Sway bar linkage replacement

With the excitement of picking up Jade last week I had totally forgot that UGU also needed some of my attention; very much a case of out of sight, out of mind.

A few weeks ago I attended the start of Perth's German Car Day which, despite the horrendous weather, had a great turn out of 90 cars from Perth's German car clubs.  I was unfortunately unable to take part in the event, which perhaps upset UGU and who could blame her having seen some of the fantastic cars on show.

MBCCWA President Paul Blank addresses the attendees

W113 Pagoda SL. What makes this particular car special to me is the fact that it is a daily driver for the MBCCWA Event's Coordinator. And she loves it, understandably

A pair of Porsches, followed by........

..... a trio of Porsches, outdone by.........

..... a trio of W116's! (My opinion only of course)

Yes please!  Audi Quatto Sport S1

SL's, Wagons, Coupes, they were all there

Beemer boys

Brand spanking new G55

Off they go

Ford Focus XR5's were assembled in German so happily welcome at G.C.D

Anyone for Golf?  Love these Mk1's

After I watched the convoy leave, we packed up and made our way home.  Half way home we turned a corner an almighty bang came from the back of the car.  My heart skipped a beat as I quickly pulled over and got out expecting to see something major had broken, but instead I couldn't see anything unusual.  I opened the boot to see if perhaps something in there had become dislodged, but again I couldn't see anything.

A little baffled we set off again with no noise or anything unusual, that was until we turned another corner, BANG!

Again I pulled over and got under the car to have a better look but still couldn't see anything wrong.

The next day I took UGU to see a fellow MBCCWA member who had a look for me.  Being more mechanically minded than me (which isn't hard), he quickly found the problem. The drivers side rear sway bar linkage had snapped meaning that each time we turned a corner the broken linkage would fall over hitting the inside of the wheel causing the awful noise.

Broken rear sway bar linkage.  Hard to see unless you know where to look

With the problem found I spoke to my friends on W(A)114/115 to see if anyone could help me with a part number so I could order a new part;  better than that, one of the members had a spare and brand new set which I happily bought from him.

New linkages, one for each side

Located on the other side of the country it will take a few days for the parts to get to me, and as I want to use UGU this weekend I decided to pay Jade a visit to borrow one from her. Sorry Jade but your big sister comes first :(

Armed with my new socket set, which was a bargain in it's own right.  A gumtree purchase of a preowned, but never used, 166 piece Kinchrome socket and spanner set which I bought  for close to half the price of a new set.

New socket set, and the first I have owned.  Excited!!!

I finished work early and headed out to the back garden.  I jacked up Jade, removed the wheel and using a 17mm open ended spanner and equal sized socket I unbolted the linkage.

Jade, minus one sway bar linkage, for the time being

Removed and ready to be fitted to UGU to get her through until the new parts arrive

This couldn't have been easier, but for me it was hugely rewarding; a quick and easy task to add to my knowledge bank.