Broken Swaybar Endlink (from Mopar Lift), no dealers "can" replace

[Hootbro]

I ordered these exact same end links last year through Quadratec. They took awhile (about 2 months) with them also and did not get in any faster than had I ordered through a dealership.

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[npgeorgeuw]

we still haven't seen pics of the broken part

Here's the pic. When I went to pick up the replacement end-link at $39ish post-tax from the dealership, I stopped by and spoke with the service manage. When he saw it he put it on a lift and had it fixed on the spot.

Clearly it wasn't a mechanical failure aside from the bolt somehow being missing and the post spending a few hundred miles rolling around the end of the sway bar until it finally fell out.

 

[npgeorgeuw]

I ordered these exact same end links last year through Quadratec. They took awhile (about 2 months) with them also and did not get in any faster than had I ordered through a dealership.

Yeah, Quadratec didn't pick up the phone and their ordering system has been terrible with backorders and not saying things are backordered when you actually order them. The part itself was not available with a current indefinite backorder from MOPAR but the dealership found one sitting on a shelf somewhere once I personally supplied them with the part number from here. It saved me a two-hour round-trip to go back to my cabin and get my original rears end links as a temporary fix. I'm astonished (and I get it that it's a cheapish part) that it would be so okay for so many people here to have to wait weeks for a part and pay for a part myself to have to install it myself (keep in mind I don't have a garage here and it's currently the rainy season in Seattle) or drive two hours to have to go and get a part from my original suspension) rather than have the dealership do their job and ask that people be or try to be competent in what they do. In this case, I provided the parts guy with the part number to find and the service manager seemed to be alarmed by the missing bolt (they themselves re-torqued it maybe 2000ish miles ago) and the fact I was told they couldn't fix it until Oct. 30th.

 

[dfwxjer]

Here's the pic. When I went to pick up the replacement end-link at $39ish post-tax from the dealership, I stopped by and spoke with the service manage. When he saw it he put it on a lift and had it fixed on the spot.

Clearly it wasn't a mechanical failure aside from the bolt somehow being missing and the post spending a few hundred miles rolling around the end of the sway bar until it finally fell out.

Thanks for the pic. Looks like they forgot to torque down the nut and it vibrated loose. Not good service on the dealership’s part, but a bit different than the sway bar link shearing off. That had me perplexed

 

[npgeorgeuw]

What a dumb thing to say.

Why is that a dumb thing to say? It's called customer servi

Thanks for the pic. Looks like they forgot to torque down the nut and it vibrated loose. Not good service on the dealership’s part, but a bit different than the sway bar link shearing off. That had me perplexed

Yeah, originally I thought it might have sheared off but after snapping a pic when it was actually daytime it's clear that the nut just decided to part ways for reasons "unknown". I will say this about that dealership, they suck at everything the first time but always seem to make it right. It's kinda been their M.O. from refunds I was due, to service done, you name it. The ironic thing was that I have checked all of the nuts and torques on the passenger side since I installed the falcon adjustable steering stabilizer. I was over there anyways
and had to loosen that side of the track bar to swing it up and get access to the stabilizer bolts, but for reasons I can't remember, I didn't check the driver's side suspension nuts/torques.

 

[Gren71]

Man…i need a detox after all the salty bickering in this thread

op

if the front links your after are stock length I have 6 or so in my garage. Ill send you one for the cost of shipping only

 

[Blade1668]

Well this has a final ok ending. Now what have we learned here??
1. Parts system is broken and /or slowed down to a crawl.
2. Sugar gets better results than salt.
3. Many dealerships suck.
4. Sometimes it's better to step back and breathe. Cool off before blowing up on them.
5. Keep on good side of service manager.
6. Some vent online (here) to relieve #4
7. Some members here don't know much about Jeeps or have preconceived opinions on Jeeps.

FYI: to O.P I'm not trying to be a ass to you or anyone. Just throwing this out.

Life is short. My old saying from when I was a young and a real A$$ H### of a person. I used that to get people attention that it's about to be a bad day for them. Now it's a fact of life for many of us.

 

[Uparms]

They are garbage and a mediocre design anyway. The heck with principles, upgrade and get another product. Too many other choices in better design available. Spend your time and your cash wisely. JMO.

 

[XJhawk]

They are garbage and a mediocre design anyway. The heck with principles, upgrade and get another product. Too many other choices in better design available. Spend your time and your cash wisely. JMO.

Yeah, my rule of thumb is, if I have an OEM part in my hand, it gets replaced with a better aftermarket part.

 

[XJhawk]

Here's the pic. When I went to pick up the replacement end-link at $39ish post-tax from the dealership, I stopped by and spoke with the service manage. When he saw it he put it on a lift and had it fixed on the spot.

Clearly it wasn't a mechanical failure aside from the bolt somehow being missing and the post spending a few hundred miles rolling around the end of the sway bar until it finally fell out.

There is no way that there wasn't a seriously audible clatter from that.

 

[dfwxjer]

They are garbage and a mediocre design anyway. The heck with principles, upgrade and get another product. Too many other choices in better design available. Spend your time and your cash wisely. JMO.

The stock sway bar end links? I've never had an issue with them.

When I go wheeling I unbolt the passenger side link from the axle since there's a captive nut holding it down, and zip tie the link to the swaybar. Takes less than a minute with my Milwaukee M12 ratchet.

In 8+ Jeeps I've never had a problem with stock sway bar end links. What is garbage or mediocre about the MOPAR factory sway bar end links? How do aftermarket disconnects work better?

 

[npgeorgeuw]

There is no way that there wasn't a seriously audible clatter from that.

Well, considering it was summer when this happened and I had the top off and windows down for almost two months straight, I can say that under normal driving conditions it was not painfully obvious. So, yes, it was not obvious. Handling wise, yes, kinda obvious, but only under very specific conditions. I'm frankly amazed at just how not obvious it really was.

 

[TexasTJ]

I had the same thing happen when I was in Moab. I was on Poison Spyder and I started hearing a clunking sound, got out to check and found it like the OP's. I had ~18k miles on the lift by this point. Drove it home ~1200 miles with the swaybar disconnected and it is very noticeable. I don't really want to replace it with the same part, so I'm on the lookout for hopefully an aftermarket upgrade. I can live with it disconnected for the time being.

 

[Mac]

I had the same thing happen when I was in Moab. I was on Poison Spyder and I started hearing a clunking sound, got out to check and found it like the OP's. I had ~18k miles on the lift by this point. Drove it home ~1200 miles with the swaybar disconnected and it is very noticeable. I don't really want to replace it with the same part, so I'm on the lookout for hopefully an aftermarket upgrade. I can live with it disconnected for the time being.

Did it shear off or just the nut fell off? If the latter why not just get a new nut and put it back on?

 

[TexasTJ]

Did it shear off or just the nut fell off? If the latter why not just get a new nut and put it back on?

The nut was long gone, so can’t say for sure. I figured if it failed might as well replace with better.

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