Broken swaybar link fix

[DB92]

The other day my friend was installing his coilovers. Unfortunately the link on the sway bar broke. This can happen fairly easy so try not to put stress on these. If you do happen to break one you can weld it up without damaging the rubber boot. Here are the steps I took;

1) Grind off plating on both sides.
2) Remove boot clip.
3) Pull back rubber boot.
4) Tack weld.
5) Did two beads.
6) Let cool a bit.
7)Did two more beads.
8) Pull boot back over and use tie wire instead of clip, you can choose either.

I used a home depot lincoln 100 mig with the gas conversion (no shielded wire)

 

[DB92]

I guess I didnt save the "after" pic in my phone so I will have to get a shot of the repaired part off of his car. Sorry folks

 

[FogCityNSX]

I've repaired mine before doing that.

HOWEVER, it is NOT the rubber boot that people should worry about (since it can easily be removed then reinstalled), it is potentially melting the nylon parts INSIDE.

 

[DB92]

I've repaired mine before doing that.

HOWEVER, it is NOT the rubber boot that people should worry about (since it can easily be removed then reinstalled), it is potentially melting the nylon parts INSIDE.

I respectfully disagree, Pulling boot back keeps it from getting cooked. Welding in intermittent beads with cooling time between is the damage control for the interworkings of the joint itself. I continue to believe they are both notable precautions to mention.
If the goal is to put the two precautions in an order of importance on paper then I guess joint preservation would be priority one.
In a real world situation there is really no reason why one would only do one or the other. So if you decide to make this riff raff repair take all precautions that are possible.

 

[stuntman]

Not sure how strong the link will be welded, probably weaker than before it broke. It's important to figure out why it broke, most likely the angles from the swaybar to the control arm are bad which broke the link.

Invest in adjustable links.

 

[DB92]

Not sure how strong the link will be welded, probably weaker than before it broke. It's important to figure out why it broke, most likely the angles from the swaybar to the control arm are bad which broke the link.

Invest in adjustable links.

Why is it weaker? From my experience laying a bead is stronger than a contact type weld, but thats just hill billy engineering. I dont have an Instron handy but I do put faith in empirical data. In my experience steel is just not that finiky on such a basic part. If there is more weld than what the factory provided, the possibility of temper not being ideal probably wont come into play.

The part broke the same way the other members did, Abuse during disassembly/installation.

 

[stuntman]

Why is it weaker? From my experience laying a bead is stronger than a contact type weld, but thats just hill billy engineering. I dont have an Instron handy I do put faith in empirical data. In my experience steel is just not that finiky on such a basic part. If there is more weld, temper probably wont come into play.

The part broke the same way the other members did, Abuse during disassembly/installation.

All depends on the welder, quality of the welds, penetration, heat cycles to the piece, etc... It can be stronger but everything relies on the welder.

If the problem were to be in the geometry and not the installation/dissassembly, then it would be better to invest in adjustable links than to fix the link and not the root of the problem.

 

[Oyagi]

Why bother welding? Plenty of aftermarket upgrades available and plenty of discarded oem bars available (like mine)


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[DB92]

Why bother welding? Plenty of aftermarket upgrades available and plenty of discarded oem bars available (like mine)



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Because those parts were not in the garage, The welder was. If your parts are in fact available pm me a price.

Thanks.