It is impossible to remove the sway bar links by any conventional means!

Ok. Here's my problem. I changed the left side sway bar link last week. However, it required using a zip saw to cut through the bolt that goes through the "eye" of the sway bar and the bracket on the side of the strut. Before you accuse me of not know that there is a 15mm nut designed into the bolt on the bushing side of the end link - I tried that. I managed to get both bolts threaded maybe 2-3 turns off. Then, inevitably, the 15mm wrench slips on the nut and it will no longer keep enough pressure on the nut to be able to thread the 17mm nut off of the end link. After trying this a few more times it will only worsen as the wrench wears away at the 15mm. Like I said I got the left side off with a zip saw, now I'm on the right side but I cannot get a good angle with the zip saw to get at the link. Does anyone have a special way of doing this in a way that does not require a zip saw or torches or anything like that (which it should never involve in the first place)? I cannot believe, for the life of me, how they designed that 15mm backing so thin and cheap that it will not survive a simple removal! This is really cheap and poor engineering.

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Originally Posted by raynon2

Ok. Here's my problem. I changed the left side sway bar link last week. However, it required using a zip saw to cut through the bolt that goes through the "eye" of the sway bar and the bracket on the side of the strut. Before you accuse me of not know that there is a 15mm nut designed into the bolt on the bushing side of the end link - I tried that. I managed to get both bolts threaded maybe 2-3 turns off. Then, inevitably, the 15mm wrench slips on the nut and it will no longer keep enough pressure on the nut to be able to thread the 17mm nut off of the end link. After trying this a few more times it will only worsen as the wrench wears away at the 15mm. Like I said I got the left side off with a zip saw, now I'm on the right side but I cannot get a good angle with the zip saw to get at the link. Does anyone have a special way of doing this in a way that does not require a zip saw or torches or anything like that (which it should never involve in the first place)? I cannot believe, for the life of me, how they designed that 15mm backing so thin and cheap that it will not survive a simple removal! This is really cheap and poor engineering.

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it really depends on the Quality of the wrenches you are using: a cheap Chinese made Wrench Set will easily stretch open and will start rounding off any nut or Bolt you use on it (use a better quality wrench set like Craftsman, Kobalt, or any of the REALLY High End Companies like Mac, Matco, Snap-On, or Cornwell.). my advice is to use a pair of Small Vise Grips to grip the 15mm nut to keep it stationary so you can get the 17mm nut off. if you are outright replacing the end links, be as rough as you want as long as you don't damage the Sway bar itself, or the Lower Control Arm.

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Originally Posted by 2010AveoLT

it really depends on the Quality of the wrenches you are using: a cheap Chinese made Wrench Set will easily stretch open and will start rounding off any nut or Bolt you use on it (use a better quality wrench set like Craftsman, Kobalt, or any of the REALLY High End Companies like Mac, Matco, Snap-On, or Cornwell.). my advice is to use a pair of Small Vise Grips to grip the 15mm nut to keep it stationary so you can get the 17mm nut off. if you are outright replacing the end links, be as rough as you want as long as you don't damage the Sway bar itself, or the Lower Control Arm.

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Quality of the wrench has nothing to do with this specific situation. The OP is completely correct in saying the backing "nut" is very poorly designed. If the outside nut is rusted solid in place, it's difficult to imagine any non-heated technique that will free it up. A Vise Grip will shred this thing and reduce it to metal shards in a heartbeat. Here is a post (#17} from work I did just a few days ago, doing this same job. Another guy posted about some magic elixir that is supposed to loosen anything, but he didn't reply to say if it worked on this particular situation.
http://www.aveoforum.com/forum/f85/r...65/index2.html

What I did is pop the endlink "ball" out of the socket which is fairly easy with a breaker bar/big ass screwdriver. Then I put visegrips on the neck of the ball and turn the nut with a socket

I used an angle grinder to cut mine off. Bit more maneuverable than a zip saw. And ya, I hate that they don't have an allan key in the back or in the center of the bolt like most cars.

