By now many 350Z/G35 owners know how poor the stock endlinks deal with stiffer than stock swaybars. We’ve even seen customer cars where the stock endlinks have bent, and/or the bushings have worn when using only stock sways. When you start hearing creaking over small bumps, popping noises, etc, that’s usually a surefire sign that the endlinks are shot. I was among the first to report this issue on my own Z, and started development work on our own links in 2007. In doing the research, I acquired all the known aftermarket endlinks that I could find from Whiteline, SPL, as well as few units made by independant suspensions shops on their own. While each design was certainly beefier than stock, it was clear that they all were going to eventually wear and make noise due to the type of design they were using. We had used similarly designed links on other cars before, and knew there had to be a better way. One of the links we acquired as part of our research came out of a small company in Michigan called Powergrid. The owner had a long standing reputation in suspension engineering for such prominent firms as Roush Racing, and had come up with a design that combined OEM reliability, with full adjustability. They were nothing short of amazing. I used these on my own car for about 6 months before deciding to offer them to our client base. Now we’re the exclusive dealer for the Z/G application.
Powergrid Endlinks 350Z/G35 - Click for More Info!
These links use a genuine THK ball link end joing. Each THK Ball Link is composed of a high-precision ball bearing, a die-cast holder, and a shank connected to the ball by a special welding method. Through a unique production process, the mirror surface of the ball bearing is copied onto the inner mounting surface for perfect contact between them, achieving outstanding wear resistance, exceedingly smooth motion, and high strength.
Unlike the other, more common heim joint style units, these are fully sealed, never require greasing, and are completely water tight and dust tight. In addition, you never have to worry about these links developing noise issues down the road due to the design of their ball joint ends. The dual lock nuts on either end of the link means that the length of the link will not change over time, which can happen on other style endlinks which only use 1 lock nut. In addition, the other style links on the market are not sealed units, so dust, grime, sand, and moisture is ever present, and leads to increased NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and limited articulation.
Since introducing these to the 350Z/G35 market, they have fast become the endlink to have for street and track use. However, it doesn’t stop there. Powergrids Porsche endlinks are now widely used throughout the PCA, as well as SCCA. GM’s Chevy Cobalt SS Teams have dominated the ST2 class using these links, and they have been prominently used throughout NASA, and other series.
Any questions, drop us a line at z1sales@z1auto.com, or on AIM (z1auto, kwamez1auto) and we’ll be happy to assist you! We can offer a wide range of links from Audi to Volkswagon, and we’re always interested in developing more applications!
Kwame
Z1 Performance
Jonathan
Corner Balance 