Hey ATOT gearheads

[Agentbolt]

Busted something or other

Hit a bad bump today and my car has started rattling on the left hand side. So I jacked it up and saw that thing had come apart.

The round cylinder-shaped thing is supposed to be attached to the arm above it with the hole at the end. A bolt that connected the two has sheared off.

My question is, what is thing thing? I'm thinking either control arm or stabilizer arm. The follow up question is: Is my car now unsafe to drive? I'll get it fixed either way, but I'm concerned if I can even drive it to the garage or if it needs to be towed. If it's a structual component I'd prefer not to have my wheel fall off and speed down the road and kill somebody. Not to mention me dying when the wheel falls and my car heels right into oncoming traffic. If it's just a stabilizer arm or something, I think I'll be fine for a little while.

 

[iamwiz82]

Looks like your swaybar linkage. You can drive without it, but it looks like it's rubbing the axle so get it fixed sooner than later.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Looks like your swaybar linkage. You can drive without it, but it looks like it's rubbing the axle so get it fixed sooner than later.

sway bar end link as stated!

 

[jagec]

This might be a good time to get thicker swaybars, if you want a sportier ride.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Yup swaybar end link. I broke my end link on my old car and drove it that way a long time (until the car quit). Broke it from hitting a big bump (or crater, the potholes were really bad). Since it is apparently rubbing you'll want to take care of it soon, see if maybe you can pull it away from the shaft then go ahead and drive it to the shop. Heck or do it yourself, be cheaper but maybe you don't want to mess with it.

 

[cardiac]

Should only cost you about $10 for a link kit. Easy to do. Probably only take you a half-hour.....

Bob

 

[GoatMonkey]

Wouldn't he need to have it on a lift to uncompress the springs to do work on the suspension?

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: GoatMonkey
Wouldn't he need to have it on a lift to uncompress the springs to do work on the suspension?

No. The only way to replace the end links is to have the suspension loaded. When I did mine, I jacked the car up, stuck a jack stand under there for additional safety, then slowly loaded the suspension with another jack. This lines up the link end on the strut housing with the link end on the bar itself. This must be done at a painstakingly slow pace to ensure that you don't put too much tension on the suspension jack and drop the car.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Taking it off might be tough because of rust and such, but putting a new one on should be an easy hand tool job.