Rear Suspension Failure

N

north42g

Member
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Mazda Protege5
Shortly after my Rear Brake job last week, during a reguarly scheduled test drive; I heard a sharp clunk / bang! Followed by random banging noises.

I figured...Now what?!?!

well I pulled over and got under there and found this: imagejpeg_2[1].jpg

This Stabilizer Bar End Link, from the rear right, busted the End-Link Mount right off the Strut Assembly!

I knew it was time for new Struts, only I was hoping it could wait until my next pay check.










imagejpeg_2.jpg
 
^True. You can drive without the rear sway bar. Just drive it like a Corolla ;) sloooow on dem' turns, eh?
 
its arguably 'safer' to have no rear sway bar than no front sway bar...the only thing will happen is the front pushing (understeer), which is easy to catch and prevent...if the front sway bar links went instead; its the opposite...so watch out for that, hard cornering can make it rotate like a powerful RWD...

you don't have to replace the struts though...i doubt that is why it broke...those things crap out just from looking at them the wrong way...the new endlink includes the part that broke off on your strut...just remove that broken bolt/ball joint thing...and put a new one on...the struts can remain the same; unless you're saying they're definitely dead anyway...i drove around with shot struts for 10,000 miles...end links were fine...
 
It broke the mounting tab on the strut.

No font sway bar sucks. Didn't handle as install shield said just enough body roll to feel like the cars gona flip
 
^Like Tweety said,.. we twin posted.

I'm pretty sure the actual connection tab on the strut snapped right off. (although I don't know why the 'ball' is missing from the other end of the end-link,... maybe he just grabbed the end-link and twisted it off the sway bar)
 
I have a racing beat style, 21mm rear sway bar, No front sway bar and coilovers, AAC endlinks, poly bushes and bracing etc..... comment about rotating like a RWD car is bit over the top... its no where near that bad... even with my set up.
with a stock rear sway bar and struts the body roll would be immense.... but you can easily live with it...
I went for a few weeks with no rear sway bar due to end links snapping in half. lol (well actually it tore the ball out of its socket :p )

On a related note... Friend who took my original rear shocks off my hands (to replace his blown ones) had the exact thing happen, standard sway bar and standard end links. tore the mounting tab off the rear right shock. Anything that's not OEM has stiffened (thicker tabs) even the KYB replacements have stronger mounting tabs.
pretty common issue with age.
 
Why would you not run a front sway bar when you have a stock one? I'm curious of what benefits there could be of that

Rear racing beat is 20mm unless you have something special I don't know about
 
tweety2300 said:
Why would you not run a front sway bar when you have a stock one? I'm curious of what benefits there could be of that

Rear racing beat is 20mm unless you have something special I don't know about
Click to expand...

custom made to suit the aussie sub frame (no need for the speed sub to fit)
by racing beat style... I mean shortened end arms to run perpendicular links.
and mine is 20mm actually lol.

There is no benefit for running without a FSB on a stock RSB...just saying that its something that you can live with if you had to... i.e. front endlinks snap... the car is still very drivable. and its not *crazy*
 
tweety2300 said:
Crazy? No, but it sucks if you wana play on a back road
Click to expand...

with a stock rear bar yes... with aftermarket... no.

No front bar is better through the back streets on my set up.
you just have to change your driving style accordingly... then you will see huge benefits!
can pull far more Km/h through those tight 90 degree bends and tight sweepers.

Its a love hate thing though... every body drives differently and has different styles and preferences.. and different alignments/ set ups work better for different people for that reason.

anyway. lol. we are getting off topic :p

my point was just that your car is fine to drive with either the front or the rear swaybars detached... so long as you adjust driving accordingly.
and don't just drive it like you stole it straight away. You can still drive fast... but learn your cars new behavior first, and drive accordingly. ;)
 
AzzA SP20 said:
I have a racing beat style, 21mm rear sway bar, No front sway bar and coilovers, AAC endlinks, poly bushes and bracing etc..... comment about rotating like a RWD car is bit over the top... its no where near that bad... even with my set up.
with a stock rear sway bar and struts the body roll would be immense.... but you can easily live with it...
I went for a few weeks with no rear sway bar due to end links snapping in half. lol (well actually it tore the ball out of its socket :p )

On a related note... Friend who took my original rear shocks off my hands (to replace his blown ones) had the exact thing happen, standard sway bar and standard end links. tore the mounting tab off the rear right shock. Anything that's not OEM has stiffened (thicker tabs) even the KYB replacements have stronger mounting tabs.
pretty common issue with age.
Click to expand...

Agreed, my original comment made it sound like a good thing...a loose front and tight rear will handle a little unpredictably...thats what i was getting at...and i also meant on an other wise stock protege, with softer springs and struts...the front will roll in, the rear will stay relatively flat, and cornering habits will be a little more unpredictable than having the opposite...thats all...and with adjustable equipment, you can dial out what the sway bar does to begin with...I just meant for the average driver; a disconnected front sway bar may give them a few surprises compared to what they're used to.

and thanks tweety and pcb, i didn't realize it snapped the strut tab...i thought the cup on the endlink just broke, and left the bolt with a ball end just sticking in the tab...i had that when i purposely had to destroy a stripped end link to remove it...hammer the cup until it popped off, then put big vice grips on that ball section to get it off...so my info in this thread is all kinds of wrong haha...
 
Last edited:
:) I know that CR3 happens to be designing a fix for this issue at the moment (detect)
 
pcb said:
^Like Tweety said,.. we twin posted.

I'm pretty sure the actual connection tab on the strut snapped right off. (although I don't know why the 'ball' is missing from the other end of the end-link,... maybe he just grabbed the end-link and twisted it off the sway bar)
Click to expand...

You are correct, that's exactly what i did. It was dragging and banging and clammering around...I couldn't stand the noise so I just ripped it the rest of the way out. I figured hell, I'm getting new ones anyway.
 
Nice Pic!
yeah everything went together smoothly with the new part, thanks.

But on this subject; I wont be doing much driving with out my rear sway bar intact. I can feel the difference with out it.
No question.
So I need some rear struts. Recommendations Any one?
Might as well do the fronts at the same time right?

I gotta say...those S-Bar End Links that I put on ,( I think I bought them from either CarQuest or NAPA )
were total junk. Not even six months old. I've seen a lot of parts....these were of poor quality. Cheap materials they use in China...sorry to say, but it's true.

Any one have a link to some heavy duty Rear Stabilizer Links?
Anyone have a link to some to a set of "upper middle class" Struts ? (with out going into coil overs, I cant afford that right now.)
 
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