Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Aussie Bar ripped off continued

Well after having the aussie bar welded in, I ripped it off while driving on Gingerman Raceway at Spring Zing.

Could someone find the part number/name of the part that the bracket welds to. I looked up the part on ford-outlet.com it seems either not to be listed, or its 12 - Rear Suspension, Suspension Components, Rear Crossmember List Price: $179.83 Your Price: $140.27 , ouch!

Help me please.

You must not have had it welded in right cos I have Autocrossed my car a few times like a nut and not had issues with the upgraded brackets.
You might want to try welding a small vertical piece of metal to the rear of the backing plate to weld up onto the subframe to make it even stronger. Make sure the bushings are well greased and you're not tightening the bejesus out of the bolts, effectiviely not allowing the bar to rotate freely.

The brackets you refer to are part of the rear subfame assy,need the frame off for a full weld repair......

Or you can fabricate replacement pcs. and weld them in. Both of my "hangers" actually ripped apart. I cut a couple of pieces of angle iron to fit in the spots wher the old hangers were and welded them in. Weled one edge to the flat portion of the subframe and the other edge to the top of the lip on the subframe. Sort of an upside-down inverted "L". Drilled hole in the angle for the Prothane "A" bushing mount and welded nut on backside of the angle B-4 welding to subframe as I didn't think I could get in there to install nut after welding. I then welded Aussies bracket to my new "hangers" and to as much of the subframe as possible. Now with the new pcs and the Prothane units, everything feels very secure, even feels tighter than it ever was. Wish I had pics, but I always seem to get involved in things like this and forget to document it.

Aussie, would you say that using the 'stoc' clamps with the poly bushes can cause the bar to be too tight and shear off the brackets???

Terry,

What could happen without a rear sway bar?

I drive 400-500 miles a week.

I can address it on Monday at the earliest.

Is that piece easy to remove, the rear subframe?

Can you drive without it?

Mike

No way, stock clamps are as soft as toffee, they just bend.

Guess we have to agree to differ!!!!

FWIW, I was using the Upgraged Brackets with the Prothane Bushings, and the Aussie Backing Plates.
It was welded on three sides, but maybe the mounting bolts were too tight? How is that possible?

Work, money, eck! Oh well

Hoosier,

I would love to see some pictures of the failure. I have the weld in backing plates and wonder how such a failure could occur.

Yes, you can drive without a rear sway bar. The understeer will increase though . You will DEFINITELY need to leave the rear subframe in though, or else the suspension is left floating in the air.

-Kurt