So I noticed the car pulling hard to the right when braking. Took a look and saw this. What would have caused this? Also is it worth fixing or just look for a new sway bar?
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,440
My VIN: 11408
Club(s): (DMWC) (TXDMC) (DCUK) (DOI)
So I noticed the car pulling hard to the right when braking. Took a look and saw this. What would have caused this? Also is it worth fixing or just look for a new sway bar?
Supercharged 5.3L LS4 + Porsche 6spd
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lsdelorean.com
I am not affiliated with Delorean Midwest in anyway.
That doesn't even look like a stock sway bar - was it not properly rated for the flexibility required there?
Chris
The problem is the sway bar is also being asked to act as a radius arm. Installing the LCA brace kit or going with Dave's new arms will help to allow the bar to focus on controlling body roll.
-D Knight-
Location: Sunfield, Michigan, USA
Posts: 2,444
My VIN: 1798
Lot's of possibilities as to what could have caused that - everything from improper mounting geometry to hitting something that exceeded the bar's specs to defective metal in the manufacturing process. Hard to say for sure (probably impossible) exactly what caused your failure.
Personally, I don't think that repairing would yield acceptable results, thus IMHO, it's new bar time, unfortunately....
Location: CLE/PHX
Posts: 2,592
My VIN: 5646,5080, 5880, 10234, 3639, 2518, 10586, 1538
Without seeing it first hand in this case I have seen this once before. It was from a massive impact with a cinder block according to the owner. But there was no impact marks on the bar. Just sheered off where it necks down.
www.deloreanindustries.com Every Detail Matters
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 2,734
My VIN: 01643
Club(s): (DCF) (DCO) (DCUK)
Could be just the perspective but that sway bar looks bigger than stock to me.
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,440
My VIN: 11408
Club(s): (DMWC) (TXDMC) (DCUK) (DOI)
lol, its a stock sway bar, just galvanized.
The LCAs are fine, these are DPIs SS units.
I have been driving on some rough roads lately. I think it is compounded by the fact I overtorqued the sway bar bolts. I also did this several times as I was working on suspension alot over the last month or so.
Supercharged 5.3L LS4 + Porsche 6spd
[email protected]
lsdelorean.com
I am not affiliated with Delorean Midwest in anyway.
Dave M vin 03572
http://dm-eng.weebly.com/
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 2,734
My VIN: 01643
Club(s): (DCF) (DCO) (DCUK)
I wondered the same thing. I deal with the concern of distortion and residual stress from hot dip galvanizing a lot at work.
Either way, if you knowingly overtorqued it, that's likely the cause. The end of the sway bar is just mild steel that is threaded; it's no where near as strong as normal hardware. Most mild steels, (ie ASTM A36) have a tensile strength of ~60,000psi. That's not even as high as the minimum requirements for a bolt to be a certified grade 2 (sae) bolt.
I suppose there is a very slim chance that the bars may have been heat treated or case hardened from the factory since it's constantly loaded, but the heat treatment would likely be lost during the galvanization. Still, given where it broke, it looks like the bar was over torqued.
Last edited by Nicholas R; 07-13-2014 at 09:33 AM.
Hot dipped the temp bath of molten zinc at a temperature of around 860 °F (460 °C).
That would defiantly upset any heat treating. Now we need to find out if the bar is heat treated.
Dave M vin 03572
http://dm-eng.weebly.com/