is this dangerous?

[boourns]

hi, i was driving around last nite and i noticed every time i turned left down a street my car (vp) at the front left would make a crunching noise, then on the way home a went through a roudabout and did a sharp right then left turn and when i came out of it something by the sounds of nuts n bolts fell off the car. i stopped and checked underneath both left and right front wheels and saw this (reffer to attachments), that loose arm had bolts on it it like the front right wheel and was connected earlier that nite but now it doesnt/isnt. can somone tell me what that arm does and if it is dangerous to drive with it like that?

[hakhawk]

that there is the sway bar link, it keeps the sway bar attatched and functioning to the struts. i think you can get away with careful slow driving, but id suggest fixing it asap.

you can buy a heavy duty z style kit for around $40 from several different places, or what id recommend is the nolathane vl style kit, it uses earlier vl links, that bolt to the lower control arm instead of the strut. less stress on the strut and bushes, and works a treat. price from memory is $30-40.

[Matt_vp]

no really dangerous but i would get it fixed asap, i drove mine around for about a month without one of the bushes, making that lovly clunking noise, but it isn't very good on the steering, i would be driving like a grandma till u get it fixed.
Matt

[pandaman]

Like the others have said, not particularly dangerous, it'll just have bodyroll like a boat. When I testdrove and bought my VN it had one link removed, didn't seem to be a massive problem. Just felt really soft in the front end. Needless to say it was muchly improved when I put in a new pair the next day, but it handled perfectly predictably without it.

[r_i_d_a_h]

thats the same prob with me...i just installed new z-link bars and i think i might have over tightened the bottom bolt?? and the 2nd bush from the bottom probably had extreme pressure on it and dissapeared when i checked it last night

[pandaman]

thats the same prob with me...i just installed new z-link bars and i think i might have over tightened the bottom bolt?? and the 2nd bush from the bottom probably had extreme pressure on it and dissapeared when i checked it last night

The bottom bush dissapeared!???!? On a brand new set of heavy duty links, that aint good, you must've overtightened it to the absolute ****house. The nolathane kits use those bloody self locking nuts with the nylon ring in them, they don't need to be tight, just firm.

[Morton]

Hah, I did the same thing to my standard link-pins on Friday night, ridah. Totally shagged two of the link-pin bushes right out of their seats. Ruptured the bushes beyond all buggery.

Picked up the z-bar nolathane link-pin upgrade today, looking forward to installing it.

If I may hijack this thread for a tick, is there any difference in the direction your front swaybar bushes face? I know the gregory's suggests the crack in the bush should face forwards, and I've noticed mine face backward. Is it worth me removing the swaybar and reversing the bushes, or would that just be more effort for no result?

[greenfoam]

Danger danger that's a 4 dollar part and you can easily kill yourself going around a corner fast without that tight. I'm very lucky to be here myself after the nut on my sway bar came loose a couple of months ago resulting in me swaping lanes about 4 times in 3 seconds fully out of control, ok I'll admit my wheel alignment had too much toe in too which made it much more nervious than it shoudl have been but the sway bar was a fair chunk of the problem

[pandaman]

Danger danger that's a 4 dollar part and you can easily kill yourself going around a corner fast without that tight. I'm very lucky to be here myself after the nut on my sway bar came loose a couple of months ago resulting in me swaping lanes about 4 times in 3 seconds fully out of control, ok I'll admit my wheel alignment had too much toe in too which made it much more nervious than it shoudl have been but the sway bar was a fair chunk of the problem

Solution: Don't go fast until it's fixed.

[greenfoam]

I didn't know the nut was undone untill I was flying across someones driveway with the inside front wheel in the air :P I stoped to see what was going on and seen the nut almost fallen off :!

[r_i_d_a_h]

i rember in a another thread that with the z-link bars the bottom bend faces the rear and the top bend faces the front?..and so i did that when i stalled mine..

does it even really matter which way theu face, because after a alot of left and right turns i cheked the bars and the are in like opposite positions or not even parallel to the wheel.

[r_i_d_a_h]

The bottom bush dissapeared!???!? On a brand new set of heavy duty links, that aint good, you must've overtightened it to the absolute ****house. The nolathane kits use those bloody self locking nuts with the nylon ring in them, they don't need to be tight, just firm.

oh man LOL, yea i remember i tightened the bottom bolt tight to **** house thinking that it will be all smooth sailing after that, but after a few tight corners here and there around the block to test out the new front end suspension something felt wrong. then BAM one bush was gooooooooooone.

[pandaman]

I didn't know the nut was undone untill I was flying across someones driveway with the inside front wheel in the air :P I stoped to see what was going on and seen the nut almost fallen off :!

Ahh well, you almost died, but at least you did it in style.

[savage1987]

If I convert to the VL style kit mentioned earlier, will it work ok even when i lower the car or will i need adjustable parts instead?