Introduction
Vorshlag has sold the Ohlins R&T for the 86 chassis (1st and 2nd gen) for a while but noticed a few broken front strut swaybar brackets in late 2025. We made some one-off replacements and did some testing and could not replicate any issue unless you have these two variables:
Variables at play:
- Ohlins front strut housing with the thicker lower bracket than stock
- A thicker endlink shaft, like the Whiteline units shown
- With those two variables above, sometimes when turning full lock and compressing the suspension it can break
- This issue doesn't always crop up, but with some drivers using this combination of parts, it happens regularly
The image below shows these two parts in normal use, but as you steer the strut housing turns and the angularity of the endlink can cause them to touch - if the thicker shaft of the endlink (like this Whiteline) is used with the Ohlins screw-up strut bracket.
To alleviate the issue long term - change the endlinks to shortened (about 50mm shorter than stock) aftermarket endlinks with a thinner shaft. Again, we just found out about this in late 2025, and verified it with a couple of folks in early 2026. We no longer sell the Whiteline endlink for this chassis to remove that variable. We have also never seen this with any other chassis, so if you have an Ohlins coilover and it isn't the 86, don't sweat it.
If you have a cracked or broken an endlink bracket, we now have production replacements that we CNC cut and bend using slightly thicker steel than Ohlins used (.105" stock to our .125" versions).
These are made on our CNC plasma table, then bent to match the Ohlins bracket. We then have them nickel plated for corrosion protection. Are they as pretty as the originals? No. But they are strong. Will this cure the problem if you keep using the same endlinks? No. You have to change the endlinks to avoid another break later.
We don't like having to make replacement parts like this, but nobody else did, so we are making them. If you have broken one 86 Ohlins strut endlink bracket, check the other side for cracks. Please tell us which side you need by picking the option drop down. You can also buy both sides if you are in doubt.
