Just friggin great... Swaybar bracket rant

[Brando]

So two weeks ago I posted a WTB ad for one of the updated "butterfly support" swaybar brackets. A PP member was promptly able to help me. Part acquired, move on to finding a welder.

Here's the driver's side bracket:


I get to a friend's house yesterday to use his MIG welder and grinder. I get the car up, ready to tear into the driver's side rear swaybar mount, then look over to the passenger's side.

Wait a second, that doesn't look right...


The passenger's side bracket -- which looked perfect two months ago -- is all farked up too. Just great. Looking at the area around the bracket, it looks like the passenger's side has been replaced once already.

So just great. I had hoped to get this done this week (rear swaybar installed) because I go back to work on May 3rd. I got a quote from Steve's Independent nearby, $500 to remove, prep and install new brackets, just $260 to weld in and final prep new brackets. Since I'll be going back to work I don't know if I'll have the time to do the prep and may have Steve's do it all. Seeing these have been damaged before, what did the PO hit? Good thing I brought this car up about ½" from when I got it.

[89911]

Most likely the PO didn't hit anything. They are notorious weak brackets and generally fail over time, even quicker if you add aftermarket or thicker bars. You should really repair those in pairs anyway. The reinforced bracket you are replacing would just put more stress in the unreinforced one and make it fail even quicker.

[Por_sha911]

1) Wevo brackets and you won't have to worry.
2) Any good bodyshop guy can cut and weld brackets for about 2-3 hours work at $35-50 per hour. Just be there when he jacks up the car.

[Brando]

Por_sha911, good point on the welding. I'd rather take it to a real P-Car mech just because I am familiar with those around and only trust 2... Steve's Independent in Anaheim and Specialized Porsche Service in Riverside. Given the A/C and Oil lines running by those parts of the body I am concerned a "body shop guy" would not care. Last thing I want to do is re-run oil and A/C lines.

I've decided... I'll cut the old ones out and prep the area. I can't justify an extra $250 for something I can do in 1hr.

[Por_sha911]

I see your point. I have a bodyshop guy that builds custom rods so he admires and knows how to take care of a nice car. I give him specific instruction and then trust his work. It cost me about $0 labor to have a broken mount cut off and the new one welded on.

[911pcars]

I'd go to a good muffler shop. Main reason: Muffler shops use drive-on vehicle lifts. In order to confirm the correct installation geometry, the suspension should be loaded at normal ride height. In addition, unless the muffler shop is Porsche-only, the "Pcar tax" won't be quite as high.

Sherwood

[Rebel911]

$500 Dollars for two simple brackets is a rip-off.
any decent machinist could fab up better one than the stock stamped steel. for a fraction of the price.
for $500 he better be good, real good. I would find a new shop that is not in it to screw you over.

[88-diamondblue]

Common problem. As stated above put the Wevo on and be done with it. Factory and factory reinforced are just stamped sheet metal. Mine had been welded twice before. Wevo's are $89 each

[Brando]

So I decided to cut out the old and weld in the new, myself. I learned today that my welding skills are not what they were 8 years ago; not even close. The welds I did are ugly, but very solid. That's all that matters, right? I went to a nearby friend's house who had the welding equipment.

Some of the tools used.


One of the old brackets cut out.


New bracket clamped, ready to weld.


Brackets and swaybar all installed.


"Leftover" parts from the old brackets.


Took 4 hours to do -- on my back. I didn't snap a pic but the passenger's side had huge globs of beads on there. I won't be surprised if I would need to take these off in 5 or 10 years, clean the area again and weld in the beefy ones. We'll see...

[DW SD]

not sure if you did it, but should have used the sway bar itself as an alignment jig. Bolt it all up, then weld on the brackets. Good on you for doing this yourself!

Doug