Stabilizer Link

Stabilizer Link – Function and Significance

If you've always had the pleasure of owning fairly new or well cared for used cars, then you've probably never really given any thought to the stabilizer link or any other part of your car's suspension system. The truth is though that besides the brakes and the steering there is probably not another system that does more for the overall stability, control and safety of your car. If you find that hard to believe, all you have to do is to imagine what it would be like to drive a car that was really not attached in a secure but flexible way to the frame and chassis.

If you've ever been forced to ride in the back seat, or even worse, the bed of a truck, you already know a little bit about what a vehicle without a sway bar or stabilizer link would be like. Every time you take a sharp turn to the right or to the left, you feel all the force take control of your upper body, and you are thrust toward the outside of the turn. What you don't know is that the same thing is happening to the vehicle when you turn. Just as you go sliding around the seat or the truck bed, the frame of the car wants to go sliding around the road.

In this situation, the only thing that relieves the force of the turn and allows the car to remain flat on the road is the sway bar and the stabilizer link. Together with a couple of other important suspension and stabilization elements, these parts allow just enough movement that the car can absorb the force of the turn without feeling rigid. Too tight and the car would feel like a covered wagon hitting potholes, too loose and the entire frame slides around and you have no control.

The stabilizer link connects the sway bar, or stabilizer bar to the rest of the car. It allows just enough motion so the vehicle can take turns while still remaining in a controlled forward motion. There are several ways that you can tell that your link might need to be replaced, and as you might of guess, the first one is too much motion when you turn or stop your car. If you feel like the car keeps on moving even after you've asked it to stop, or if you feel an unnatural dip in the car as you take a turn, this can be a problem.