Want To Know What Happens When Torsion Bar Breaks When You're Driving?

[Glasgow 911SC]

Today I was driving along sedately and took a shallow bend at average speed and then POP. It sounded like I had driven over a brick at high speed and it had bounced off the floor pan. I stopped and checked what was up. Here's what I saw;




I'm guessing a broken T-bar is all this can be!? Mikkel, did your car look like this? I've got the car home now at least.

Anyway, I've recently bought some Koni shocks (thanks Anil) so it looks like some new T-bars are in order too!
Anyone in the UK know of a cheap source or a source for bigger torsion bars?

Cheers

Eeew bummer. Yes mine looked like that, actually worse because I have big wheels. Lucky that nothing happened to you. Since mine collapsed overnight in the garage I've been afraid that it would happen while going through a curve at 130km/h. I guess this just pushed me even further in wanting to replace the rears also (only had the fronts replaced recently).

Slightly off topic, but I just took a look at your homepage. Very nice. I like what you have done to the interior. Looks great. Also I really like how your car sounds in the MP3 file. Almost stock at tickover, but nice and aggressive when you play with the throttle.

[KTL]

Could be a broken crossmember, end cap, or adjusting screw too. These three things support the t-bar's position in the car.

I'm not trying to make it seem worse than it is. It's not that hard of a fix, regardless of which of the above components may be broken. Jack up that corner, put a stand under there and take a look. If you're pretty familiar with the suspension components, you should be able to notice what has failed.

[Planter91C2]

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[Glasgow 911SC]

You trying to frighten me Daryl!

[rsr808]

Same thing happened to me but on the rear. I was pulling up on a driveway and pop!! Had no idea what happened until I walked around the car. It's a bit more difficult to tell when it happens on the rear... except for the grinding noise!

I went with Sander Engineering bars as recommended by Bruce, 22 front and 28 rear. They're really nice... gun drilled and everything.

Good luck!

[Glasgow 911SC]

Mikkel,
The 1st exhaust sample is mine . The second one is what I'd like mine to sound like. I think it is Pelicanite Mark Wilson's Flowmaster.

[Glasgow 911SC]

RSR808,
Ideally I would go to the 22/28 combo but I've spent a fair bit of cash recently and I'm not sure I can afford too. Depends on what deals are around.

[AirCooledExcellence]

S**T Chris, that must have been scary!!

Good job you were taking it easy when it went pop it makes me feel ill when I think of what could happen if one of these break at speed!!

I'm beginning to think that perhaps the metal in our original bars maybe starting to get fatigued and we should all think about replacing our bars! What does everyone else think?

Cheers

[Jim Garfield]

Chris, is the car down just in the right front or both on sides?

Last summer I was going around a curve and heard a loud bang almost like someone had
thrown a rock at the car. I stopped, looked at all of the body panels, checked to make sure
that I hadn't thrown a fan belt, looked underneath...couldn't see anything. The car didn't
seem to handle differently and I'm quite sure that I didn't drive over anything that could
have kicked up. Very mysterious.

Did your tire rub on the wing after this happened? My car is quite low as it is but nothing
noticeably changed, but I think that maybe I'll go have a closer look at the torsion bar
mounts!

Thanks for the heads up.


edit: Daryl, do you know the story that goes with that photo? YIKES!

[barlowdo]

I wish my 912 had just been the front torsion bar but rust had did in the front A Arm. Luckily I got a replacement for around $30.00 and it was not too bad to install.

[Glasgow 911SC]

Jim,
Its just the right side thats noticably lower. The tyre didn't rub and I was close to home so I managed to drive it back. There would have been rubbing on anything more that a slight bend though.
The steering was off afterwards and I had to keep the wheel to the left just to head straight. Every ripple on the road was magnified.

[nostatic]

Planter, I looked at that car but it didn't pass the PPI. Shame...I liked the color.

[Rick Lee]

Can new torsion bars break? I know the rusty ones can, but mine are only a few weeks old. Around here the potholes have gotten so bad from all the snow that it's like driving on the moon. Someone said last week that a good-sized pothole can snap a torsion bar. After what I just spent on suspension and corner balancing, I'd be really bummed it that happened now.

[speeder]

Glasgow, Please give us an update when you diagnose it. I have heard a true story of the inner T.bar anchors giving way on the rear of an early car due to unseen rust, the entire rear of car dropped to the wheels and torsion tube needed to be replaced. That would be a lot worse than the front, if it's any comfort. Please tell if hidden rust is a factor in your case. TIA.

[Jim Richards]

Can new torsion bars break? I know the rusty ones can, but mine are only a few weeks old.

Richard, please don't stress, you'll end up prematurely grey. Ask me how I know.

[barlowdo]

Thanks for reminding me, I lost the rear torsion tube on that 68 912 also. It broke during the shakedown cruise to test the new rebuilt top end in the engine. Luckily I had a donor car I used for the replacement tube. I tried buying a new tube and all I could find affordable was one for I think a RS with the shocks mounted in a different location. It looked too difficult to retrofit. It was much easier to cut the center section out of my donor car.

It always made me wonder if people who build up RS replicas use this special RS torsion tube. At least I think it was RS - don't hold me to it.

Rust never sleeps !!! I am glad I moved up to a '66 !!!!!

Don B

[ZCAT3]

That could be any number of things - from a blown shock, to the A-arm or torsion bar tube coming out of place from perhaps a broken bolt. It should be very easy to diagnose by jacking that side up and removing the tire. A visual inspection should reveal the problem.

[dickster]

chris,

excellent excuse to upgrade! sanders bars shipped from the states for £400. i'm waiting for mine now, fingers crossed.

if you want to hang on you could use/have my old ones. let me know. depends how quick you need them?