Track bar/panhard bar (rear) breakage?

[krewat]

Anyone seen one of these break? I think I ran over something on the highway today, and heard a BANG. Right rear panhard bar broke at the front joint, looks like, dropped on the ground and broke off. I was doing around 60 at the time. Might not have been whatever I ran over, or maybe it was and the weld was already questionable.

Boy oh boy did that thing fishtail as soon as I touched the brakes. Luckily I knew how to correct quickly and kept it straight, otherwise I would have taken out three lanes of traffic.

A quick look at the weld and it doesn't look ... good. Like around 90+ degrees of the weld wasn't actually doing anything. I need to take a better picture tomorrow, and I'll report back.

 

[BradM]

I'm not sure what you're calling a panhard bar but there is a known issue with the rear toe links fracturing. This notice is for Explorers but it's same for SHO's. See the pictures. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCMN-21V746-3070.pdf

 

[kryptto]

I'm not sure what you're calling a panhard bar but there is a known issue with the rear toe links fracturing. This notice is for Explorers but it's same for SHO's. See the pictures. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCMN-21V746-3070.pdf

Too @BradM point, check the TSB's and get your vehicle into Ford for the appropriate repairs.

https://www.ford.com/support/recalls/

Your vehicle should also be "clean" on the government site: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

 

[krewat]

It's not the toe-adjuster. I already had to change it on that side because the tie-rod-end got rusty during COVID, and got sloppy. My car came with the forged toe-adjusters.

"Track bar" is what it's called on Tasca, 5500B in the attached pic. The weld at the round end looks like it failed, the bar dropped into the pavement and broke off.

 

[kryptto]

It's not the toe-adjuster. I already had to change it on that side because the tie-rod-end got rusty during COVID, and got sloppy. My car came with the forged toe-adjusters.

"Track bar" is what it's called on Tasca, 5500B in the attached pic. The weld at the round end looks like it failed, the bar dropped into the pavement and broke off.

Ack - ok well thanks for explaining - never heard of that part before, but the suspension being independent has so many more parts. Sorry to hear about this - I suspect living in NY - salt had done its part. Keep us informed, curious if others have seen this.

By the way I have driven on the Northern and Southern State' parkways - as well as the LIE - NOTHING would shock me if you hit something that sheared that part.

 

[krewat]

Yeah, weird thing is it ONLY sheared that part. I think what I hit was the straw that broke the camel's back. Let me get better pics of the broken weld.

 

[jman1200]

Report it to the NHTSA.

 

[Ta2dResqr]

Report it to the NHTSA.

THIS. Speaking as someone who is contracted to NHTSA, the only way we investigate is if there are enough complaints. Obviously, life threats require less to be "enough". It also has a lot to do if anyone is hurt or killed, and how it is reported. A steering/suspension component failing does not immediately draw attention. A steering/suspension component that failed leaving you stranded in the middle of a freeway blocking traffic leaving you susceptible to being hit draws more attention.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

Its called a Trailing Arm. I've not heard of those breaking before. I know the Rear Toe Link has and as was mentioned, there's recalls for the toe link.

As for the trailing arm, Steeda makes upgraded ones for the Explorer, I wonder if it fits on the SHO.

For The Workshop

...where the passion meets reality...

www.fortheworkshop.com

 

[kryptto]

Its called a Trailing Arm. I've not heard of those breaking before. I know the Rear Toe Link has and as was mentioned, there's recalls for the toe link.

As for the trailing arm, Steeda makes upgraded ones for the Explorer, I wonder if it fits on the SHO.

For The Workshop

...where the passion meets reality...

www.fortheworkshop.com

Please - he (I assume) lives on LI in NY. That was mostly a dead body with a cement block chained to it, in the road! HA! I jest of course.

 

[yaycandy]

Ive never heard of the trailing arm breaking. Now you worry me, something else to add to the list.
I replaced the toe links.

 

[krewat]

Hey everyone... sorry for the delay in reporting back. Still thinking things through. Turns out, the trailing arm I got from the Ford dealer has the wrong bushing in it, compared to what came on my car. In a few hours, I will have what I think is the correct one from Tasca coming in the mail. But that's not what we're really on about here...

The failure itself, here are pictures. Very weird, that both ends broke like this. I've ran the entire thing through my head, and I believe what I ran over was a 6-8" piece of black pipe. There are marks on the subframe that look like pipe threads.

Here are pics of the failed ends, and the new arm vs old.

New arm is AA5Z-5500-A which is what the Ford dealer said should be the part, based on VIN.

The old arm is I believe AA8Z-5500-A - note the "8" - this 8 is in the label on the round end bushing, and on the bushing itself, while the bushing on the new arm is a "5" in the same place.

Also note the difference in the bushing. Again, I have the AA8Z on the way from Tasca, and according to pics I've seen, the bushing is correct.

 

[kryptto]

That is very scary, sorry to see it, nice pictures for us to inspect on our own.

 

[BradM]

Wow. The welds didn't break but the metal did. You should see marks on the broken arm itself. It had to have taken a direct hit for it to break like that.

 

[krewat]

Wow. The welds didn't break but the metal did. You should see marks on the broken arm itself. It had to have taken a direct hit for it to break like that.

The arm itself is gone. It completely disappeared. At first, I thought, well, the front weld broke and the arm dropped down into the pavement and broke off the back. Nope, that rear bushing is stiff and no way that went down into the pavement first.

It's like hitting the stem of a wine glass, and the two ends of it break and leave the base and the bowl ...

Is it my imagination, or insanity, that makes me think the welds penetrated TOO far and the bar was weak right next to the weld? There is no rust intrusion that I can see. I'll get better pictures of the breaks.