Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rear Sway Bar Bracket - Broken

I'm not sure, but I think this is a pretty unusual problem!
For anyone who's looked carefully at the rear suspension, you'll note that the rear sway bar (anti-roll bar) connects to the car at 4 points. One on each hub (2), and 2 points closer to the center of the car,about 12 inches away from the wheel, just aft of the gas tank. There are 2 metal brackets that hold the bar away from the underbody of the car, and they are each connected to the sway-bar by a bushing.
I'm almost sure that Ford never thought this was a piece that would break, because I'm pretty sure that it is connected to the frame of the car by WELDS, not bolts. Well, on my car, that piece of metal holding the bar away from the underbody BROKE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE! Now I have a thump/rattle of either

1) The sway bar hitting the underbody of the car every time the suspension moves, OR

2) the piece of the bar and bushing still connected to the bar boucing into the underbody of the car everytime I hit a bump.

It looks like i'm going to have to go to a muffler shop to get this 'fixed' because it is a TOTAL welding job, and the ford dealer doesnt even have an idea of the part I broke. But it also looks like the part I broke actually flexes with the suspension a little, so It will continue to break because a weld will create a soft spot in a peice of metal designed to flex.
It'll be like welding a spring! Thats a horrible solution!

Has anyone out there run into this?!

Yes, many of use with aftermarket rear sway bars (present company included) have run into this. Do a search in the suspension forum for swaybar fix, or 'ATI fixed my subframe' and you will see this is a common problem for those who tinker with aftermarket suspensions.

Yours would be the first mention I have heard of the stock sway bar leading to subframe problems.

I had the subframe pulled and some fabrication work done to solve the problem. You can find pictures of my fix here . Here's a teaser:

[image]http://www.pbase.com/image/17985728[/image]

You might get away with doing a quick weld-in repair with the car on a hoist and the subframe still in there if you are lucky. I had to have the whole subframe pulled, which is actually pretty easy but prolly not something you want a muffler shop doing.

yea I had this problem too for a while until I had the one link replaced

funny think is that the shop guys could not find out what the problem was until I told them and I found out from the Contour.org forum!!

hmmm... I recently greased the bushings on the rear sway bay in my Mystique and they were bolted, not welded. One end of the u-shaped clamp has a little bent part which tucks onto a hole, the other end of the clamp secures with 1 bolt.
Speaking of rear sway bars... does anyone know if the early '95 Mystiques have an 19mm bar (I have no caliper to measure)? I had heard that they do and later models have a smaller diameter bar.