21 Ram 1500 - 2" Level Eating Swarbar Links/Bushings

[Mzajac0905]

Hey all,

So, about a year ago I put a 2" level kit on the front of the truck (Aluminum Pucks on Top of Strut). All was good for about a month, then i started to notice clunking from the front end. I have gone through about 3 sets of BOTH sway bar bushings & links. Has this happened to anyone else? There is also this weird thing that happen intermittently where I'll get in the truck to drive and the steering wheel drifts to one side or the other until I get above 20mph, once over 20 the wheel corrects itself and doesn't happen again.

The parts are whatever Orielly's has to offer - (not OE, my understanding is the parts are MOOG economy parts).

Just to add - I threw some 35" RBP tires on the truck with the "level kit" (it seems like the front of the truck sits higher than the rear).

Let me know your thoughts on this.

 

[rzr6-4]

Are you doing a lot of off roading? When you put the new end links on, if you don't adjust them correctly I could see that ruining your end links but idk why you would be eating bushings though, unless you are just putting on a lot of hard miles (which still shouldn't be that bad).

Also....spacer lifts on the 1500 struts have a bad reputation, both for ride quality and the bolts on the top coming loose. Are you sure its your sway bar set up coming loose, and not your spacer itself?

 

[Mzajac0905]

Virtually ZERO off roading. However, this is my wife's daily driver so in theory I am sure it's worse than off roading.

What do you mean by the end links being adjusted? these are "factory" replacements, nothing compensated for the "level kit". The bushings get to the point where it oblongs the holes to the point where with a prybar you can actually bounce the bar inside the bushing.

Yea so ive heard about the spacers being a NO NO. My next step is to double check all that.

 

[DILLIGAF]

SuspentionMaxx end links

 

[rzr6-4]

What do you mean by the end links being adjusted?

As in, when you put on the level, it pushes your steering knuckle/control arms/wheel/etc further down away from the frame, taking the bottom end of the sway bar link with it. Meanwhile the sway bar is still attached up high to the frame. If you don't make some sort of adjustment to shift the sway bar up on the link, thus "lengthening" that connection, you will end up binding the link. The link shown in my pic has a hinge in the middle so that won't happen, but you can see what I mean with needing to shift the sway bar up higher on the link.


I'm not super familiar with the OEM set up on the 1500s, but on my 2500 the end link is a solid piece with no hinge in the middle to prevent the binding, so when I put a level on mine (1.5-2" lift on the front) but I forgot to adjust my end link connections, I ended up bending my end links pretty bad. That same binding that bent the end links could be putting a bind on your bushing as well, causing them to fail.

Even if your end links do have a ball joint in the middle to give some articulation, that will only go so far. Since your factory length links keep failing, either try shimming up the connection to lengthen them artificially, or buy extended links that are made for lifted vehicles.

Also, the hard poly bushings aren't as soft and will sometimes make noise, but worse case scenario you could use those and they should last longer than the soft OEM rubber ones.

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

Those puck style spacer lifts are known to cause issues on these trucks. It is well documented on here by many members what happens with those.

For a basic level we always recommend an adjustable strut like a bilstein 5100 or Eibach Pro strut. 2" or more of front level/lift it is recommended to use angle correcting UCA's to get your front end geometry corrected. This will help with alignment, wear and tear from regular use, and more. For the front end links I would recommend going with Suspension MAXX links

We offer these items and can provide a quote on it all for you. Message me if you would like more info and a quote