[dhpnet]

I didn't realize the sway bar links are plastic. Would replacing these with metal links increase the stiffness of the sway bar? If so, that would reduce oversteer, or increase understeer. My Cruze does feel like it has a bit of oversteer. I attributed that to the stiff rear beam suspension, but maybe it has to do with the plastic sway bar links in the front.

 

[dhpnet]

The Cruze was the first FWD car I've owned that didn't have major understeer in the gravel or snow. No need to e-brake at all to drift corners, just turn the steering wheel harder and the back end will start to rotate. I don't know if it was due to tire differences of not, in the snow we compared my 1LT with the rear Zlink to one without and my car seemed much more prone to rear end rotation than the car with out the zlink.

My Sonic LTZ oversteers even more than my cruze with seemingly even more control through the steering wheel. A few times on gravel roads I've noticed the stability control system is active and I believe partially to blame for this behavior, its applying some brakes to get the back end of the car to match your steering input. When I say some brakes, It feels like only one side in the back and one in the front at fast ABS speeds.

Interesting. So the Z-Link might increase oversteer. Maybe the metal sway bar links would reduce that, unless you like the oversteer. I have not experienced the stablitrak working yet. But I have had the traction control kick in many times. It doesn't seem to be very sensitive, and I can usually spin the wheels for a bit before it does actually come on. The Firestone tires don't have the best traction.

 

[dhpnet]

Installed mine this morning, then I took it on a lot of on ramps and other turns that I usually drive. There was a noticeable difference, especially on a turn with uneven pavement. This was worth every penny of the $36 it cost.

It took me about an hour, including gathering all my tools, jacking the car, replacing the links and cleaning everything up.

I had to turn the steering to the left in order to get the top bolt through the hole on the passenger side.

To remove the old nuts, I used the box end of my 18mm wrench. I had my 40 Torx on my ratchet and just turned the ratchet instead of turning the wrench. The joint spins with the ratchet.

To install the Moog links, I used a Craftsman 3/8" ratchet with a regular 18mm socket. This fit perfectly for the bottom bolt and I was able to put it on in just about a minute. The top bolt sticks out a little more because the strut bracket isn't as thick as the sway bar. I used my 3/8" ratchet but had to switch to my 1/2" ratchet at the end because the smaller one was too short. The 18mm socket for my 1/2" ratchet worked perfectly.

The only concern I had was not being able to measure the torque on the bolts because my torque wrench wont fit in there. The Service Manual says 48 Lb Ft. I used about as much force as it took to break the old ones loose. I don't drive in snow or salt, so there was no corrosion on the bolts.

Thank you, XtremeRevolution, for the write up. Very happy.

 

[dhpnet]

48lb-ft is the spec for the OEM end links. The Moog end links have different locking nuts that will take more effort to tighten. I don't think the exact torque matters on these end links.

The new nuts for the Moog links don't have the nylon inserts like the old ones did. It was obvious that they have some sort of locking feature. They did require extra effort to install them, but it wasn't hard. I pretty much tightened them as much as I could in the confined space.

Here is how they look now.

After driving a little more yesterday, I still think this made a noticeable difference. The difference is most noticeable in handling turns, bumps and uneven pavement. I think there might be a bit more understeer, but the other improvements outweigh that in my opinion.

I thought about painting them gloss black, but decided to just get them installed.

 

[dhpnet]

Semi-related question. My 2nd 2016 Limited is still well within the warranty period (it's driven much less, and my first is just out of warranty as of last month). Should I hold off doing the second until the expiration?

Personally, I would wait until the B2B warranty expires because you don't want them blaming your mods for anything that could go wrong. But, the chances of any suspension problems during the warranty period are very slim, so it probably doesn't matter much.