Crap... this sucks!

That tears it for me! I was going to rebuild my front end with Poly but now I ain't.

 

I`ve been thinking of replacing my strut rod bushings with rubber ones too

(they are currently poly graphite) where would be a good place to get some stock ones ???

 

Mike, I think I would definately reccomend it. After this, I certainly will never run poly strut rod bushings again...

Here are some better (non cell phone) pictures. I just noticed that the inner tie rod end is trashed also. You can see just how twisted the lower control arm is in that pic. It dosen't appear to have done any damage to the physical structure of the car.

 

Moog Brand at any Auto Parts!!

 

Damn man. That sure does suck.

 

Gotcha, I`ll look into it this week.

 

Looking at the photo of the break, it looks like its been broken/cracked for a while. The lack of give by the bushing just made it happen quicker.

Those rods are NOT tempered steel. They are mild steel so they flex rather then break. Rust and age may have made them brittle. I've seen some that had heim joint ends. Global west makes some heavy duty rods I think.

Cheap to make front end, but NOT unreliable. Mustang, Granada, Maverick all had this front end. Millions of cars had it. Don't sell it so short.

 

I agree... I like the front suspension. It works well and is easy to work on.

 

I read a couple of articles where this has happened. One was on a Mustang and the other on a Cougar. They both used poly bushings and said that the ploy bushings do not give like rubber, so people probably over tighten them, causing the rod to stretch, crack, and ultimately failure.

 

It's not an installation issue, but is definitely a poly bushing issue.

The stock suspension geometry is absolute crap and WILL bind if you use poly bushings or solid mounts. The lower control arm and rod do not travel through the same arc when the suspension goes through jounce and rebound. The rubber bushing in the rod and in the lower control arm flexes enough to make up for this. When you use poly bushings all of the movement the rod was doing has been limited and the rod itself is now taking the stress rather than the bushings. This suspension was designed on drafting boards with slide rules and hand drawn figures. It's a miracle a car ever went down the road in a straight line.

Rust and age will not make mild steel brittle. It may weaken it some from a fatigue standpoint due to surface imperfections. Brittle refers to the stress/strain curve, which can only be affected by solution chemistry. Not a big deal. I'm just a huge engineering nerd.

 

Best answer I've seen yet and it makes perfect logical sense!

 

.................no, too easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

That does suck...
I had a guy helping me do the alignment on my car over ten years ago. I remember that the nuts didn't want to turn and he actually began twisting the rod. It did start cracking at the end of the threads. I'm just glad I was paying attention to what was going on. I had to get some from a yard and replaced both sides. My opinion is that the rods are old and will break if they get twisted even the slightest. I for one have never been a fan of the poly, although the colors look really cool.

 

Yep, thats what I meant to say..............

 

Doesn't it say right in the Auto Krafters catalog that they sell Poly bushings, but don't recomed them due to strut rods breaking?