Rear stabilizer bar - failed center mounts

[stanrob]

New challenge for me!
The body mounts for the rear stabilizer bar have both failed, leaving only the bar ends connected.
Presumably due to rust. (This car has been in New England 15+ years out of its 31 since birth.)
I learned of this when I glanced at it across a parking lot.
I saw a somewhat lowered bar, not connected in the middle.

The car still drives and handles well, but I'm nervous about this.
I had already driven it several years with just one mount failed (passenger side).
It even passed inspection this way.
Now it's both sides failed.
The mount bolts have both disappeared. The semicircular shackle pieces are there, peeled open.
The driver side threaded bolt hole looks OK. Unsure about the other side.
I haven't yet found anything relevant in the FSM.
Have you guys encountered and/or beat this problem?

[Petros]

there are some after market parts made of urethane that you might be able to adapt. these are simple parts, no reason you have to match exactly what was there before, particularly if the original mount is rusted away.

this looks pretty slick, but likely more sophisticated than you need:


find something like this, you should be able to make it work (this is for a volvo):

[rer233]

First off, the inboard mounts bolt to brackets welded to the axle housing- not the unibody. The outboard mounts bolt there. I too live in the rust belt (Maryland) but I've never seen the inboard mounts fail (years ago I had one outboard mount rust thru, and bought the parts from the Dlr- probably NLA now.)

When your first mount cut loose, it rendered the rear sway bar useless (it needs all 4 mounts to be effective) so if you remove it completely you'll not notice a difference in handling/performance.

In the event you want to fix it with stock parts, I'm going to be parting out my totaled '88 SR5 in the not too distant future and can supply the U shaped brackets, bolts, and somewhat worn rubber bushings. This will only work if the brackets welded to your axle are intact. Otherwise, just delete the bar.

Good Luck, hope this helps.

[Petros]

actually deleting the bar is not an unreasonable option, it will increase the over steer, but with the typical tercel performance, you will not likley notice it.

it will also save some weight.

[stanrob]

THANK YOU for this helpful advice, and for not laughing at me for my stupid failure to comprehend where the center bar mounts are. Yes, of course they mount to the axle housing! Meanwhile, I will relax and address other, more urgent issues, like the gas smell and 25mpg problem.

As regards rer233's generous offer: again THANK YOU. From your and Petros' advice, I'll hold back for now.

The axle's brackets might be deemed intact, but the one on the right side is pretty badly deteriorated. The original bushings are still on the bar, but there may not be enough meat on the bracket. I'm impressed that yours has remained intact. Is it possible that you've done less winter driving that I do, or have less mileage?

[The Professor]

Removing the rear bar will DECREASE the tendency to oversteer, not increase it.

[Petros]

yes, it will increase understeer, which it already has, which is the same as decreasing oversteer. good catch, it was a typo, I intended to write understeer.

removing the rear bar reduces the weight transfer on the rear wheels, so it reduces the tire slip in the rear, and that reduces the oversteer, or increases understeer.

most cars come with mild to heavy understeer, but performance drivers like slight oversteer to allow you to use the throttle to control the turn radius in a drifting turn.

but as one of my co-workers at Nissan used to say: when a car goes off the road in a turn because of understeer, it is always considered the driver's fault for going too fast. But if a car goes off the road in a turn in an oversteer spin out, it is the manufacturer's fault. Hence, almost all cars come from the factory with oversteer.