A beginner's guide to "Anti roll bar links"

[SirDavidAlhambra]

So then, on another car I have the garage said the anti roll bar link needed replacing.

Please can somebody help me understand what these do exactly.

I had a look under the car and I think I've worked out what they do, it looks like it holds a bent looking rod in the best alignment/place and it would look like that rod (which I assume is a roll bar?) goes from one wheel to the other and somehow stiffens up the lateral movement of the suspension struts so that the car doesn't sway about as much when you change the direction of the vehicle. In other words, it kind of holds everything in the best place when otherwise things might slop about if cornering with high forces.

At least, this is what it looks like to me. I'm not a qualified mechanic so would love to hear an expert's explanation about what this curious little linkage rod really does.

Thank you!

[Mirez]

Well it's not an experts opinion by any means but yes, that's essentially exactly what it does, the roll of the body should be lessened with the movement taken up in suspension travel instead. As you've seen, the links connect the strut to the bar and typically have a ball joint at both ends to allow the required movement from compression as well as steering angle.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Thank you so much, this kind of explanation is really helpful and I really appreciate it.

Itââ,¬â,,¢s so useful to know how cars work, theyââ,¬â,,¢re such an essential piece of everyday life and I honestly donââ,¬â,,¢t know why they donââ,¬â,,¢t teach more about this sort of thing at schools (at a very basic level, just to grasp the main concepts of how motor cars work)

[Mirez]

David, if you are that interested I would recommend downloading some of the VW Self Study Programmes.

There are a load here: http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/index4_eng.php and lots more out on the net in general. Whilst they are obviously very specific to the VAG range, the basics of operation for the systems are normally featured and they are geared towards entry level technicians so it's all laid out in an easy to understand format. For someone looking to boost their knowledge in a broad sense, they can be very useful to skim read.

For example, if you look at this one: http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_381.pdf you'll see the make-up of the anti-roll bar in detail which should give you a broad understanding of the components.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Thank you very much indeed!! What a superb resource, I am definitely going to read those guides from cover to cover!!

Thank you so much again. I hope you have a lovely weekend!!

[brianh]

It probabbly helps to understand that you can get two basic faults with them - one is excessive movement in the balljoint at either end (which if it gets bad enough can allow the joint to seperate) usually noticed as noise when passing over rough surfaces, the other is failure of the rubber boots on either end.

Both faults usually end up in replacing the links, as sometimes the old links will not undo due to rust and corrosion on the threads, tending to make it easier to cut them off and replace rather than trying to get a spanner on the back side of it to hold one side of the joint whilst you try to undo it.