Anti Roll Bar Drop Links

[blowfelt]

Please, could someone give me some advice, I have a Cav TD 1993 and both my drop links have snapped on the end of the anti-roll bar which is the push on type.

Are these drop links easy to replace without taking off the anti-roll bar, or do I need to take off the anti-roll bar to refit new drop links?

[James McGrath]

They are generally quite easy to fit and you don't need to take the bar off.
I've done them myself before by just jacking the car up.

Can be a bit fiddly though, especially if the old links are seized on.

[Robsey]

Strange to have a '93 Cav with the early drop-links / pendulums.

I was under the impression that they changed in 1992 - with the release of the facelift body and wiring.

The tricky bit is drifting the links on and off the bar, with about 3 to 6 mm of bar showing through the link.

[ilovedmymantas]

Most of my cars had this type of drop-link so here's the method I found most effective.
The old link is fairly easy to remove, It's only being thrown away so blunt force is acceptable on this (rare) occasion.
With the car jacked-up remove the wheel and turn the steering for easier access.

Bottom bit.
Note the position/orientation of the shaped washers and rubbers (In my experience the rubbers held the broken parts in place). I usually forgot and had to work it out again

Top.
Hacksaw through the top of the plastic ring and down through the rubber until you're almost at the arb. iirc space is limited and the angle is about 30 degrees.
Now you can take that big screwdriver you thought you'd never use and prise the plastic part off. The rubber bit should come off easily after that, if not use a sharp knife to finish the hacksaw cut.
Wire brush the anti-roll bar ends for a few inches, rust-treat if you want to.

Replacement.
As already mentioned, this can be the tricky bit
Firmly attach a round (well,oval) mole grip to the arb 3-4 inches back, cover the end of the roll bar and the inside of the new link with washing-up liquid and push it on as far as you can.
Use a G-clamp with a suitably sized socket to push the new link on. The other end is hooked behind the mole grip.
Don't try and force it too much If it's tight,(that's a good thing, it probably means your bar is not very corroded) take it slowly so the rubber can adjust.

- I had the car on an axle stand and jacked up the suspension arm to get the rod through the hole and start a decent thread on the nut, if that helps

[Robsey]

I should have clarified -
The Anti Roll Bar does NOT need to be removed.

That would simply be far too much work, and you would struggle to get the correct orientation without the bar attached to the car and wish-bone there for reference.

[cavalier1990]

Strange to have a '93 Cav with the early drop-links / pendulums.

I was under the impression that they changed in 1992 - with the release of the facelift body and wiring.

The tricky bit is drifting the links on and off the bar, with about 3 to 6 mm of bar showing through the link.

My 93 diplomat has the push on ones, 95 ls has the bolt on ones. I think vx had old push on ones left over so you see them on facelift models, mainly earlier ones.

[Robsey]

Yup "bitza" cars.
Bitza this, bitza that.

Whatever parts were to hand at the time of assembly.

[cavalier1990]

Yup "bitza" cars.
Bitza this, bitza that.

Whatever parts were to hand at the time of assembly.

Exactly, no wonder we always here the famous parts guy line "there is more than one type for that" in other words they don't know!

[James McGrath]

Strange to have a '93 Cav with the early drop-links / pendulums.

I was under the impression that they changed in 1992 - with the release of the facelift body and wiring.

The tricky bit is drifting the links on and off the bar, with about 3 to 6 mm of bar showing through the link.

My 93 diplomat has the push on ones, 95 ls has the bolt on ones. I think vx had old push on ones left over so you see them on facelift models, mainly earlier ones.

I think there was an actual cut off point rather than just using what they had.
Of all my cars, only my V6 (late 1995 model) has the later ball jointed ones.
All of my face lift Cavaliers from 1993 (LS built in June, Diplomat in August and the CD in November) have the push on ones.

I think they were introduced around mid 1994 from what I can ascertain.
Whether they make an actual difference to the handling or not I'm not sure.

[Robsey]

They make a huge difference to the amount of effort (cursing and swearing) and time it takes to replace them.

The late ball joint units are very quick and easy to replace.

[ilovedmymantas]

My 94 m-plate sri had the push on ones.
I should have checked before ordering for my 95 m-plate cdx during my part replacement list - I bought the wrong ones

The newer type are a doddle to do but don't look anywhere near as robust as the earlier ones.

