Crap... this sucks!

My brother drove the '72 up to Flowery Branch this morning, which is about 20 miles each way up and down I-985. Said he was running with the traffic, which is usually around 80 mph.

He made it up there and back fine. As he drove into our neighborhood coming back home, there was a loud BANG from the front end, and he lost all control of the car. He was heading straight for someone's brand new Toyota Tundra that was in a driveway, so he jerked back the other way and nailed the brakes. He missed a brick mail box by inches... there are skid marks about 20 feet long.

The strut rod broke, causing the wheel to tuck back into the torque box and screwing up the lip of the (junk, bondo filled) fender. We managed to get it back home by jacking up the passenger side and letting the passenger side front just roll on the jack while we just slowly creeped back through the neighborhood to our house. It twisted and bent the almost brand new lower control arm. Also messed up the front strut rod cross member a little, and the rim got bent when it hit the curb. I just rebuilt the front end of the car a few months ago, and had a $70 alignment done on it. So this really sucks.

Never crossed my mind that the strut rods would/could break. I guess from now on I will replace the strut rods everytime I have an alignment done. Cheap insurance, because if this had happend going down the interstate 80+ mph, it wouldn't have been pretty. I drove the car over 250 miles yesterday on the interstate, part of which was driving around I-285 in the very left lane over 75 mph... that could have got ugly...

Who sells new strut rods?

 

sorry,I cant say who has new strut rods anymore. we broke one on our 77 years ago, (sort of started the whole rebuild in a way) we were on the highway going about 70 when ours let go, got really lucky, no damage,but using the brakes the rest of the way home was VERY tricky.... then (90's) you could get right side new thru different suppliers, but the left(that we needed) was no longer offered. when we did locate a new one,...it came with a 70 mustang factory part tag on it. might be worth checking to see if any of stang places have them...thats if NAPA doesnt carry them

 

That sucks. 'Never heard of a strut-rod breaking. I wonder if something else broke first...

 

Same here...I think something somewhere along had to cause it. It may have been patially broke and was just waiting on the right minute (maybe it doesn't like Tundras). Anyway, I think it was just a freak accident. If you're going let that make you replace them from here on out, you better buy every single piece of the suspension along with it because it could just as easily have been the bolt that goes through the lower control arm...or just as likely. In all likelyhood, you'll never see it happen again.

 

I don't see anything other then the strut rod. The car has new poly strut rod bushings, I am guessing they were just to much and have been slowly fatigueing the strut rods everyday since I rebuilt the front end a few months ago. I think I will replace them with stock rubber ones now. There is a speed bump as you come into our neighborhood, and it broke just a few feet after crossing the speed bump.

Just really ticks me off about the lower control arm. Damn thing was practically new. Guess I'll just salvage the ball joint of it.

 

Yea, he just sprayed some PB Blaster on the threads and removed the nut with an air impact gun. The car spent about 10 years in Philadelphia, so the threads were pretty rusty.

 

More common than you think and if using poly bushings is even more common. There is no give in poly bushings.

 

when ours broke it was all the stock rubber stuff. may have been from a poor alignment somewhere during its life? who knows......but they do break.

 

I just looked at the drivers side one, it is cracked about 3/4 of the way around and almost ready to break also. I put over 30,000 miles on the car before the poly bushings, car has 163,000 total miles (or 263,000?) and the rods showed no signs of breaking. I'm going to have to say it was the poly bushings that caused them to break in this case.

 

May I suggest this for Tyler?

Click here.

 

LOL he actually had one of those when he was little. He had a red one, I had a blue one.

 

Where is the other one cracked? Right behind where the the threads endmaybe?

 

Exactly.

 

Thats why i hate the cheap ass suspension ford put under there cars in the 60s or 70s ive never like the suspension....its same as all fords of era mustang,falcon, extt...

 

I have heard other folks talk about the poly bushing breaking the strut rods as well ..