or lower the spring bolt ride height adjuster. If you use stock (not adjustable) end links, you have no way to zero the bars. To get the best out of your car, you need to do this.

And I've said this a million times on this forums, but if you've lowered your car, you have most likely really screwed it up...bottoming out shocks...changed the suspension geometry...screwed up the cornerweights...rake...etc, etc, etc.

The bottom line on this is don't start screwing around with your suspension unless you have a good set of scales and a professional who knows what they are doing. ...otherwise you're just throwing money at it and wasting your time!

TommyBoy72

I really wish this statement was true but it is not, at least not by itself.

After my experience with the T1 bars with the GM endlinks on a daily driver, I would seriously give Pfadt a call about their endlinks. Adjustable and quieter. The endlinks that came with my Addco were quiet as well. As I mentioned before, you can use a stock endlink on one end of each bar and an adjustable on the other. This reduces half the potential for clunking sounds. Graphite lubricant maintenance on the links themselves goes a long way too.

wtknght1

And OBTW, if you check your end links while you're under the car and they seem unloaded...they won't be when you get into the driver's seat!

thetaxman

I scale cars every week.
if you need to preload the bars on a road car, something is messed up

fatbillybob

I ran my Z stock with T1 bars and T1 endlinks on the street for a few hundred miles. You do notice more noise at first but the handling is so much better. After a weekend you don't even notice the noise anymore. T1bars with T1links are part of a set. For max performance you got to use them as designed. If you run with a stereo on you can't hear them at all.