Antiroll bar link broken

[MarkTwo]

A couple of weeks ago I drove through a pothole on a local road and started hearing a clunking. Today finally I removed the front wheel to replace what I thought was a broken anti roll bar link. In fact a welded bracket on the radius arm / dragstrut, to which the link bolts has sheared. I took some pictures.IMG00029-20121208-1517.jpgIMG00030-20121208-1517.jpgIMG00031-20121208-1518.jpg.

I have ordered a replacement radius arm with polybush blue seals from Paddocks. I also removed the anti roll bar and it already had polybush seals. I have a new set of links and will fit these with the polybush seals refitted. They seem fine.

Replacement bump stops are not available from Paddock. I have now found them at Rimmers in rubber. Are they available in polybush or should they stay rubber? Any experiences on this?

My neigbour suggests I take a photo of the pot hole and sue the council. They would probably say my front suspension is old and rusty and needs replacement anyway. I guess I agree!

They don't make them like they used to! (Thankfully)

Mark

[martin]

Hi Mark, exactly the same thing happened to me, I guess the old steel contributes, but the shock, on a public road, should NOT have happened, I approached Northants council and they claimed I did not have sufficient proof, the photo was not enough. All councils are different, it may still be worthwhile you chasing yours.
By the way, I'd get underneath with a hose, those bits look a bit salty. Good luck. Martin.

[Firept]

Mark.
Make sure you take a photo of the pot hole and send it in to the County council with the details of where it happened time date etc you may get somewhere. No consolation to you but the next person to get damage from the same pot hole has a case as the council know about it and should have acted or warned drivers.

Paul.

[MarkTwo]

Thanks Guys, Yes I think I may well take a photo of the pothole and visit the council. On the salt, I suppose it is a hazard of driving the car in winter. I only jet washed the underneath last week. This latest layer must be from this morning, driving 30 miles or so. I thought all the rain recently must have washed the salt away, unless they salted the roads last night.

Mark

[jleyton]

There used to be a website where you could check if a pothole had been reported - sorry, I don't know the address.

Cheers

Julian

[Andy Rundell]

I wouldn't bother with the council, it is a known point of potential weakness on our cars, sometime you need to take things on the chin.
The 'I need to blame someone' mentality that many have these day is, in my opinion, something that we can do without - and ultimately any money will be coming from the council tax so try not to moan when it increases

............ Andy

[martin]

I wouldn't bother with the council, it is a known point of potential weakness on our cars, sometime you need to take things on the chin.
The 'I need to blame someone' mentality that many have these day is, in my opinion, something that we can do without - and ultimately any money will be coming from the council tax so try not to moan when it increases

............ Andy

Ooh Andy, that sounds a bit " establishment " Martin.

[DJT]

I tend to agree with Andy. Marks drag strut looks quite rusty in the pictures and these lugs are a known weak spot. I've had one in better condition than that snap without hitting a pot hole. I took that drag strut to work and had it welded up by a coded welder and it was still on the car some 18 years later. There are some around that have been strengthened.

[Andy Rundell]

Ooh Andy, that sounds a bit " establishment " Martin.

Whether it does or not, it is my view on this one....... 'Establishment' is not a word commonly used to describe me, but it doesn't question my parentage, so that's an improvement

[martin]

Whether it does or not, it is my view on this one....... 'Establishment' is not a word commonly used to describe me, but it doesn't question my parentage, so that's an improvement

[ChasR]

Don't MGBs suffer from a similar issue? I believe adding a gusset of weld around certain areas can cure the issue .

[mjheathcote]

That lug on the drag strut was a common failure over 25 years ago, especially back then when most cars where daily runners. Can remember mine going in the late 80's.
I think it is more a design fault, not as common today because the cars aren't used as much and less on the road.

[V Mad]

Tell the council what happened, and say you are considering a claim. Hopefully that will spur them on to getting it fixed (the pot hole that is!).

You can see the rust along the crack line, so that crack has been there a long time, but hey, the strut probably lasted over forty years!

[flying farmer]

Fundamentaly it is a crap design as it puts a bending load on the bracket, so it will eventualy fatigue crack through.
I have just had to repair one on my project Stag.
If the ball joint part had been made with a lot shorter hexagonal bit before the ball, it would have moved the load closer to the bracket and would have helped a bit.
The Dolomite used a much better system, shame they didn't use that for the Stag
Neil

[MarkTwo]

IMG00032-20121216-1459.jpgWhat a difference a week makes! I fitted a new drag strut to the Stag today. It took a while. I learned that when fitting, you need to fit the strut in the chassis with the bushes and washers and nut before connecting to the wishbone. I tried it the other way to begin with which did not work and was quite frustrating under the car. I have now read the workshop manual and it tells you the order in which dto do it, so lesson learned is to read the manual!
I have refurbished the anti roll bar - derusted and painted and it is ready to be fitted, but I will refurbish the other drag strut first. It looks a little different under there from last week.

Mark