Front Stabilizer Links?

[Smith1000]

I am curious if anyone else has run into problems with these links rusting and breaking? I have 2 '97 Lesabres and have replaced them all. Just had another one break recently and replaced it today. The links have plastic sleeves, which seem to hold water and promote rust. There was just a thread remaining of the original bolt. The replacement links do not have the plastic sleeve.

I had noticed the car wanted to kind of "skip" out or twist a bit when rounding the curves on exit ramps. I don't recall for sure, but there may be some links on the rear of the vehicle as well.

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by Smith1000

I am curious if anyone else has run into problems with these links rusting and breaking? I have 2 '97 Lesabres and have replaced them all. Just had another one break recently and replaced it today. The links have plastic sleeves, which seem to hold water and promote rust. There was just a thread remaining of the original bolt. The replacement links do not have the plastic sleeve.

I had noticed the car wanted to kind of "skip" out or twist a bit when rounding the curves on exit ramps. I don't recall for sure, but there may be some links on the rear of the vehicle as well.

Yes, the rear has a sway bars with similar links.

[army]

hi i just replaced my front both fell off one last year one this year ( front) 1998 lesabre easy to do though.

[Smith1000]

They are fairly easy to replace. I'll have to check the rear ones out to see what kind of shape they are in. Makes a big difference to have a new front one. There had been an occasional thump, which I had thought was a ball joint.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by Smith1000

They are fairly easy to replace. I'll have to check the rear ones out to see what kind of shape they are in. Makes a big difference to have a new front one. There had been an occasional thump, which I had thought was a ball joint.

Adding my 2 cents worth. I just had one break on the front of a 98.

If I'd known it would stop the vibrations from the tarstrips, I would have replaced both of them sooner. The last few years the car had been giving small amplitude bounces I thought were from struts aging (100K Sensatracs). Instead, the sway bar gives some control. It's like a new car as far as noise on small pavement cracks and it steers better--more stable because of less sway. The old bushings had hardened and worn.

I'm thinking about doing the rears which are just shorter versions of the front and harder to get to.

$6.99 each at Autozone.

[jonegar]

I wonder if this could be the reason my 01' LeSabre still has an annoying "tire-out-of-balance-like" vibration and generally "busy" ride after new shocks/struts, alignement, transmission rebuild, 2 sets of new tires, countless balancing, and repeated inspections of the front end afterwhich I am told, "we can't find anything wrong"?

[army]

Originally Posted by jonegar

I wonder if this could be the reason my 01' LeSabre still has an annoying "tire-out-of-balance-like" vibration and generally "busy" ride after new shocks/struts, alignement, transmission rebuild, 2 sets of new tires, countless balancing, and repeated inspections of the front end afterwhich I am told, "we can't find anything wrong"?

the stabilizer links are very easy to spot if there was something wrong with them, especially if someone has looked at front end.what make of tires did you get?

[Smith1000]

Is it a side to side vibration in the steering wheel, or a general vibration, kind of front to back? If side to side, I tend to look to the front. If more of a general vibration, I usually look to the back. I would jack up each rear tire to where it is barely off the concrete and spin the tire by hand, looking real close for out of round movement, or a slight wobble. It is easier to spot when laying on the ground behind the tire. Look at the gap between the concrete and the tire. It could be a rim that is bent. I have had bent rims that have a slight wobble when spinning the tire. Once had a car that they said could not be balanced without replacing 2 of the rims. I always like to check the balance of the rim without the tire on it to see how close it is before putting the tire on. Also, does it only do it at certain speeds, or is it constant? Also, what is a "busy" ride?

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by Smith1000

Also, what is a "busy" ride?

I was wonder the same thing, but then thought maybe this means something like riding in a paint shaker!

[jonegar]

I wondered if anyone would ask that question...

What I mean by "busy ride" is that things are not ever "settled". I'ts almost like something is loose but not quite. The alignment is good. On lower quality Oklahoma roads this "busy" effect is more noticable though it shows up on smooth city streets as well. There isn't a set mph that it seems to occur at, except at highway speeds (65, 75) where the vibration is more "defined". I can pull the little storage tray out when I'm doing 75 on the turnpike and it really gets a goin'. If I push it up to 80-85 the vibration gets so bad it scares me a bit.

