VAP
10-03-2004, 11:03 AM
<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/711/adjlink4.jpg"></center><p>
let me show you how I'v been keeping myself busy. The stock links are extreme top & left of pic. These are also the highly sought after and hard-to-find steel end links. Their replacements are all plastic nowadays and even if you order steel you get plastic. Ubernugen was able to get me front and rear steel ones but the rears were a very lucky find indeed being the last known pair in existence on the back shelf of some obscure warehouse on the east coast. This is the pic of the custom B4/90 4130 Chromolly tubing (hollow) adjustable sway bar end links that are going on my car. The beauty of these is their light weight at less than half the weight of stock pieces, ie; only 2lbs compared with stock 4.2lbs. They're even lighter/stronger than the aluminum ones currently available for the B4/B5 front/rear. But it's the increased strength, over 20 times stronger than stock, and fully adjustable for length that make them shine. Additionally each part is serviceable and replaceable individually without replacing the entire part so its a "life-of-the-car" investment on my part. I've already broke one stock plastic front end link on the track so I know track use is very hard on the stock end links. And all new ones from Audi for the rear have now been substituted with plastic as well.
With these I can now fully corner-balance the car and adjust the sway bars with me (my weight) on board so that the balance is achieved with driver on-board for when I track the car or compete in any track or Auto-X event as well as just driving on the streets.
Now I know there's always the "these are street cars" contingent and/or the "my stock end links are fine" people reading this and to them I say "yep, you're right" and good thing too cuz you'd be hard-pressed to find any at this level of development. Those people dont need these nor do I by the very definition of the word. But I "want" them. And I only "need" them as a means to an end. Since I "want" a corner-balanced car and sway bar system the stock end links will not and cannot the meet the "needs" required to accomplish it.
This kit features the ultra-spendy all-stainless spherical bearing kit. I spent just under $50 each to get these bearings and 8 are required so as you might guess this is an incredibly expensive set-up. Couple that with all Chromolly tubing thats drilled, reamed then custom bent for left and right hand sides, tapped for metric left/right hand threads at each end of every piece with custom machined Chromolly spacers and Chromolly grade 12.9 allen head cap bolts with stainless Nyloks you could say this may be pound-for-pound the most expensive item I've ever made up for my car. Pure artwork for the B4/90 front/rear or the B5 rear. And while some may take offense with the Rolex comparison there's no arguing the precision of these or that timepiece's internals.
Still have to get the protective 2-step finish on these tomorrow then get them installed and out on the track before the weeks over. I bought a set of wheels and R-compound tires to test these with (ok, maybe not "just" for these ;-). I figure if I want to REALLY stress them and test their metal I need to do it in a "if we're gonna be a dog, why be a chihuahua" fashion. Maybe next time I'll buy a set of pure racing slicks if the end-links (as if there's any doubt) hold up to R-compounds (just for further testing ya know ;-). With the track and those tires I'm likely to put more load/stresses on them in a few laps than can/will ever be duplicated in any other environment short of a side impact collision or a direct hit from another car into a wheel well.
Promises to be a fun week!
let me show you how I'v been keeping myself busy. The stock links are extreme top & left of pic. These are also the highly sought after and hard-to-find steel end links. Their replacements are all plastic nowadays and even if you order steel you get plastic. Ubernugen was able to get me front and rear steel ones but the rears were a very lucky find indeed being the last known pair in existence on the back shelf of some obscure warehouse on the east coast. This is the pic of the custom B4/90 4130 Chromolly tubing (hollow) adjustable sway bar end links that are going on my car. The beauty of these is their light weight at less than half the weight of stock pieces, ie; only 2lbs compared with stock 4.2lbs. They're even lighter/stronger than the aluminum ones currently available for the B4/B5 front/rear. But it's the increased strength, over 20 times stronger than stock, and fully adjustable for length that make them shine. Additionally each part is serviceable and replaceable individually without replacing the entire part so its a "life-of-the-car" investment on my part. I've already broke one stock plastic front end link on the track so I know track use is very hard on the stock end links. And all new ones from Audi for the rear have now been substituted with plastic as well.
With these I can now fully corner-balance the car and adjust the sway bars with me (my weight) on board so that the balance is achieved with driver on-board for when I track the car or compete in any track or Auto-X event as well as just driving on the streets.
Now I know there's always the "these are street cars" contingent and/or the "my stock end links are fine" people reading this and to them I say "yep, you're right" and good thing too cuz you'd be hard-pressed to find any at this level of development. Those people dont need these nor do I by the very definition of the word. But I "want" them. And I only "need" them as a means to an end. Since I "want" a corner-balanced car and sway bar system the stock end links will not and cannot the meet the "needs" required to accomplish it.
This kit features the ultra-spendy all-stainless spherical bearing kit. I spent just under $50 each to get these bearings and 8 are required so as you might guess this is an incredibly expensive set-up. Couple that with all Chromolly tubing thats drilled, reamed then custom bent for left and right hand sides, tapped for metric left/right hand threads at each end of every piece with custom machined Chromolly spacers and Chromolly grade 12.9 allen head cap bolts with stainless Nyloks you could say this may be pound-for-pound the most expensive item I've ever made up for my car. Pure artwork for the B4/90 front/rear or the B5 rear. And while some may take offense with the Rolex comparison there's no arguing the precision of these or that timepiece's internals.
Still have to get the protective 2-step finish on these tomorrow then get them installed and out on the track before the weeks over. I bought a set of wheels and R-compound tires to test these with (ok, maybe not "just" for these ;-). I figure if I want to REALLY stress them and test their metal I need to do it in a "if we're gonna be a dog, why be a chihuahua" fashion. Maybe next time I'll buy a set of pure racing slicks if the end-links (as if there's any doubt) hold up to R-compounds (just for further testing ya know ;-). With the track and those tires I'm likely to put more load/stresses on them in a few laps than can/will ever be duplicated in any other environment short of a side impact collision or a direct hit from another car into a wheel well.
Promises to be a fun week!