Strut Rod Catastrophic Failure

[Whtwhale]

Fortunately I was doing about 25 when this happened under light braking. This caused the wheel to become unsupported and it destroyed my inner fender line and mudflap in addition to bending my fender back slightly so now it interferes with opening the passenger door. I got 2 strut bars from the local junkyard and replaced the broken one just so I could move the car.

What causes this and is this a common occurrence? I only find one other mention of this.

 

[tixer]

Yikes!

I haven't been doing this as long as some of the others here, but I'm pretty sure that this is a failure I have not seen previously.

 

[chris2523]

i only know of one other failure, and that car was very rusty.

 

[SCTBIRD1173]

i only know of one other failure, and that car was very rusty.

^Same here. I can't say I've ever seen a strut rod that wasn't severely rusted break clean off like that.

 

[billcu]

Yep, it looks like rust took mine out, on a winter beater, a while ago. It looks like the rust caused mine to lock up in the bushing, was your bushing OK?

See here:

http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.or...5432-I-broke-a-strut-rod!&highlight=strut+rod

 

[Whtwhale]

My bushings were roughly a year old. I ordered a new set from SCP as the old ones were the MOOG thermoplastic. They have yet to crack though. Is there a specific orientation that the strut rod should be in? I.E. bent part pointing down etc.