Yeap thats right, I DID IT!

passenger side rear sway bar frame bracket was broken this morning when i went to go under my car. It recently had to have happened, but i don't know how or why it broke.

It will be easily enough to weld back on...

 

Wow. Any chance the bushing was dried out and stuck?

 

its not dried out, but may have gotten stuck.. idk Im still scratching my head on the situation.

 

Looks like you have AP bars? How long have they been on the car? Have you ever run R-compound tires?

The old, NA Miatae used to tear their front sway bar mounts if you put a big bar on the car and run R-compounds on stock springs (aka stock class autocross). It can happen - the bigger bar puts much larger stresses on the welds, which can cause fatigue failures.

 

are you sure the rear bar isn't installed upside down (or maybe was at some past time)?

edit: looks like maybe the one weld that broke clean without tearing was f'd up at the factory, appears to have been too cold or missed the bracket material since it is such a clean break rather than torn or ragged, this would have stressed the points that tore loose. At least it's a fairly easy welding fix as far as broken tabs go.

 

It's been on yhe car with ap endlinks for about 4 years. Roughly 75k miles on both. As far as tires, currently running hankooks rs3 tires. And no it wasn't installed upside down, it was the hardest setting.

 

well it does look like the passenger mount was sticking a bit, it doesn't slide on the bar like the drivers side does.

we will weld it back on over the week and put some gussets in to help support and strengthen it up. Also will tap in Zerk fittings so they can be greased from time to time.

And yes TeamRx8, i was in the same conclusion as you for that opinion as far as a bad weld, the weld joint is still on the frame of the car but that was my exact thought as well.

 

a stiff bar or sticking bushing in general should not cause it to break

 

no your absolutely right. and the car isn't tracked so it doesn't get harsh cornering.

I BLAME BAD WELD!!

 

Clean break. bad weld.

story ends