Finally had time to pull suspension apart after the going going over a dip on the road
initial thought was yes, snapped torsion bar
but can't be coz they're 4 months old swayaway 27mm 24 11/16"

is this common for swayaway or did I carry too much weight..
in need of harder shocks or some sort of suspension limiter?
or was this a manufacture defect?
not that I can claim on warranty since CB stated "all parts as is"

maybe too much travel?

take close up pics of the breakage and post them. Might be able to see if its a defect or not.


I personally never heard anyone breaking a torsion bar til now.

Someone with a bit of metallurgical nous might be able to tell by the breakage pattern. Vlad could be your man

Yes I agree with the above, some close up photos as stated above. From the photo it doesn't appear to be a stress (twist) fracture, but a failure.

Even still, you wouldn't be able to get it replaced as you pointed out. Buy something else and move on, but it would be nice to know if they are defective for others.

Kev

+1, I would be worried about using them if it was a defect.

In all my years of fixing/playing with Volksies, I've seen one old Sway-a-way broken and 3x VW (two kombi and one beetle) break. So it's not unheard of, just not too common. What is the car/application?

were they in the correct sides?

Haven't seen a sway away snap but have seen a few stock ones break.... try getting the broken inner arm out...can be a bitch

I guess that possible if they were pre-stressed type. But even with standard type I don't think they are allowed to turn the opposite direction according to various sources.


They should be marked on the ends which side they go in.

are they marked left an d right hand side

i would email swayaway to get a response, it is worth a try.

Ive seen a few. mainly offroad dudes!

Thank you all for prompt reply.

"were they in the correct sides?"
"are they marked left an d right hand side "
Yes they are pre stressed with left and right marked
I believe I installed correctly left on passenger right on driver.

"What is the car/application?"
they were on a super.
has about 20 kg of speaker box in the back.
lowered all round. the spring plate just sit on the bottom part of the thing so there's no pre load tension.
application... daily, weekend, Track day (hopefully).


anyway the new pair of sway away arrived (bought another pair)
this time 29mm 26 9/16"

close up photo soon

This is the best I could do tonight.

sorry but I work 2 jobs 9 am- 11pm this week
apologies in advance for late reply

there 's a suspiciously flat part where it broke clean off.
the burr on the edge is a result of attempt of hammering out

The "flat part" doesn't sound good. Any change in section...even a chip, or scratch can create a problem.

Carefully examine the new bars, and if there are any imperfections...polish the bars. And treat them with care.

The new drive shafts for my Cooper Porsche were polished after machining, and I used heat-shrink tubing to protect them from stone chips & scratches.

I work with timber so what would I know but what are those rust spots, well they look like rust, on the broken area ?

that would be flash rust since the breakage.

Is that a split along the length?

You can see it continues as a dark line in the paint, and you can see the clean faces. that looks like the flaw that focussed the stress.

I kind of agree with this, looks like there is a pre-existing fault in the bar.

the rust was from when it rain out of no where, while taking them out,
I'll try to get another close up photo

I'll go along with that, too. That bar was always going to fail....just a matter of when.

Maybe you should get the new bars crack-tested?

When safety is involved there shouldn't be any compromises. Thats the problem with parts today.