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Originally Posted by Pickles

What I did is pop the endlink "ball" out of the socket which is fairly easy with a breaker bar/big ass screwdriver. Then I put visegrips on the neck of the ball and turn the nut with a socket

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I'm sure there are a few different flavors of this, depending on how badly the nut is rusted. I tried the same thing on mine, and later after the job was done, tried getting the one still attached to the strut off using a bench vise - no way, no how. But the OP of the other thread that I mentioned just simply turned them out on his '04 with no sweat. I'm a bit surprised though that you also couldn't just turn them out on a 2010 - you must get lots of Winter and brine baths where you live :(

Attachment 7552Attachment 7553Attachment 7554Yes, 2010AveoLT, I actually use Mastercraft Maximum wrenches, which are good quality. The problem is that there is no size wrench that actually fits snug over the head of the 15mm backing "nut". I even had the same problem with the new one on the left side; getting it on without rounding off the edges. The new ones are actually different sizes. The inside is 14mm (or thats what is closest) and the outside nut is 15mm. The main problem is that the backing nut (15mm or 14mm(new)) is that there is not one size of wrench that fits snug. A 15mm wrench is what I used to get them off, but there is a lot of play. I also tried to get a 14mm on it, but thats too small. 9/16 is about the same problem as the 15mm and a 1/2 is too small! LOL. Who designed these things? seriously. Anyway, last night I went back out and ground off the pivot side of the link on the sway bar until there was nothing left of it and it just fell out. The link on the strut I just used a grinder and sliced right down the center of the nut and used vise grips on the other side after I poped the "ball" out of the socket of the link. I think the only reason that nut came off while holding the back with vise grips was because, as I used the grinder on the nut, it heated up the whole thing and so the vise grips gripped even more for a few seconds as I then backed off the nut with a ratchet. All the designers had to do was put a proper fitting/sized 15mm on the backside of these and made the surface a little bit wider and this job would've taken 1 hour to do both sides if not less. And without a grinder, vise grips, zip saw, hammer, pry bar etc etc

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Originally Posted by avguy

Quality of the wrench has nothing to do with this specific situation. The OP is completely correct in saying the backing "nut" is very poorly designed. If the outside nut is rusted solid in place, it's difficult to imagine any non-heated technique that will free it up. A Vise Grip will shred this thing and reduce it to metal shards in a heartbeat. Here is a post (#17} from work I did just a few days ago, doing this same job. Another guy posted about some magic elixir that is supposed to loosen anything, but he didn't reply to say if it worked on this particular situation.
http://www.aveoforum.com/forum/f85/r...65/index2.html

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Thanks avguy! That was a great post. It could be very helpful to the next guy who has this problem. :) And if I still have this car the next time I need to change the links I will definitely look for the moog ones

I cut mine off with a dremel tool, fiberglass wheel.

My whole suspension experience sucked big time. I have worked on other cars but this car is truely an engineered POS. I have owned my car for 104K miles and purchased it new in 05 for $7,800. Kind of what I would expect right.

I had to cut basically everything off mine. I had to cut the swaybar endlinks (only the bottom ones because I was changing the struts). I had to take the car to someone who had an impact wrench and loosen the upright bolts on both sides, then cut the bolts to remove the lower control arm. I pushed the rear trailing arm bushings out, then spent a long time hacksawing the bushings out (this sucks big time). I was using 1/2" sockets/wrenches and some of the bolts were on there, used PB blaster liberally everywhere. Thank god I am a beast otherwise it would have been a impossible. One downside was the upright bolts were removed at a local shop, who then screwed up my rack and pinon. I brought the car to the dealer for just the labor and they used the most aggressive stuff (like burn your skin stuff) on the rack and pinon to remove it. The air gun/impact wrench couldn't even remove the bolts. I guess the moral of the story is, the car is cheaply engineered, go figure, and don't live in Minnesota.

I hate to say it, but thats pretty common for any car that has been driven through 7 winters..