Miata Sway Bar End Link Question

I suspect that I already know the answer to this, but do solid sway bar end links transmit a lot of chassis noise, even when they are new?

I don't know about chassis noise, but my solid endlinks clank like the ghost of Christmas Past when going over small imperfections in the road.

That may be a good way to describe what I'm hearing.

it's a jingling, clacking sound. not a low "clunk", but the sort of rattle that comes from something that weighs a couple of ounces and has a lot of motion. it happens during high-frequency suspension motion, typically fissures in the road where the pavement is broken/frost heaved/crumbling. not steady-state cornering.

I'll be around next weekend if you want to hear mine.

Do you still have the small little clips and spacers in your brake system? If those are missing, that will make a LOT of racket over even the smallest road imperfections.

A little bit of play in the bearing will make a clink every time one of the wheels changes direction up or down. Jingle jingle jingle. Good bearings should be difficult to move by hand. It's easy to confirm - just disconnect them and see if the noise goes away.

The amount of noise that comes out of missing brake pad hardware is hard to believe.

Brake clips are in place. Sounds like Peter and Keith hit the nail on the head describing the noise. It sounds like a washer rattling on a loose bolt. I pulled over twice on the ride to Lime Rock this weekend and the borrowed tools when I got there to make sure everything was tight.

I'm a little disappointed. I know that they're race car parts and they were kind of expensive. I bought them to minimize preload in the sway bars once I lowered the car. This is my reward for trying to do things properly. I guess I may try swapping back to the stock pieces.

Maybe some very thin plastic or nylon bushings between the link and the place it connects? just enough that you don't get metal-on-metal? I've seen endlinks with rubber dust boots on the joints, don't know of those are any quieter.

The noise is usually in the bearing. The problem is that rod ends that can handle this sort of use are expensive, and there are too many cheap versions out there that look the same. The rubber dust boots are an attempt to keep dirt out of the bearing so it lasts longer.

In our upper shock mounts, a typical spherical bearing will last about a week before it gets hammered into submission and starts to rattle. But if we tighten up the tolerances, the lifespan is - well, I'm not really sure. I think we've had one wear out and we introduced those mounts in 2003 or so.

Start by confirming that's what the noise is by disconnecting them. When you do that, try moving the ball in the race. If there's one that's loose and easy to move, contact the seller and see if they'll warranty it. They should not be noisy out of the box unless they're cheap crap, and even then they should last a few days.

I haven't had a chance to disconnect them yet. They feel tight. I'm pretty sure that I got them from Mazdaspeed and they have less than 500 miles on them, with zero track time.

I have a used Saner swaybar on the front of the S2k, and I made endlinks out of $30 worth of Aurora rod ends. They make little clicky noises over potholes/railroad tracks. I consider this inevitable for non-stock, zero compliance hardware. Maybe some aftermarket company can solve it for $150, but not if I have to pay for it.

Yeah, I guess that's what I'm hearing.

I just removed the rears and replaced them with the stock pieces.

When I had originally installed the adjustables, I didn't pay much attention to their length, I just adjusted them to the point where there was absolutely zero preload at ride height. When I swapped them this time, I compared them to the stock pieces and I was surprised that the length was nearly identical. Other than a more solid connection, the fancy ones only eliminated a small amount of torsional preload. Not a huge difference.

Did the noise go away?

I don't think the noise is inherent to rod ends. It's inherent to poorly specified or worn rod ends. The fact that those Mazdaspeed units pictured appear to be using SAE bolts in metric holes may be a contributing factor as well.

It's been pouring here, so I haven't taken the car out yet. I'll check the Mazdaspeed parts with a micrometer. I hadn't thought of that.

I was referring to the holes in the car and the bar. It's very likely the Mazdaspeed end links (which will have been made by a third party such as AWR, and repackaged by Mazdaspeed) use SAE bearings because it's a lot easier than sourcing metric ones in the US.

Keith wrote: I was referring to the holes in the car and the bar.

I hadn't thought of that, either.

Maybe I need to put my thinking tuque on...