That was the only day he posted anything, two posts and gone.

 

This seems to be the weakest link of the Crossfire. Hopefully I don't run into this problem. My whole car feels loose sometimes. I wonder if it's already broken.

 

Is there a post somewhere here that shows a good fix for this problem? Lots of reports of cracks but only one picture of a welded bracket and that is not the answer really.
I think it would need a doubler on the floor skin and the brackets attached to that as well as the chassis itself. Auto crossing has to be a potential cause for this. So those cars could be weak in this area or fixed already.
This should be a point to be inspected when buying a car.

 

Prototype 1

Prototype 2, outside view

Prototype 2, inside view

Comments and advice please as to which way to reinforce the sway bar brackets. I plan to purchase the larger H & R sway bars both front and rear. My existing brackets are fine and show no cracks or damage of any kind, other than a slight dimple inward, or I should say upward just above the sway bar where the bushing rests. I have two prototypes.

The OEM bracket has two bolts which are peened at their top inside the bracket and extend down through the bracket to which the U shaped clamp is bolted and holds the bushing in place. The top of the peened bolts are about 1/16” thick. The bracket itself is made of 13 Gauge steel and the body panel to which it is attached is about 19 or 20 gage. Really thin stuff and I doubt I can weld it without burning through. I have a Lincoln A/C stick welder and I'm no expert. The gas tank sets above these brackets and I really do not want to drain and remove the tank! From the pictures I have seen of broken brackets, it appears they have broken from vertical force, not lateral or fore/aft.




1. A simple insertion of a 3/16 piece of mild steel and a smaller piece of steel slide under the 3/16. The smaller piece sets directly above the sway bar bushing, and between the tops of the peened bolts. So this small piece takes up the space between the bottom of the bracket and the longer 3/16 piece of steel which was slide in from the open rear of the bracket. The 3/16 steel contacts the body panel it's entire surface to the top and rests on the tops of the peened bolts. Thus the vertical force of the sway bar is distributed not to just the OEM bracket, but also to the larger area of the pieces I have inserted directly to the cars body panel. I would make a short bead weld through the opening in the center of the OEM bracket to hold the two pieces which are inserted inside the bracket to each other, and extend that weld to catch the bracket itself so to keep the insertion from vibrating out.

2. A more complicated looking think-a-jig that gives some lateral and fore/aft strength to the existing OEM bracket. I will weld the piece which transits through the bracket on the outside up high were it touches the wheel well and also to the smaller piece which is slide under the longer piece. Similar to that as explained above. On the inside I would weld the longer piece which I placed through the bracket to another at a right angle and then rivet that to the cars body panel. There is just enough room for me to get a rivet into the body panel without hitting the gas tank (about 1/4”). With this set up I get some lateral and fore/aft support as well as some vertical strengthening. Although the vertical strength is not distributed over as large an area to the body panel as in number one.




I prefer number 1. It has more vertical strength and is a lot easier to install. If I do it this way I will cut and shorten the blue 3/16” steel you see in the picture so it is flush with the end of the OEM bracket.

I have all this material here at the house and can do the job myself.

I do not think overlaying the bracket with another (which would lower the sway bar) is a good idea. Completely removing the OEM bracket and installing a stronger (smaller gage steel) and LARGER bracket could work, but welding it to the the thin body panel would require a real expert. The new enlarged bracket could have holes drilled in it's side and those holes as well as the edges all the way around would be welded to the body. I don't know if a portable spot weld is possible even if the gas tank is removed and we are still dealing with very thin body panels. That work would have to be fabricated at a metal working, welding shop. I can not do it myself and the cost could make me sick. The answer to the problem of the ripped torn brackets that have been reported seems to be distributing forces over a larger area than that of the OEM bracket. Thus I think number one is better than the OEM setup, though it may not be the ultimate best answer, it is better than just leaving it as OEM.
​​​​​​​What do you think? Flog me if you must, but be gentle.

 

I want the h&r sway bar as well so I will be following this.

