That's how they're designed, if they're angled up or down the tension or leverage (anti-sway) would be less. They work better parallel. If you look at the shape of them you can see they are designed to be flat and will resist side to side force better oriented that way. My rear was way off being lowered 3-4". The DJM endlinks made a difference I could feel. Once you get everything dialed in and it all works together right, it's amazing how these big rigs handle. Swaybars and endlinks are just part of the equation but I feel they're pretty important.