Trailing arm failure- What a Ride

[co200balt]

So I'm on the way home from work today and I get a call from my wife. She tells me that our son Steve needs me to look at Spider. What wrong I say. Well, Steve says its driving funny. What does that mean I say. It feels like it is Drunk is the kids discription. It sort of wanders on it own on deceleration...... a lot. So I go for a drive around the block. Holy Cow! this thing is all over the place. The rear end has a mind of its own. Back in the garage, I find the following...



No the trailing arm was not cut.. It looks like the arm had a dent, prior to the failure. If this had happend on a quick and twisty road, we would have had a parts car on our hands. Yikes!

[NSDave]

Yikes is right!
Glad everybody is OK, looks like that could have been really nasty.

[So Cal Mark]

looks like it was jacked up using the arm as a contact point

[BEEK]

agreed,ive seen it too many times. fiat should have painted the jack points bright yellow, not the rocker pannel pinch weld, not the trailing arms, not the front floorboard support. all of these usually crushed by a wayward jacking!

[courtenay]

So it is OK to jack the rear of the car via the differential and the front via the cross member? Then put jack stands under the jacking points on the sides of the car?

[co200balt]

looks like it was jacked up using the arm as a contact point

I would guess that is likley. Not by us however. I know what I get to do this weekend...

[engineerted]

So it is OK to jack the rear of the car via the differential and the front via the cross member? Then put jack stands under the jacking points on the sides of the car?

Yes!

Ted

[BEEK]

im about to build a set of trailing arms for my spider, im thinking about 2 options
1. heim joints with a threaded aluminum tube, i realise that there wont be any give, but i dislike any play in the"seat of the pants" feeling

2. rubber bushed rod ends with aluminum tubes.

again i could just install a new set of original ones i have. but whats the fun in that,
ill also do the panhard bar too. might even make an adjustable mount for rear roll center adjustment

[SLOSpider]

I had one break on me but it was at the welded end. I was going around a bend about 45 mph when it broke and when it did it shifted the rear axle back on that side causing the ebrake cable to engage the brake on that rear side and I was doing 360's a few times before I came to a stop and said WTF just happened. I tried to drive it to the side of the road and felt that wondering steering too. Got out and found the busted lower arm. Lucky for me it was a 4 lane road and no other cars around. Id be interested in a nice pair of replacement arms my self.

[co200balt]

I had one break on me but it was at the welded end. I was going around a bend about 45 mph when it broke and when it did it shifted the rear axle back on that side causing the ebrake cable to engage the brake on that rear side and I was doing 360's a few times before I came to a stop and said WTF just happened. I tried to drive it to the side of the road and felt that wondering steering too. Got out and found the busted lower arm. Lucky for me it was a 4 lane road and no other cars around. Id be interested in a nice pair of replacement arms my self.

Yikes, Im just real glad it happend in the neighborhood and not on a highway, not sure how well the kid would have done...I bet you were seeing the horizon spinning every time you closed your eyes for a few day! I just ordered a set from Vick's

[ClarkTheShark]

that sure is a unique failure. but one can only assume the dent in that thing caused the premature death!

[BEEK]

ive seen it many times, people jack up thier cars on teh trailing arms , crushing the arm, causing eventual failure

[manoa matt]

Beek, why don't you polybush the rear arms and panhard bar. classicricambi.com has a complete polybush kit for all the rear links.

[BEEK]

i know im going to order the kit for the front

[manoa matt]

I got the front polys for the A-arms, and some polys for the front sway bar. Having the A-arms blasted so I can weld up the seams and strengthen them around the lower ball joint and shock mount, along with MOOG upper and lower BJ's. My next project.