sway bar bracket snapped! need help

[ehummelman]

I had the car up on the lift having some exhaust work done and noticed this little surprise:
52207

No idea why it failed, but I need to fix it right away obviously. It's a Hotchkis 1 1/8 bar, and I see on their site that they now have stronger billet mounts (hmmm. I wonder how many of these things have failed).

Word of warning, check under your car periodically. :cheers:

[MrQuick]

lets see the end link side at ride height. chances are they are severely preloaded...or just metal fatigue. I've seen guys wack the corners with a hammer and flat driver to get it to sit flat.

[UMI Tech]

Hey ehummelman.

We had this problem on a few cars which prompted us to make these:

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_114&products_id=444

If you look at the install pics there's a drawing. You could check to see if they fit your application.

Sometimes the sheetmetal brackets simply become fatigued and break as in your picture. We see this on random cars but more often on auto-x and oval track applications.

ramey

[ehummelman]

lets see the end link side at ride height. chances are they are severely preloaded...or just metal fatigue. I've seen guys wack the corners with a hammer and flat driver to get it to sit flat.

I will take a look this weekend. I don't know jack about swaybars really - can you explain what you mean by too much preload? When I take the bar off to install the billet brackets how should I avoid excesive preload? Thanks.

[rrunner68]

Yes. Sway bars should be installed with the vehicle at ride height and neutral. It prevents stress failures as you experienced. It also prevents sway bar "jacking" which preloads the bar (a bad thing) and can effect your effective corner weights.

[David Pozzi]

Hot hike has a better steel mount now, plus an aluminum one.

[Hotchkis]

Ehummelman – Very unusual, but we recommend lubing those bushings every 3,000 miles with a quick pump of chassis grease or synthetic moly lube anyway, so it’s a good time to look everything over.

Checking for preload on the end links is a good idea. What kind of road were you driving on when that happened? Good idea mentioning to others about checking under their car on a regular basis.

Our billet sway bar mounts are definitely stronger than the steel strap mounts…and they look way cool.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[ehummelman]

I actually have no idea when it broke. I had it on the lift getting exhaust done and one of the guys saw it and pointed it out to me. For all I know it could have been broken for 6 months. I'll be calling you for a set of the billet mounts.

[solarguy09]

I have Hotchkis Bars on order..

I may have to order the Billet mounts.

Thanks for the info ...

[aps63]

For as much as we spend on the whole Suspension setup, why not upgrade to the billet mounts.
And your right Hotchkis, they do look cool.

[Hotchkis]

I actually have no idea when it broke. I had it on the lift getting exhaust done and one of the guys saw it and pointed it out to me. For all I know it could have been broken for 6 months. I'll be calling you for a set of the billet mounts.


Ehummelman – We’re guessing it didn’t happen too long ago. It doesn’t take too long for the bushing to pop off, especially since the split in the bushing is pressed against the strap…unless it was in serious need for lube and it’s stuck to the bar pretty good.

Those new billet sway bar brackets are definitely some eye candy. :)

[ehummelman]

Got the mounts in the mail, thanks. Now, to install them I understand that the car should be at ride height. Without a lift, can I put the car on jack stands right under the control arm spring pocket to shave the weight of the car on the suspension? Then loosen the end links, install the billet mounts, then tighten up the end links?

[MrQuick]

yep thats about it. make sure the sway bar arm is fairly level at ride height. this will put your swaybar pretty close to mid travel. dependant of how low your suspension is.

[rrunner68]

Got the mounts in the mail, thanks. Now, to install them I understand that the car should be at ride height. Without a lift, can I put the car on jack stands right under the control arm spring pocket to shave the weight of the car on the suspension? Then loosen the end links, install the billet mounts, then tighten up the end links?

Or some drive-on ramps.

[Bryce]

Or some drive-on ramps.

Dan

You are too simple?

[rrunner68]

Sorry.

[ehummelman]

Well, I ran into another problem. The rear bolt on the passenger side(the one where the bracket snapped) is not coming out. It spins and spins but doesn't back out. It looks like these just screw into the frame, with no captured nut or anything in there so I'm thinking the threads in the frame are stripped. Should I just grind/cut the bolt off and screw a larger size one in there? Right now I can't get the new brackets on without getting that one out of there. Help please, thanks.

[rrunner68]

If you call Hotchkis on Monday, they sell a piece that can be inserted into the framerail by drilling a couple of holes. Its basically a strap of metal with two threaded studs coming out, it is used to attach a bracket that holds the dog bone on some applications. It may fit your application. If not, it would be easy to recreate something similar.

[ehummelman]

After reading threads on other forums about this problem, apparently it happens quite a bit on these old cars. The OE design was weak at best. It seems that I will need to pull the shock and coil spring in order to get access to the inside of the frame rail, then either use a large washer and bolt or a piece of flat stcok with nuts welded to it as suggested. What a pain in the butt! Oh well, back up on jack stands it is.

[hifi875]

My hotchkis sway bar on my 69 did thesame last summer. I just had to
Put a new bolt in mine

[Motorcitydak]

Id guess that the threaded fitting that is inside the frame rail is broken off so its just spinning in there. You can grind away the head of that bolt with will allow you to get the rest of the strap off the car. Just push the rest of it up and get it out with a magnet or something. Then do your new plate with a welded nut on there and put it in.

[Hotchkis]

After reading threads on other forums about this problem, apparently it happens quite a bit on these old cars. The OE design was weak at best. It seems that I will need to pull the shock and coil spring in order to get access to the inside of the frame rail, then either use a large washer and bolt or a piece of flat stcok with nuts welded to it as suggested. What a pain in the butt! Oh well, back up on jack stands it is.


Ehummelman – You may be able to get a curved tool wedged up in there to push down on the bolt while loosening it. We’ve seen people put a nut in through the access hole with an extra long wrench to tighten it up. Your idea sounds better in the long run, but it’s going to be some work.