Strut rod failure

[RJ-92]

Well lthe rod itself didn't fail, but the washer that holds the bushing as subsequent strut rod in place on the right rear let go. I noticed last night while backing out of my friends driveway it made a groaning/scraping sound as if my bumper scraped a steep parking entrace but the noise was definately comming form the rear. I went to inspect and noticed that I could move the right rear wheel ~ 6" back and forth. I looked under and I had what appeared to one time be a washer henging from the strut rod, and the strut rod would gladly move through the mount in the chassis.

And of corse its Sunday and its a special order part because no one carries it. And I cant even get my car out of thare.

WTF!

 

[Yamaha V6]

Yeah, I ran into that last week Ron. Replaced the rear strut rod hardware while doing the bushings & FPS rear adjustable arms. Luckily my dealer had 8 washers on the shelf.

 

[MeShoHorny]

When I replaced my SR bushings with Poly I ran into this problem. Solution: any hardware store will carry what you need, though I don't recall the inside diameter of the rod. Get a couple of mis-matching washers sets that look close and you should be set to go.

 

[RJ-92]

Thanx Jay.

The problem is I was backing down an slight embankment when I noticed the problem. How easy is it to bend a strut? The tires sits somewaht forward at rest than the desired alignment, but I supose this can be just because the rod is only holding it from moving in one direction.

Fred, Where did you get your FPS arms. I washoping to pick up a set of these sometime but don't want to spend $400 on them.

 

[Yamaha V6]

I bought them from Doug at the Wisconsin convention. I paid the $400 for them, then during the banquet a donated set sold for like $265. Argh.

They're nice, but a complete PITA to install, IMO.

I did the H-Brace at the same time, as well as Energy Suspension poly bushings on the strut rods. I didn't get in my ES bushings for the sway bar in time either, but that's a good thing, because I'm not sure of the front & rear bar choice I'm going to run with yet, with the coilovers being so stiff. At Lime Rock it wasn't as noticeable, but at New Hampshire International (shorter straights, more curves, more elevation changes - very busy course), the car was pushing pretty hard. The rear was decently planted though, probably in large part due to the -2 deg. was able to get from the bars.

As for those washers, they're considerably larger than .500" ID; that was the largest my drill index set went to, as I was going to do exactly what Jay mentioned with a standard washer. IIRC, it's around .687" ID.

If you can get them from Ford, they're not that expensive, and they're cupped properly for the application too. Remember, 2 different size washers for the spindle half & the chassis half.

 

[MeShoHorny]

Fred- how can anyone IIRC .687" ID, that's just insane! Ron, only way to really get a handel on this is take a look at the rod assembly. It will be abundantly clear once you look at it what the problem is. And yes, the wheels could move fore and aft if the strut rod has come lose.