Broken sway bar bracket

[JDBrown]

I was changing the oil on my 99 Dodge Roadtrek yesterday, and I discovered that the driver side mounting bracket for the front sway bar has snapped off.

What type of shop should I take it to, to get the bracket reattached? Welding shop? Auto mechanic? Body shop?

[mkguitar]

suspension shop


call a 4wd/ off road specialist as they are more likely to have lift with capacity and clearance- and experience with outside the box vehicles such as ours


broken from rust, impact or wear which wrenched it loose?


Mike

[booster]

i saw pix just recently of a Dodge with a torn out sway bar mount from rust. The Dodges are kind of famous for front stub frame rust though, so it could be a warning sign of other more serious things to come.

[JDBrown]

Thanks for the advice. I honestly don't know the cause--there's some rust, but it doesn't look rusted through or anything, no big flakes, the metal looks full thickness. I think it busted at the original weld.

[JDBrown]

Update: It's fixed!

Suspension shop said, "We'll call you back," but never did. Welding/Machine shop said, "If it's attached to the vehicle, NO WAY!"

Finally called a regular mechanic, figuring he should at least be able to recommend a welder. Mechanic said, "Can't say for sure without seeing it; bring 'er in." He took one look and said, "Huh, never seen THAT before. I've seen these rust off, but never snap off like this. Yeah, I can weld that up, no problem."

So, bottom line is, it's fixed and we back in business!

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by JDBrown

Update: It's fixed!

I'm glad to hear that the problem is fixed. I just wanted to second booster's comment:

Originally Posted by booster

The Dodges are kind of famous for front stub frame rust though, so it could be a warning sign of other more serious things to come.

Any owners of classic Dodge Roadtreks who are not very familiar with the condition of their stub frames need to take a look asap! A rusted out sway bar mounting bracket or steering box can mean the end of an otherwise perfect RT. Search google for "dodge van frame rust" for some troubling pictures.

[JDBrown]

Originally Posted by RT-NY

Search google for "dodge van frame rust" for some troubling pictures.

WOW I'd heard of the front end rust issues, but never seen pictures until now. That's pretty scary. Glad I've never seen anything even approaching that on one of my vehicles.

[98LeisureTravelDodge]

One of the sway bar mounts on my '97 Dodge Leisure Travel van was bent apparently from being towed. It's very tempting for lazy or in-a-hurry tow truck/flat-bed operators to hook something to the sway bar. They should not do that unless damaging the van and failure of the hook-up is not a concern. I found a replacement at a pull your parts type salvage yard. The '98 onward Dodge vans are likely are similar arrangement (but probably not the same part).

[tbroad]

1990 Dodge Roadtrek — we had BOTH brackets rust/break and the swaybar was just hanging. Not too low, fortunately. Our on-the-road solution was to cut long straps from those cheap DIY ratchet straps and securely tie the swaybar in place. Worked fine for the few hundred miles home (those nylon straps are very strong) until our trusty mechanic could weld new brackets in place.

Had straps rust thru on our fresh water tank too and ratchet straps came to the rescue. Sadly, rust will be the eventual death of our Roadtrek.