Back Story:
About a year ago I started noticing a clunking noise in my suspension whenever I would hit a bump in the road. I took my truck all over and no one could figure it out, so I continued driving it. I jacked the truck up and shook every component I could grab to see if there was any play and there wasn't. Since my plan is to eventually build this truck up for expeditions/overlanding I decided to start tackling the weak IFS and I found these links and thought they looked beefy.
The Links:
They are super beefy compared to the stock ends. I was a little worried when I saw the picture of the bottom hoops because they looked weak but now holding them I am not worried at all. MAXXLink makes different lengths depending on ride height and I got the ones for leveled trucks.
Results:
These links had drastically increased my ride quality. There is no more clunking or knocking and the ride is much smoother. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face driving around not hearing anything after so long.
Install:
I haven't done much wrenching on this truck because I don't want to f*&$ it up since its so nice but this was a piece of cake. The install is super easy, you don't have to lift the truck or even remove the whole sway bar. I removed mine so I could clean it up a little.
Step 1. Remove the 2 15mm Nuts on the bottom of the links
Step 2. (if not removing sway bar skip to step 4)Remove the 4 18mm screws holding the sway bar.
Step 3. Pull sway bar up and out (helps to have two people but not necessary)
Step 4. Remove the top screw. IIRC I used a 9/16ths wrench and a crescent wrench to remove the top nut.
Step 5 (if removing sway bar, if not skip this step). I removed the rubber bushings from my sway bar so I could paint it. They slide off the ends of the bar. I sanded my bar down and got rid of some rust and paint and sprayed it with a Rustoleum spray to keep the rust off and make it look new. Once it dried I slid the bushings back on with a little bit of synthetic grease coating the inside so there is no squeak when I tightened it down.
Step 5. Insert the bottom of the new links into the LCA and snug
Step 6. Remove top nut, washer and bushing and slide under and into the sway bar hole.
Step 7. Tighten till the bushings start to bulge and then back off a turn of the wrench
And that's it! Easy fix and only takes about an hour or two depending on if you are removing the sway bar. Hope this helps you a little!
About a year ago I started noticing a clunking noise in my suspension whenever I would hit a bump in the road. I took my truck all over and no one could figure it out, so I continued driving it. I jacked the truck up and shook every component I could grab to see if there was any play and there wasn't. Since my plan is to eventually build this truck up for expeditions/overlanding I decided to start tackling the weak IFS and I found these links and thought they looked beefy.
The Links:
They are super beefy compared to the stock ends. I was a little worried when I saw the picture of the bottom hoops because they looked weak but now holding them I am not worried at all. MAXXLink makes different lengths depending on ride height and I got the ones for leveled trucks.
Results:
These links had drastically increased my ride quality. There is no more clunking or knocking and the ride is much smoother. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face driving around not hearing anything after so long.
Install:
I haven't done much wrenching on this truck because I don't want to f*&$ it up since its so nice but this was a piece of cake. The install is super easy, you don't have to lift the truck or even remove the whole sway bar. I removed mine so I could clean it up a little.
Step 1. Remove the 2 15mm Nuts on the bottom of the links
Step 2. (if not removing sway bar skip to step 4)Remove the 4 18mm screws holding the sway bar.
Step 3. Pull sway bar up and out (helps to have two people but not necessary)
Step 4. Remove the top screw. IIRC I used a 9/16ths wrench and a crescent wrench to remove the top nut.
Step 5 (if removing sway bar, if not skip this step). I removed the rubber bushings from my sway bar so I could paint it. They slide off the ends of the bar. I sanded my bar down and got rid of some rust and paint and sprayed it with a Rustoleum spray to keep the rust off and make it look new. Once it dried I slid the bushings back on with a little bit of synthetic grease coating the inside so there is no squeak when I tightened it down.
Step 5. Insert the bottom of the new links into the LCA and snug
Step 6. Remove top nut, washer and bushing and slide under and into the sway bar hole.
Step 7. Tighten till the bushings start to bulge and then back off a turn of the wrench
And that's it! Easy fix and only takes about an hour or two depending on if you are removing the sway bar. Hope this helps you a little!