[cavalier1990]

Use a grinder with cutting disc to remove old ones. If only on one side it helps to have other bush detached as this helps in refitting, or remove arm and tap back on with a small socket, dont use brute force hammeeing as it will break central collar. Clean and grease area where it goes on.

[Envoy CDX]

Most of my cars had this type of drop-link so here's the method I found most effective.
The old link is fairly easy to remove, It's only being thrown away so blunt force is acceptable on this (rare) occasion.
With the car jacked-up remove the wheel and turn the steering for easier access.

Bottom bit.
Note the position/orientation of the shaped washers and rubbers (In my experience the rubbers held the broken parts in place). I usually forgot and had to work it out again

Top.
Hacksaw through the top of the plastic ring and down through the rubber until you're almost at the arb. iirc space is limited and the angle is about 30 degrees.
Now you can take that big screwdriver you thought you'd never use and prise the plastic part off. The rubber bit should come off easily after that, if not use a sharp knife to finish the hacksaw cut.
Wire brush the anti-roll bar ends for a few inches, rust-treat if you want to.

Replacement.
As already mentioned, this can be the tricky bit
Firmly attach a round (well,oval) mole grip to the arb 3-4 inches back, cover the end of the roll bar and the inside of the new link with washing-up liquid and push it on as far as you can.
Use a G-clamp with a suitably sized socket to push the new link on. The other end is hooked behind the mole grip.
Don't try and force it too much If it's tight,(that's a good thing, it probably means your bar is not very corroded) take it slowly so the rubber can adjust.

- I had the car on an axle stand and jacked up the suspension arm to get the rod through the hole and start a decent thread on the nut, if that helps

The bit highlighted I would suggest using a thin bit of abrasive paper, like what you'd use on a finger sander. other than that, when you get the nut on, get it finger tight, then get it back on the deck and tighten it fully when the full weight is on its wheels. It helps with seating everything at the correct angle. (Just don't do what I did and forget after a brew as you'll have it all to do again!)

[chrisp]

Just suffered a broken push on type anti-roll bar link on my 1993 Cavalier Mk3 V6, and pulled up this string of posts from 2yrs ago. I've got a new link on order and meanwhile got on with removing the old one from the anti-roll bar. In contrast to the advice in the Haynes manual there is indeed no need to remove the anti-roll bar to do this - as noted by the people in this forum. I sawed through the plastic and rubber to split and remove the old link. However, a thing to note is that the link has a metal core - so you have the plastic housing, then the main rubber bush, then a steel bush and then a thin layer of rubber in contact with the anti-roll bar. So, when you're sawing, you hit metal which suggests you've hit the anti-roll bar when in fact you've only hit the metal bush. You then need to continue sawing very carefully so as to only saw through the metal bush and not saw into the anti-roll bar. I found you cannot get the old link off without completely sawing through the metal bush.

[chrisp]

Well, I finally got the new RH ARB droplink installed. I suspect that it might be an issue with my V6 Cavalier that the RH drive shaft is fatter than other Cavaliers and thus is too close to the ARB when the car is jacked up and the suspension hanging. This means that there's no room to push on a new ARB droplink. If you jack up under the lower arm this does free up space against the driveshaft, but then the lower arm is too close and obstructs the threaded part of the droplink. So there's no alternative but to separate the lower arm balljoint from the suspension strut so that the lower arm can be pushed down out of the way (needing some force to do so). To do this you can only use a wedge-type separator - the superior scissor type won't fit. Mine eventually yielded to hammering in the wedge - but only after I'd applied some spot heat from a blowtorch. Luckily this operation did not damage the balljoint boot. Then I could coat the droplink inner surface and the ARB end with washing up liquid and attempt to push it into place with some twisting motion. Mine wouldn't cooperate at first and I had to resort to filing out some of the rubber lining of the droplink before it would eventually push onto the ARB (again needing a good deal of force). Maybe the after-market droplink has a slightly too small inner diameter. I couldn't use a G-clamp to force it into place (as suggested in a previous post) because there was, again, insufficient room. What a hassle - it took me best part of a day to complete! Only attempt this job if your ARB droplink is broken and you absolutely have to!