 

I like this. I wish I had the ability to fabricate. After working with my brackets I would extend this bracket to form a Z shape. The upper end would be rounded/contoured to fit the wheel well. The bottom of the Z would fit on to the bolts which hold the sway bar bracket as Mrmiata states. The bolt holes would not need to be oblong just round as it would slip directly up if you had the carrier frame removed. However I would not use sheet metal screws, but two nutserts/threaded rivets in the wheel well and panel or structural adhesive on the entire reinforcement piece where it touches the car. The nutserts hold/clamp the piece in place while the adhesive cures as well as add strength. I would use at least 12 gauge or maybe 10 for the new bracket.

 

before adhesive

permanent with adhesive

This is how I completed the new bracket. It is made of 13 gauge steel bent into a Z. The lower end is inside the existing OEM bracket. The upper is bolted into the arch of the interior wheel well with a threaded rivet and the new bracket is put in place with SEM panel adhesive. I also exchanged the original 3/16" piece of mild steel with a 1/4" as the thicker steel filled the interior of the OEM bracket better than the 3/16". First, placed the Z into the OEM bracket with adhesive already placed on the car and the bracket. Second, tapped the 1/4" piece forward into the OEM bracket (It contacts the two bracket bolts and the Z piece I inserted on it's bottom side, and the sheet metal of the car on the top side). Third, I tightened the 5/16" bolt into the nutsert which brought everything together nice and snug.
On the inside of the bracket I welded the Z bracket and the 1/4' piece together to insure the 1/4" piece can not vibrate loose or work itself out through the rear.
Next will be a coat of etching primer and then a heavy coat of undercoating. The stuff Mercedes uses is a very thick Latex? It is actually more like rubber and was difficult to remove.

 

Looks good.

 

under coating completed

inside looking outboard

stabilizer/sway bar installed
Completed the sway bar installation and reinforcement. I used Rust-Oleum undercoating which dries hard and can be painted not the asphalt type that remains soft. In the inside view you can see where I welded the two new metal brackets together so the 1/4 inch piece can not slide rearward. I used a little silicone grease in the bracket bushing. The bushings come with the new H & R sway bar.
I couldn't find the two sway bars as a kit here in the states. However I know see tirerack does carry both bars. I bought from the "tunershop.com" online and they were shipped from Germany. I was told from ESC tuning that the H & R cup kit is no longer available, but I was able to purchase from the tunershop and again it shipped from Germany. The stabilizer bar and springs are H & R blue, shocks are black with a H & R decal. The shocks are gas, not gas/oil and look just like the OEM with the upper shield and bump already installed. They also come with the upper mounting rubber pieces for installation.

 

Just discovered my wife's '06 Crossfire has a completely torn right sway bar mounting bracket. My mechanic told me today that my only option is to have him lower the rear axle/suspension, and have a support piece welded to the body. His "welding guy" wasn't available during my visit, so I don't have a complete estimate. He estimated 3-4 hours just to remove & re-install rear end. Does this sound right? I've read through all of the previous posts regarding this. Seems like this is a fairly common problem, but there are very few first hand experiences on repair experiences and solutions. Has anyone been able to repair this problem without dropping the rear end?

 

To make the repair the sway bar has to be out of the way. I do not know how anyone could remove the sway bar AND then reinstall without dropping the rear sub frame (carrier frame). Four hours is very reasonable to remove and reinstall the sub frame. I would expect a bit more when all is said and done. I do not think it is possible to make that repair without dropping the sub frame. The gas tank sits very nearly above the sway bar brackets. There is about 1/4'" space between the steel of the body and the bottom of the gas tank.

 

Just an update for anyone running into this problem. Our right side sway bar bracket was broken, like the photo's in earlier postings shows. Being the right side, not only did the rear sub frame have to be removed, but also the fuel tank. All disassembly, assembly, welding broken bracket, and reinforcing left side bracket was $1,900 at my local mechanic here in Northern California. Don't really know if that was a good or bad deal, but it had to be done...…..

 

Can you give us more info and a picture? Is the repair welded only to the outside or was their an added support piece welded to the interior? After the repair did they coat the exposed metal with undercoating?
That is a lot of work! To remove the fuel tank the entire interior of the car behind the seats must be removed and then reinstalled. I hope the installation and removal did not break or chip the numerous plastic pieces.

 

This is the best I can show you. I wasn't present when repair was made, so not sure how or what exactly was done. Looks very similar to original bracket. They also reinforced the left side bracket.