KW end link advice needed

[DropTopKingM3]

A while back I purchased near new KW V2 coilovers from a friend. I never got the end links that come with the coilovers. Im about to install ST sway bars but I believe they dont come with the front end links.

I browsed through KWs official site and came across these. Would these be a replacement for the end links on KW suspension ? Or a stock replacement end link?

KW Suspensions <- link to the end links.

Thanks.

[Lukem3]

Any adjustable endlinks will work. Stay away from stock on a lowered vehicle. If you don't change ride height, stock links will work

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[DropTopKingM3]

Any adjustable endlinks will work. Stay away from stock on a lowered vehicle. If you don't change ride height, stock links will work

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Thanks. I did change the ride height.

Would these work?
25826F - Hotchkis Front Adjustable Performance End Link Set - E46 BMW | Turner Motorsport

[Lukem3]

Yup thoes will get the job done

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[DanAvoN7]

Any adjustable end link will not work. Not all suspensions have the same shock body length, end link bracket location, etc. and so you need a specific adjustable end link per your application.

End Link length is measured from center stud to center stud. The adjustable end links you linked to above (25826F Hotchkis) have an adjustment range of 11" at their shortest setting to 12" at their longest setting. These end links would be suited for a stock strut body/end link bracket location (stock non-adjustable end links are ~11"). The end link bracket on KW coil overs is in a different location than stock and thus they include a shorter end link in their coilover kits. If you were to get those Hotchkis end links above they would be far too long, even at their shortest setting.

[Tbonem3]

Any adjustable endlinks will work. Stay away from stock on a lowered vehicle. If you don't change ride height, stock links will work

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That's not correct.

End link length is determined by the change in location of the strut's attachment tab, from stock. On most suspension setups, the tab is in the same or a very similar location such that no shorter or longer link is needed.

KW's tab location is quite different from stock so a much shorter link is needed. OP- look for info on MOOG links for KW.

When you lower a car, you do so at the damper's upper shaft attachment point within the top mount, by moving that point up or down OR by sacrificing travel.

Lowering the car obviously does not change the length of the strut body to which the sway tab is attached. The damper's shaft moves, not the shock body.

If you want to get fancy and dial out any difference in load between left and right, you'll just need one adjustable end link. I still don't understand why, though, as I would expect both sides to be symmetrical. Maybe there are light differences that add up, even the weight distribution being slightly different, side to side. Can't imagine much adjustment is nec.

Last point, remember, the sway is free to rotate within the bushings, so even if the stock endlink were a little too long or too short, the swaybar will rotate to accommodate. If it were by a large amount, you might hit a control arm, but most likely issue is rotating the lever arm away from parallel to the ground, is what Obioban mentioned. Even this, though, i don't think is a big deal. If you shorten your lever, you increase the required effort (like shortening your grip on a wrench). I believe the bar then would be providing more spring (less leverage), but it'd be slight. Remember, other than the infinitely adjustable GC bar, the swaybar hole that you pick for your endlink is an arbitrarily decided spring rate, often jst called "soft" medium" or "stiff" you're lucky if the company even discloses the rate increase percentage (hotchks does).

Please please, if any engineers can think about this and comment. I've been trying to have a real discussion about swaybar, endlinks and "preload" for a while, but only Obioban has engaged at all.

The preload in this case is different than the preload you'd want to imbue to a bushing like that in the rear shocks' bottom or rtab.

[enjoy_m3]

I have kw v2's and needed replacement endlinks. I believe you need a 7 in endlink (5 in rod length) which is their meyle replacement. The meyle endlink from KW is actually an oem replacement part for an alfa romeo not sold in the US. Unfortunately, I don't have the part number but it's online somewhere. If you can find it, it's much cheaper than kw's markup price. I also read a mazda endlink will work as it has similar length. An adjustable endlink may work if it can have 5-7 in length. Sorry I don't have anymore info, I just remember reading it somewhere when I was looking for replacement endlinks.

[r4dr]

Moog K6662 is what you want, dirt cheap on RockAuto.

Here's my original thread where I went through the same search, with more details: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...r-kw-coilovers

[bmw m3 s50]

I used Turner Swaybar Link Specs:

TSU9912AF1: 220.00mm - 235.00mm / 8.66" - 9.25"

For my KW v2 on my e46 m3 vert.

[heinzboehmer]

Please please, if any engineers can think about this and comment. I've been trying to have a real discussion about swaybar, endlinks and "preload" for a while, but only Obioban has engaged at all.

I'd love to have this discussion too. I understand why you wouldn't want a preloaded sway bar, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how that would happen, since -like you said- the bar can rotate within the bushings. The only thing I can think of is that the distance between the attachment point on the bar and the attachment point on the damper is different side to side (because of corner balancing or weird weight distribution that causes leaning or different wear rates for bushings or whatever) and thus using non-adjustable endlinks (of the same length) will lead to a preloaded bar. However, I'm not sure if this distance will actually ever be different side to side or if it will be different enough to matter.

[Tbonem3]

Ya I'm willing to believe there may be some slight differences, which is why you'd make small adjustments with the 1 endlink to fit perfectly into the swaybar hole. That said, are we talking about adding 1 pound more of spring rate to that one side if we don't take out the uneven load or are we talking about 50lbs?

[jbfrancis3]

I'd imagine for those who go to the effort of corner balancing, the adjustable links are worthwhile for reconnecting the sway bars and ensuring they do not have an effect on the final results (zero preload).

[timmo]

From what I can think of, it's primarily due to corner weights not being identical left to right. With identical spring rates, this leads to ever-so-slightly different ride heights left to right and thus the bar has torsional preload due to this ride height difference.

It wouldn't be too difficult to estimate how much torsional preload there is on a bar assuming you knew the displacement difference between the left and right links. Then I'd imagine you could calculate the effect this torsional preload has on roll moment, left to right.

The question is - how much preload would there have to be for you (as the driver) to even notice? I feel like for the majority of us, if the bar is slightly preloaded with fixed links we wouldn't notice, but of course an F1 driver would. Then again, this last sentence is just me speculating out of my ass

[elbert]

You can also "split the difference" by putting the link in hole #3 on one side, and #2 on the other (or any other combination) -- another situation where you would need only one adjustable link.

[Tbonem3]

Yes good point! If it were off that much.