Unhappy front end noise- Broken Drop Link
 

Just prior to leaving on a 2 week vacation I took ye old Targa out for a drive and heard some extra creaking and complaints from the front suspension.
I did put in Elephant Racing front control arm bushings several years back, I do like them but they do seem to get noisier when they need more grease.

I assumed that was the cause of the additional noises so I went after them with a grease gun and a quick check of all the other moving bits after getting back home.

Passenger side all looked OK other than a bit more play in the wheel bearings than I'm happy with.

As I was eyeballing the driver's side the cause of the noise became clear:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1539544538.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1539544538.JPG

Wow!
I do remember hitting a speed bump that was bigger than I initially thought about 3 weeks ago and thinking I may have bottomed out the front suspension travel. It really was not that severe but I believe that was likely the cause of the drop link failure.

I have two new drop links and bushings on order from our host, so both sides will get replaced soon...

Seems like an odd failure. Maybe 46 years is a decent life expectancy from a German OEM drop link?
Anyone else break one without a major impact/force?