Sway Bar Link change on Park Avenue 1992 - help!

[Extremer]

Hi! I need somthing like scattergram or blow drawing of front suspension for my Buick Park Ave - i must change sway bar link. THX for Your help! Another but linked question ... can i find somwhere on the net a complete repair manual for my buick like pdf???

[92BonneSE]

Check on Ebay for repair manuals...you can get them pretty check on there most of the time

As far as the sway bar link, if you take off the front wheels it will be right in your face...it goes from the sway bar to the control arm. If I remember correctly its 14mm

[92BonneSE]

The link is the bolt at the end of the stabilizer bar

[Extremer]

this is it! - THANX!

[willwren]

Swaybar links are very easy, but when you get ready to replace them keep in mind you want to tighten them until they just start to compress. Removing the old ones is best done with a sawzall or reciprocating saw. Just cut it. Take a picture before you do. Buy the correct length kit at Autozone. The sell Energy Suspension endlink kits made of polyurethane. It's a good improvement over stock.

The link kit from GM is crap. Not sure when the change happened, but GM is using plastic spacers and washers on the new kits (verified in person at the local dealer). I think the plastic would give too much, and doesn't provide enough support for the insulators, especially on the firmer SSE/SSEi suspensions. Wanna firm up your ride?

Buy Energy Suspension kit #9.8120RC. This kit is for the left and right (front) endlinks. It's complete with BIGGER than stock bolts (and shorter, thank god), washers, and POLYURETHANE bushings (insulators). I got mine at Autozone for about $15 for BOTH sides (in the same package....full front kit). You don't need a maintenance manual. Just a good set of ramps and basic tools.

Wanna do the rear? Leave it to GM. They don't sell a kit for the rear. Each individual piece (bolt, nut, 2 washers, 3 insulators) have to be purchased seperately. Combined, it'll run you about $25. I have a better idea. Buy just the BOLT from GM. Get 2 of the 10026678 bolts (trust me, you want new....don't re-use the old), should run just shy of 4 bucks each. Then go to your local hardware store and buy two 8mm 'nylock' hex nuts. Fit them to the bolts to make sure, and try to get stainless steel. Now go BACK to Autozone and buy the Energy Suspension kit # 9.8105RC Bushing set. Comes with 8 washers and 8 bushings (insulators). You'll have 2 extra of each. Cost me $9 (US).

[Extremer]

Thanx but it not so easy in poland to bay energy suspension link belive me ... its not so easy to bay right front link because the seller send me as front link a rear one! hopefully i recive tommorow right kit then i can make the change - is it possible to do this on my garage with standard car lift from buick or should i drive to someone with pro lift for whole car?

[J Wikoff]

I did mine with the car on the ground. The geometry seemed easier to put the new links on with the suspension compressed by the vehicle's weight. Having it up on ramps might help give you more room.

[willwren]

Ramps are all you need. You might want a jack to help with assembly on each side though.

[Mike Sessei]

Would one benefit from replacing the sway bar bushings as well, or is that just too much bother for the gains available?
Also, I've searched by part number and I can find the end link bushings for both front and rear as #9.8120R (not #9.8120RC), and #9.8105R (not #9.8105RC). The RC suffix is just Red Color so far as I can tell, oui?
Thanks.

[willwren]

Mike, if you're referring to what I wrote, you can't get the rear KIT. You CAN buy the components you need separately though. The FRONT is available as a kit.

[Mike Sessei]

Bill - sorry if I'm a bit confused.
I've read the write up that has now been posted in the Tech Info, as well as the contents of this thread.
My understanding is that for the front, I can get the bushings, washers, bolts & nuts in a kit made by Energy Suspension from most any auto parts store, and that I cannot buy a complete kit for the rear, and have taken your proposed course of action (bolts from GM dealer, SS nylock hex nuts from hardware store & the bushings and washers by Energy Suspension at the same aforementioned auto parts store) under advisement. It sounds like a good idea to me.
In addition to that, if I wanted to replace the sway bar bushings, I would have to buy those seperately for both the front and rear.

Or, are you saying that I can get the kit for the front complete with sway bar bushings (not just the end link bolts, washers, nuts & bushings), and that I'd have to get the sway bar bushings for the rear as seperate components ouside of the #9.8105R bushing/washer pack, as well?

Thanks.

[Extremer]

the work is done - new link kit is on the car - i have been made this alone but have one question ... how stron should i make the bolts on? is it a special torque in Nm to do that with a special key???

[J Wikoff]

Just tighten them till the bushings bulge a little bit.

[willwren]

Bill - sorry if I'm a bit confused.
I've read the write up that has now been posted in the Tech Info, as well as the contents of this thread.
My understanding is that for the front, I can get the bushings, washers, bolts & nuts in a kit made by Energy Suspension from most any auto parts store, and that I cannot buy a complete kit for the rear, and have taken your proposed course of action (bolts from GM dealer, SS nylock hex nuts from hardware store & the bushings and washers by Energy Suspension at the same aforementioned auto parts store) under advisement. It sounds like a good idea to me.
In addition to that, if I wanted to replace the sway bar bushings, I would have to buy those seperately for both the front and rear.

Or, are you saying that I can get the kit for the front complete with sway bar bushings (not just the end link bolts, washers, nuts & bushings), and that I'd have to get the sway bar bushings for the rear as seperate components ouside of the #9.8105R bushing/washer pack, as well?

Thanks.

Front link kits are complete as you buy them from Autozone. They include bolts, nuts, washers, spacer, and bushings.

Rear 'kit' is a universal kit that only includes the bushings and washers. You don't need a spacer, but you will need the GM bolt (because it doesn't have threads inside where a bushing would ride and get cut to ribbons from the inside out) and nuts.

[Extremer]

Thanx a lot for this moment!

[willwren]

Happy to help a friend in Poland!

[Extremer]

Happy to help a friend in Poland!

happy to have friends in US

[Mike Sessei]

Update: My local GM dealer said that the rear bolts (pn#10026678) have been discontinued.
According to the Energy Suspension literature, their front end link kits use zinc plated Grade 5 bolts. When I was looking today, I couldn't find the 9.8pl ('grade'?) that the GM part guy had said worked for him on his many restorations. So what I'm going to try out is the grade 8 that I was able to find.
One question: I know it's an M8x1.25 bolt, but what is the length of the stock rear end link bolt?

[willwren]

Just crawl under there and measure it. What's more important than the length (you can go a little long if you need to) is that the shank (unthreaded) part of the bolt is long enough to capture all the bushings with no threads within the bushings at all. That's the most important length to consider. Don't go too hard on the grade, either. Harder is more brittle, and you can break a bolt.

[Mike Sessei]

Good to know! Thanks for the information.