BLIMEY! ARB carnage

[v-lux]

Whilst following Dai descending into the woods at Coney farm on the Saturday we heard an almighty BANG from under the van.

We weren't doing anything outrageous, just trundling down a lumpy track track in G gear. I stopped to have a look underneath just in case it was something expensive...didnt notice anything important hanging off so carried on driving. No nasty noises, nothing seemed out of place so just assumed it mustve been a heavy rock or such like ping up and hit the chassis.

However, whilst out cleaning the van this afternoon, got to the off side wheel well and found this......



Quite surprised to see it broken where it has, but this coupled with the damaged i suffered on the strata florida i think that some ARB spacers are definitely on the cards. I cant think of anything else that might be causing excess strain to be put through it other than the suspension lift meaning it's working outside of its intended range.

Anyone else ever seen one break like that?

[lloydy]

Have you poly bushes all round? Just that I swapped back to everything rubber and nothing is under any strain at all. With the poly stuff it was all under a lot of tension

[v-lux]

The uppers ones are poly, the ones in the arms are still rubber i think.....but actually now you mention it....they might be poly....i'll check in a bit.

My thinking is that the whole assembly needs to be lower with raised suspension rather than it being anything to do with the bushes. You might be right though, the bushes could be playing a part as i didnt have any of this trouble until i changed to them, but could easily be coincidence.

[lloydy]

Odd place to break for sure. With the poly stuff I had to use a big lever to pull the drop link through the lower arm to get the bush and bolt on, a real bugger of a job! With the rubber it just all bolted up and fell into place

[max and caddy]

That actually quite mental! Never seen an anti roll bar snap ever...no matter how its mounted it supposed to twist a little...but not there...and not snap!

Any rust pitting/ stress raisers?


I have a spare...

[v-lux]

Ive never noticed anything on it that would suggest it was about to let go. No corrosion to speak of.

I'm really surprised by where it has broken. I would've expected a break to happen where is does most of its twisting if anything, or on one of the bends maybe?

Its possible that maybe it had been caused some stress when the polybush slipped off the end of it on the strata florida i suppose? Being under loads of tension and then it suddenly being let free. But even still, its an 'epic fail'.

The ARB has started to become a bit of a pain in the proverbial now. Its something that i believe is worth having on the van, lots of others run without them but its there for a reason in my opinion so i'd like to get to the bottom of it really.

My van is lifted, but its not at a crazy height, 500 +/- 5mm wheel center to arch lip. Pretty sure others have pushed it beyond that, so i accept that there might be additional strain on things due to the lift.

Maybe lloydy has got something with the poly bush thing? Bit less flex available coupled with the lift meaning the ARB itself is getting more force through it than its designed for? I never had any trouble with it before i put polybushes on there.

LLoydy, how much did the original rubber come to? I might swap back....

[lloydy]

i got the whole lot from vw heritage, some OE some aftermarket, came to £63.62 inc shipping

[hugomonkey]

looks like you´ve got two breaks there, the top looks quite old and it seems like its just the bottom bit thats been holding it together

[Dai]

looks like you´ve got two breaks there, the top looks quite old and it seems like its just the bottom bit thats been holding it together

I agree with Jason it looks like its been cracked for a while and the extra twist on the way down into the woods has just finished it of

Al i have to say that ive found no problem at all with the polybush setup on my van, whitch is lifted a bit more than yours,admitedley i have reworked the droplinks to pull everything back into line but since doing so have found no need to space the ARB down at all.

Baxter mentioned that the purple bushes in the lower arms were maybe a bit to hard and passed a set of yellow slightly softer ones to me to try,but ive not fitted them yet as im not having problems with the droplinks coming off any more,touch wood

perhaps just fit a new ARB

[v-lux]

I'll have a closer inspection tomorrow and take a couple more pics.

I reckon if there is pre existing damage there then I bet is something to do with when the drop link popped off, stands to reason, it went off with one hell of a bang.

Dai, I take it you havnt had a drop link pop off since that time in Wales then?

[..lee..]

it`s you, not the van

[max and caddy]

Guess its only a matter of time before the arb snaps...like a spring...it will harden with use and the more the differential in angle between left and right the sooner it will fail...not sure how the popping off of the drop link can weaken it but y never know...

[v-lux]

My thought was that if you take something that's designed to have somewhat progressive forces put through it and subject it to sudden shock (ie, ARB under tension then drop link popping off) then it could cause a fracture.

When that happened the drop link had enough force to put a right angle bend in the track rod, so it must've released a lot of energy!

Seems too much of a coincidence that its the same end of the ARB too.

[jed the spread]

it`s you, not the van

Will the carnage ever end

Jed

[v-lux]

I've heard its contagious.... you're next Jed....