We put Bridgestone Insignia's on about six years ago and loved them. Great ride, great tire. Very smooth outside of the normal balancing required as the tires wore. About six months ago I noticed the vibration. The tires were getting old and the suspension was in need of replacing so I didn't give it much thought. Had the old tires balanced one more time to correct the problem but it did not change. Put Firestone's that were on sale on the car a month ago, vibration was still there. Had the new shocks and struts put on a week later, vibration still there. Shop balanced the tires four times to try and correct, then I had them swap out the Firestone's and went back to the Insignia tire, which rides better but has not corrected the vibration issue.

[army]

Originally Posted by jonegar

I wondered if anyone would ask that question...

What I mean by "busy ride" is that things are not ever "settled". I'ts almost like something is loose but not quite. The alignment is good. On lower quality Oklahoma roads this "busy" effect is more noticable though it shows up on smooth city streets as well. There isn't a set mph that it seems to occur at, except at highway speeds (65, 75) where the vibration is more "defined". I can pull the little storage tray out when I'm doing 75 on the turnpike and it really gets a goin'. If I push it up to 80-85 the vibration gets so bad it scares me a bit.

We put Bridgestone Insignia's on about six years ago and loved them. Great ride, great tire. Very smooth outside of the normal balancing required as the tires wore. About six months ago I noticed the vibration. The tires were getting old and the suspension was in need of replacing so I didn't give it much thought. Had the old tires balanced one more time to correct the problem but it did not change. Put Firestone's that were on sale on the car a month ago, vibration was still there. Had the new shocks and struts put on a week later, vibration still there. Shop balanced the tires four times to try and correct, then I had them swap out the Firestone's and went back to the Insignia tire, which rides better but has not corrected the vibration issue.

when you had front end checked was it by a front end specialist?

[Smith1000]

Sure sounds like the tires are out of balance. After balancing, is there anything that goes back on the rim, such as a wheel cover, that might change the weight on the tire? If it is the same shop? Maybe it is a problem with the calibration of the equipment.

I run light truck tires on my Lesabre and have for years. They hold up much better on gravel. Occasionally, a rim will loose a weight and it will need rebalancing. I use a bubble balancer and can get them right on. Sometimes, the balancer needs to be leveled (center the bubble) before balancing. Mud on the inside of the rims can be a problem. It will distribute evenly when it goes on, but when it dries, it will fall off in pieces. The result is a lot of vibration until it is cleaned out.

I have found that water on a tire, or inside a tire can cause balancing problems as well. I always ensure the tires are dry before balancing.

If you swap the rear tires with the front, does the vibration stay the same?

[jonegar]

This morning I took the car to a guy who is a professional mechanic but now has his own shop. We drove it and he noted the vibration. He put it up on the rack and checked everything front and back for wear or looseness. He poked, prodded, pryed, spun, and wiggled just about everything under there. He explained what the symptoms would be if this was failing, and that would do this if it were going out... Since the vibration is constant even if the car is put into neutral and coasts, he said that basically eliminated the power train - to a point. He did note the amount of weight applied to one of the rear wheels. There were weights inside and out at the same location on one of the rims. So, I'm headed to a different tire shop to have the tires balanced on a different machine to see if they put weights in the same location. The thought is that I may have an out-of-round rim. I probed the mrs. for an instance that she may have hit something in the last couple of months and "she couldn't say for sure". Life continues...

[Smith1000]

I would suspect the balancing if there are 2 weights in the same spot, on the inside and outside of the rim. I have found that many tires, particularly if good quality tires like Insignia's, don't even need balancing--unless the rim is out of balance to begin with, for some reason. Sounds like a lot of weight in one spot for a new tire. Many cheap tires don't even need much weight when new.

By jacking the tire just slightly off the concrete, you might be able to tell if it is out of round. Spin the tire and if out of round, the tire will touch the concrete in one or two spots when rotating. Sometimes you can hear it scrape the ground once around on the spin. Tread separations can be located this way.

[jonegar]

I didn't really intend on hijacking a thread but none the less...

Took car to different tire shop yesterday and they said three of the four tires are bad, two out of round and one swaggers side to side - they need to be replaced. Took the car back to the original shop this morning and they had a "specialist" take a look. He discovered the front motor mount is bad and possibly the driver's side tranny mount. He showed me the motor moving up about 3" off of the front.

So, I now have the car at a shop to replace the front/inspect replace if needed the side mounts. If this fixes my problem I'm gonna dance a jig.