Broken Rear Sway Bar Mount

FA-18C · 03-09-2023, 02:45 AM

I searched through and read about how some had completed repairs of their rear sway bar mounts and hoping to get some insight. I dropped by the shop yesterday to see how things were going on my clutch repair, the owner was there and we spent 45 minutes talking about my car - great opportunity to pick his brain. He pointed out a couple of items that I knew about, and have plans to address, and had some ideas there. He also candidly offered that some of the items I have planned to do can wait for a lot longer, which is good. He did point out a broken rear sway bar mount that I had not seen.

Their welder retired, and the shop he typically uses is 90 days out, so looking for a plan B. I have a young but a very good TIG or MIG welder in out boatyard. Had him weld in 2nd bung on my stainless premuffler and he killed it... Other than grinding out the old mount and clamping it in the same location with the same angle tacking it, then completing the weld, is there much more too this I am unaware of? I have some serious off road gear heads that will likely stick there head in there with lots of recommendations for him, but par tis inbound, so want to at least give him some guidance. I know it is somewhat nerve wracking working on the boss's car

Also, is there any issue driving the car without the rear sway bar? Just to and from work until the mount comes in?

Thankfully, so far there has not been any BAD news, but they are not done yet.

Cory M · 03-09-2023, 05:38 AM

You can drive without the rear bar, you'll just have understeer.

Any decent welder can do this repair with some guidance and pictures from the forum. Make sure both mounts are aligned with the bar in place to prevent binding and the area is cleaned to bare metal.

Dpmulvan · 03-09-2023, 05:42 AM

If he can tig stainless perfect the sway bar mount is child’s play. I assume you’re buying the aftermarket solid mounts?? Give him the stuff leave him alone and let him weld. You can drive without sway bar just don’t get crazy.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory M

You can drive without the rear bar, you'll just have understeer.........

I've been driving mine as long as I've had it, without one and hardly even notice it.

FA-18C · 03-09-2023, 05:50 AM

The other mount is in good shape, but I plan on having him tack in a reinforcement when he installs the replacement. He is a good MIG welder, and an excellent TIG welder...more comfortable TIG.

Thanks all...

70SATMan · 03-09-2023, 11:31 AM

If you’re replacing stock mounts and thinking beefier bars, might as well box both mounts while you’re in there or cut them out and install cast mounts like Elephant. One and done.

PeteKz · PeteKz's Garage

As Cory says, no problem driving the car without sway bars. Hell, some of the T's came from the factory with out them. On the street, you probably won't even notice the difference.

As for reinforcing the rear mounts, those were pretty flimsy from the factory. Another one of those "what was Porsche thinking?" questions. I partially reinforced one of mine by bending a thin plate (16 ga) so that it not only ties the outer edge of the mount back to the frame, but also wraps around the bottom of the original mount, so that when you put the bolts through the U clamp, those bolts the go through the plate and then into the OE mount. That seems to me a better solution than just welding a plate between the edge of the mount and the frame. But then, I'm known to over engineer things.

I said I partially reinforced the mount. That's because I haven't had the car up on a lift with a welder nearby so that I could weld the top of the reinforcing plate to the frame, so as a temporary fix, I put two large chassis-style sheetmetal screws through the plate into the frame. They are holding up so far, and given my tendency towards procrastination, that might end up being the permanent solution by default.

Flojo · Flojo's Garage

This is what the TS meant:

This is the ultimate replacement (think it’s from RebelRacing)

Flojo · Flojo's Garage

This is what I did to avoid it ripping

PeteKz · PeteKz's Garage

Nice work, Flo.

Flojo · Flojo's Garage

Next one will be better, with a reinforcement plate where the bolts go to stiffen the mounting surface

FA-18C · 03-09-2023, 01:58 PM

Appreciate the various solutions. The new replacements have a reinforcement, I will have my welder add some gussets to the other side. Not a track car, so really not overly worried about making that the strongest part of the undercarriage. Just glad so far the mech has found no other surprise hand grenades so far.

chrismorse · chrismorse's Garage

Hi Chris :-)
When i inherited my dad's 74, ( he had originally ordered the carrea bar option), it to my surprise, had no rear 18 mm bar. Apparently it had been too stiff for the chassis and the right mount had torn off, at which point, my dad's shop had simply asked him if he drove the car hard and he said no, so they simply cut off the rear bar.
So, Some years later, I opted to reinstall the 18 mm bar with wevo mounts.

A that time i also opted to install ER adjustable drop links, so i could dial out any preload when corner-weighting.

Moving further into track use and old age, i went through the suspension, stiffening the rubber bushings, shocks, T Bars and anti-roll bars, (installing hollow 22mm adjustable bars), so my point here is look forward - if you might get more serious about driving the car and upgrading components, this might be the time to go HD, (ie Wevo or equivalent bar mounts), on both sides.

Here is my first post on the work: Show me reinforced rear sway bar mounts

foot to the floor,
chris

Quicksilver · 03-10-2023, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG Allin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory M

You can drive without the rear bar, you'll just have understeer.

Any decent welder can do this repair with some guidance and pictures from the forum. Make sure both mounts are aligned with the bar in place to prevent binding and the area is cleaned to bare metal.

I've been driving mine as long as I've had it, without one and hardly even notice it.

When I drove my 87 with the rear swaybar off it would heel over and pickup the front inside tire 4 or 5 inches in a hard corner. (You get some awesome "WTH!" comments at an auto-x!)

_____________________________________

I've ripped a rear sway bar mount off the car twice. First time ANDIAL welded on the "upgraded" factory replacement mount and that lasted almost 15 years.

The next time I was looking for a more "bombproof" solution and was headed towards the "WEVO swaybar console" and then I saw the Jerry Woods Enterprises swaybar mount. Instead of attaching to the thin unibody sheet metal the JWE part is partially mounted to the torque tube which is actually a real structural mounting point. When I mounted it I was able to slightly raise the mounting points for more ground clearance.

Yeah. It's bomb proof now.

FA-18C · 03-10-2023, 05:04 AM

chris/Quick - good info. I looked at the WEVO and elephant, but for now am just replacing the failed and reinforcing the other. It is in solid shape, but as the new are reinforced, do not want to create a weakest link.

Quick - what you described is exactly what my mech explained to me this morning. First work with him, but based on my interaction so far, have high confidence. He has a world of knowledge and 40+ years on air cooled cars and deep experience on the track. Surprisingly, my rubber centered clutch still had life in it. There was a lot of rust that had toasted a bearing and the fork shaft creating noise and the hard pedal feel. Said we could have just fixed the items and put it back together, but new was the way to go. It will be next week now, so will drive the car from his shop the quarter mile to mine and weld the bracket on before taking the car home.

If I decide to do some DE and track days, will look at the upgrades. On the good side, I have a good good young welder in my shop, and there are a dozen gear heads who will be in there monitoring.