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Broken Steady Bar
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Author:  sanzomat [ Mon May 01, 2017 8:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Broken Steady Bar
On the way up to Stoneleigh on Sunday my steady bar broke. As I was only a few miles away I held it up with a bungee to stop it dragging along the road and drove very carefully the last few miles. I did a bodge with a ratchet strap to give a modicum of engine steadying for the drive home which actually worked pretty well and I made the 85 miles back with no drama.
I've taken it off this evening and welded it back together with a bit of extra metal to brace were it broke. It clearly chose the weak point to break and I guess there must be quite a concentration of stress at the point where the tube ends and the flat plate is at its narrowest. Classic fatigue fracture. There is a bit of rust where the crack formed so I'm guessing the crack has been developing over a couple of months so I'm amazed it survived the rough treatment of the track day I did on the 27th March. I was already planning to add a second steady so I'll be bringing that plan forwards sooner now! For those who haven't yet had it fail it might be worth keeping a close eye on it...

Here are some pics:
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Author:  madmazturbo [ Mon May 01, 2017 9:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Luckily we were all driving fairly slow through a town when it happened. I Still think you were lucky though because if it had snapped off and dropped in a drain or pot hole or something it could have been a different story

Easy fix, so all good in the end :D
Author:  sanzomat [ Sat May 20, 2017 5:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Was thinking about my engine steady bar breakage today whilst the car was up on the MOT ramps. It struck me that when the engine mount bracket failed at Castle Combe last August (picture in another thread somehwere) the gearbox end of this bar dropped by around 150mm, thus putting bend stress into the end that subsequently broke. The bumping around as the car slowed, and then got loaded onto the low loader, then jacked back up again will all have put unusual stress on the steady bar. The bar was never intended to act in that way so this may well have been a significant factor in its demise...

Anyway, MOT passed so one thing less to worry about for another year:)
Author:  pmc_3 [ Sat May 20, 2017 6:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Looking at the break it does looks like it had been cracked for some time, the shiny bits are where it gave way completely on the Stoneleigh trip
Author:  West [ Sat May 20, 2017 6:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
It can be surprising the loads going through some of the mounts I know I had a couple of issues with one on my coupe during the early days.

One thing I will say if i was remaking that mount I would not have the hole in the plate where the tube attaches.I assume the plate fits around the tube hence the hole.

I would be tempted to make a solid plate and cut a slot in the tube, slide the plate in to this slot and weld.


Neil
Author:  Jaykart1227 [ Sat May 20, 2017 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Sanz - Assuming that the bars are the same of both the Libra and Spyder, you are more than welcome to the bar that recently came off my car and is in good nick. Don't need it with the z cars set up.

Let me know if you want it.

Cheers

Jamie
Author:  sanzomat [ Sat May 20, 2017 9:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Jaykart1227 wrote:
Sanz - Assuming that the bars are the same of both the Libra and Spyder, you are more than welcome to the bar that recently came off my car and is in good nick. Don't need it with the z cars set up.

Let me know if you want it.

Cheers

Jamie

Hi Jamie, is yours the GTM supplied bar for the VVC/PG1 set-up with the mounting off the sump? If so that'll be a definite yes please as I'm currently running an adapted version of the 1.4/R65 bar on the gearbox side so using the other kind will be a really easy way to double them up.

Where are you based?
Author:  Jaykart1227 [ Sat May 20, 2017 9:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Yes it's the PG1 / 1800 jobbie and it's all yours.

I'm in North East Herts (not far from Stansted airport), miles from you I think but I could look into a courier?
Author:  sanzomat [ Sun May 21, 2017 9:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Cheers Jamie,

I've found royal main charges go up massively when you have to send something over 600mm long but Hermes (via Parcel2go) seem to be okay up to 1m long at their cheap rate, <£4 for up to 2kg and easy to drop off at loads of local convienence stores like One-stop or whatever. They have a bit of a con going on weights though so if its close to 2kg better to go up a band. I sent something at 1.9kg and a few days later had an email saying it had been weighed as 2.4kg so I got an excess charge plus handling fee of around £8. Luckily I'd taken a photo of it on the scale at 1.9kg so was able to dispute it and claim it back :x

Anyway, no rush as I'm off to France for a week...
Author:  Malcolm_Ball [ Sun May 21, 2017 7:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Jaykart1227 wrote:
(not far from Stansted airport),


That means you can get it to the S E meet fairly easily :) From there it could go to (near) slough

Anyone live between slough and bristol ?

When I was working I was good at getting work for everyone else !! :!:
Author:  sanzomat [ Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Well, thanks to Jamie I now have double steady bars.
Original left hand one:
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Original left hand steady bar.jpg
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New right hand one:
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New right hand steady bar.jpg
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Got it on Friday, wire brushed it back to the metal and gave it a couple of coats of chassis paint Friday evening and fitted this morning. Only slight problem was on first fit it was squashing my oil cooler hoses. I managed to find a bit of slack and re-routes them slightly to where there are some indents in the sump and seems fine now. Not long after fitting the rain started so can't report on how steady it feels yet but two must be better than one :D
Author:  Juls [ Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Hi,
Anyone know if the sump bracket on the RHS steady bracket is a standard part or specially made?
Cheers
Juls
Author:  bob snooks (835) [ Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
It's a GTM supplied part, specially made.

Are you having a problem with yours :?: Is it something we should be looking at :?:

Bob.
Author:  Juls [ Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken Steady Bar
Hi Bob,
Thought so, mine has cracked. Looks like it can be welded up.
Just checking to see if they are available first.
Cheers
Juls
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