changed wheels to summer yesterday and spotted a fault

[anyweb]

hi guys, I changed my wheels to the summer alloys yesterday and in the process inspected the area when the wheels were off,

on the rear right hand side i noticed a bar that goes from the rear right wheel over to the rear left, and about 1/3rd the way in was very badly rusted, infact it was ready to snap

i believe it could be the rear torsion bar after some investigation on the russian parts site (number 5 in this picture)

see here

my question is this, is it hard to replace (looks like it is) and can it's failure causes anything catastrophic happen if it fails ?

cheers
anyweb

 

[Myros]

I think we'd call it an anti-roll bar

and while its failure would give you some "interesting" handling, probably not cataclysmic in proportion. Best bet to get it done as soon as possible though. Do new bushes for it at the same time. I doubt you'd be flummoxed by it Niall, I think its just a matter of getting the suspension to the right degree of load when tightening the thing up.
Someone here is bound to have done one and can come up with the full version. I did the front one on my old BMW and it was pretty easy.

 

[Xtractorfan]

I seriously doubt if it would be near breaking point..I've never heard of an anti roll bar breaking ..even bending one is a bit of a job..tho the rears are generally a much smaller and lighter bar than the fronts ...clean up the rusted part and then check how bad the rust damage is

 

[television]

I agree we have never had a broken one

 

[anyweb]

trust me when i say the bar is at breaking point, i dont know how it ended up like that or why i havnt spotted it before, the area is viewed by me only twice a year and thats when i change the wheels over. perhaps i missed it before, i will photo the area asap to show you what i mean, and you will see what i mean. its like a long stick that has been snapped and is hanging by a thread ie: it's really worn out

looking at this photo of the area in 2006 i believe (but cannot be sure until i remove the wheel again) that the part I'm referring to is the bar with white writing on it, however in this photo we cannot see that it goes behind the rest of the stuff and we can't see the quality of the bar behind the other bits either

i will do my best time willing to remove the wheel this evening and photo the area in question

p.s. on friday afternoon i did several HARD 360's in the car to entertain my sons for 10 minutes, ie: i drove around in an empty car park back and forth in circles at some speeed to make the tires squeal, could that have added to the problem ?????

cheers
anyweb

 

[Myros]

that looks like it to me Niall

What its meant to do is belay some of the load you put on the outside wheel in a turn, back over to the inside, and prevent extreme roll attitudes being adopted. Your display for the boys in the car park won't have helped, but it's unlikely to have caused it. The rust has to be the main culprit here. After all, the bar is made of high tensile steel becuase it has to take a lot of torsional load. It sounds like you need to do something with it sharpish.

 

[anyweb]

yeah will do, i'll let my local indie do it as i dont have the time or patience to fix it, however the better half has my car today as hers is with the indie getting fixed (a chrysler voyager)

when the car is home i'll look at the actual problem and show you a photo of same

ceers
anyweb

 

[Blobcat]

yeah will do, i'll let me local indie do it as i dont have the time or patience to fix it, however the wife has my car today as hers is with the indie getting fixed (a chrysler voyager)

when the car is home i'll look at the actual problem and show you a photo of same

ceers
anyweb

I don't blame you, I've changed anti-roll bar bushes before and they can be a right pain if you cannot get the bar in the right position.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Something that worries me more is that car jacked up and no visible signs of an axle stand. or any other means of support other than a jack..i hope im wrong ..please make sure u have some means of supporting a vehicle other than a jack... I keep an old plastic lemonade crate, (not a milk crate) really strong, and push it under sills and subframes when i'm outside working with brakes etc... you cant be too careful...
and in one of the orther pics ur anti roll bar looks in good nick..

 

[Richard Moakes]

Something that worries me more is that car jacked up and no visible signs of an axle stand. or any other means of support other than a jack..i hope im wrong ..please make sure u have some means of supporting a vehicle other than a jack... I keep an old plastic lemonade crate, (not a milk crate) really strong, and push it under sills and subframes when i'm outside working with brakes etc... you cant be too careful...
and in one of the orther pics ur anti roll bar looks in good nick..

Boy can I relate to that comment, I NEVER work under cars without axle stands in place and a trolley jack acting in reserve should an axle stand give way.

It's particularly pertinent for me, as last week whilst jacking up the car to place axle stands under it, the jack slipped off the crossmember and preceded to crush the lower sump pan. Only cost me about £100 in parts, but could have cost me my life if I had been underneath it without axle stands.

Never ever trust a jack whilst working under a car!

 

[anyweb]

agreed about the axel stands, i have them and normally use them but this time as i was not going underneath the car in any shape or form i didnt bother using them

back to the topic though, i've jacked it up again, removed the wheel and photo'd the damage, i'll upload the photos to my gallery shortly and let you see what i'm talking about, while it was jacked up my local indie (who lucky for me is my next door neighbor) saw it was up and came over, he explained it's easy to replace the bar and agreed it was a goner, now that i've got the pointers of what to remove *three screws from two bushes on either side* i'll order up the new part from MB and try to replace it myself

and i'll use AXEL stands while doing so !, i'll even photo the process so others may learn.

cheers
anyweb

 

[anyweb]

here are the photos, all high resolution

http://www.niallbrady.com/photos/index.php?album=w202+rollbar

you'll notice in some of them that the roll bar is actually peeling in a section about 3 inches long its that area that is weak (physically flexs when pressure applied with the hand) and hence me saying it was as described above in earlier posts

see my point now ?

 

[Xtractorfan]

Yea I have to agree..it probably would be better replaced.. and those bushes as well

 

[anyweb]

is it absolutlely necessary to replace the bushes as well as they look in ok shape ?

from my calculations that would be two bushes per side is that correct ?

 

[television]

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.417&CT=F&cat=44V&SID=32&SGR=180&SGN=05

This is what you have

 

[anyweb]

so the parts i need are

i need to replace parts number 5 (mb part number 202 326 0765) and 2x number 8 in the picture (201 326 0981)

is that correct ?

 

[horgantrevor]

i would change the bushes as the new bar will be a small bit thicker and as you have it off you might as well they are not too expensive this should change the handling of you car for the better .

good luck

 

[television]

Yes that is correct.

They are much easier to fit if you can lower the suspension onto to something and let the weight of the car do the work, rather than you trying to move the bar

 

[anyweb]

well first i have to go order the parts from MB, i'll do that this afternoon, once i get the parts and time, i'll attempt the actual job

how would I lower the suspension as you mention ? i dont have access to anything other than a standard jack and axel stands.

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

Just put something under the stub axle come hub,,remove the stand and lower the car with the jack