Your biggest DIY screwups

Spikuh · 10-19-2011, 01:54 PM

About 4 years ago on my old 240sx, I noticed that the steering responsiveness of the car had gotten pretty sloppy in the front and there was increasing amounts of body roll. Upon inpsection my father and I discovered that a sway bar bracket had broken off. We never figured out why, and ended replacing it assuming the bolts had loosened after almost 20 years of life. Then, about 3 months later I noticed the car was acting up once again and found that the same bracket was missing. This time, it had sheered itself in half with part of the bracket still bolted to the car and the other part missing. Knowing that something was wrong with the suspension, but not having the time to tear the front end apart, we crafted up a heavy duty bracket which has held up nicely.

Then about a year and a half ago, I had to replace the steering rack and bushings. Amidst doing all the replacement, I finally discovered why the sway bar bracket had been coming off. Apparently, the front right tension rod, which is held in place by three or four bolts (can't remember), had lost all but one of those bolts. That meant whenever the weight would shift to that side of the car, instead of it being properly shared, it would all shift into that single bolt and the sway bar which is what caused the bracket to sheer off. I got everything fixed pretty easily, but I was super lucky the suspension never collapsed on me in a corner.

I have a picture of the single bolt that was holding the car together somewhere and will try to post later. It has almost been cut in half.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
????????BIGGEST Bang $ BUCk..I have 3K to spend ?????	SuPErBLuE370z	Nissan 370Z General Discussions	10	04-06-2011 07:02 PM
AT&T-T-Mobile merger: 7 biggest changes for customers	Isamu	The Lounge (Off Topic)	13	03-25-2011 09:29 PM
Biggest difference between cheap and expensive hfc	ddvette9	Intake/Exhaust	19	11-18-2010 11:24 AM
What's your biggest beef with your 370z/any other car?	Phrausty	Nissan 370Z General Discussions	118	05-17-2010 03:00 PM
Biggest screen	Luv'n my Z	Audio & Video	13	10-06-2009 06:19 PM

10-19-2011, 01:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
Spikuh A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Ark Posts: 2,357 Drives: '09 370z Rep Power: 20	About 4 years ago on my old 240sx, I noticed that the steering responsiveness of the car had gotten pretty sloppy in the front and there was increasing amounts of body roll. Upon inpsection my father and I discovered that a sway bar bracket had broken off. We never figured out why, and ended replacing it assuming the bolts had loosened after almost 20 years of life. Then, about 3 months later I noticed the car was acting up once again and found that the same bracket was missing. This time, it had sheered itself in half with part of the bracket still bolted to the car and the other part missing. Knowing that something was wrong with the suspension, but not having the time to tear the front end apart, we crafted up a heavy duty bracket which has held up nicely. Then about a year and a half ago, I had to replace the steering rack and bushings. Amidst doing all the replacement, I finally discovered why the sway bar bracket had been coming off. Apparently, the front right tension rod, which is held in place by three or four bolts (can't remember), had lost all but one of those bolts. That meant whenever the weight would shift to that side of the car, instead of it being properly shared, it would all shift into that single bolt and the sway bar which is what caused the bracket to sheer off. I got everything fixed pretty easily, but I was super lucky the suspension never collapsed on me in a corner. I have a picture of the single bolt that was holding the car together somewhere and will try to post later. It has almost been cut in half.