Front Shortened Sway Bar links?

[555race]

Anyone toyed with shortened SwayBar links on the front yet?
I buggered my drivers stock lower when reinstalling after lowering coil installation.

I'm somewhere between, ordering a stock replacement and leaving, and doing same but cutting, sleeving, and TIG'ing back up 1-1.25" shorter.

I tried to go down the shortened rear route as well. These as Unbroken had recommended in his build thread, but they were way undersized on the studs so they're on a shelf somewhere unused in my shop.

Rear Heavy Duty Adjustable Sway Bar End Link Kit
ES#: 3188020 Mfg#: TRC1045L



Before I run through the efforts seeing if anyone has chased this dream yet.

 

[UNBROKEN]

Keep them close to stock length or the bar ends will contact the axle at full droop.

 

[BlkGS]

I have endlinks from suspension Maxx on my lowered tbss. I am not a fan of ball joint style end links, and they have a very elegant solution for them that's a lot more robust. I'd give them a call and see if they have something to work for the explorer.

 

[UNBROKEN]

Their stuff uses poly bushings…no way I’d swap from a zero deflection end link to one that’s mushy. And heims just flat out suck….even the best ones are noisy on the street. Factory is a ball joint style…it works just fine.

 

[BlkGS]

Their stuff uses poly bushings…no way I’d swap from a zero deflection end link to one that’s mushy. And heims just flat out suck….even the best ones are noisy on the street. Factory is a ball joint style…it works just fine.

To each their own, they're much more robust and stiffer than the endlinks that came from the factory on my TBSS, which I suspect are similar in design to what the ExST uses.

 

[UNBROKEN]

They may be better than what came on your TBSS…they’re not stiffer than what comes on the ST. Anything with a rubber or urethane bushing will deflect under load. The ST’s ball joint style is a zero deflection style…response is instant.
It’s not “to each their own”…one is measurably better than the other.

 

[BlkGS]

Looked at the ExST endlinks. They're just ball joints made of plastic, they're the same as the tbss endlinks. Deflection vs flex in the plastic, take your pick.

FWIW, the suspension Maxx endlinks pivot on the poly bushings somewhat, similar to a ball joint, but the whole structure is a lot more rigid. My experience was they helped a ton because the ball joints just break instead of deflecting. YMMV.

 

[UNBROKEN]

The ST oem links are aluminum, not plastic. There’s no flex on something that sees it’s load straight up and down except when there’s a rubber or poly bushing in place. The deflection is in the compression of the bushing. Its just how it works.