Has anyone broke one of these yet? (Rear Lower Control Arm Endlink Tab)

[PQ]

This is spread open further .......... WTF?

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Man that side is jacked up and breaking also. It looks real bad in the pictures. I crawled under the Bee and she looks nothing like that.

[PQ]

[Rob@WretchedMS]

I can overnight one to you for tuesday morning if you need, i have one on hand.

I'd like Pete to see that arm too.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Rob@WretchedMS

I can overnight one to you for tuesday morning if you need, i have one on hand.

I'd like Pete to see that arm too.

PM me the price. And thank you very much. I can't wait to hear what the heck went wrong with both of these. I'll send this one to Pete as well.

Here are some more pics of the failing braket.

[Rob@WretchedMS]

i'll do that in the morning, i don't have any info here, but i'm not worried about that, just cover my costs and i'm ok, we can settle up at the fest if you want.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Rob@WretchedMS

i'll do that in the morning, i don't have any info here, but i'm not worried about that, just cover my costs and i'm ok, we can settle up at the fest if you want.

Ok. Cool. I'll PM my shipping address.
Here is the arm before last week......

[GTAHVIT]

Randy, obviously that line was indeed a crack..

you think you bent it while leaning on those endlinks since we are trying to get them so damn tight...

[Dr Jkel]

Ok I'll ask this again. Do you think this is being cause by the increase in torque/horsepower? Or is it just a design flaw/ weak link that is being shown because of the horsepower increase since the new pieces Randy got seem to have the same issue as the old if I am reading the thread correctly.

The reason I am asking is not to assign blame to GM, Pfadt, Pedders, Coke or Sprite but more of a knowledge learning question. If the failure is being caused by a combination of increased power and bad design/weak material and use of the added power then those ( ME included ) need to be on the lookout for this problem before it becomes a bigger issue. It seems that the different vendors may have come up with a solution that will easily fix the problem without having to change a bunch off parts as long as the original parts are not damaged.

Since I do plan on adding any more power adders to mine I think the Pfadt part adder fix, for lack of a better term, may be all I need. Just trying to learn.

[Darth_Emma]

I think people have proposed hypotheses for why they failed, but I don't see any evidence that there is a definitive answer as to what caused these control arms to fail. The stock control arms in PQ's car obviously were not strong enough to handle the task they were designed for. I don't think it has to do with the nut being loose, as was proposed previously, because it happened to the control arms on both sides of his car and PQ made sure to securely tighten them both.

It may be partly due to some aggressive driving, but because this problem has arisen on both stock cars and modded cars, it can't be entirely blamed on added hp or the modded parts. However, aggressive driving may have contributed to the failures. But, these cars were made to be driven aggressively. Why buy a car with 400+ hp if you aren't going to have a bit of fun with it?

What I can't figure out is whether PQ and a few others happened to get a bad batch of control arms or whether this is going to happen to many of us as time goes on.

I had my shop check my control arms when they were putting some bushings in a couple of weeks ago and they said my control arms show no evidence of this problem. So, I'm sitting on the fence as to whether I should put in new control arms or not.

[Dr Jkel]

I talked with Ron at Vengeance to let him know about this so he could be on the look out when people brought their cars in and he said the has seen no evidence of what has been described in this thread.

Like you Em, I would rather be Safe than Sorry is the reason I talked with Ron at Vengeance. He has cars putting down alot more HP than mine and so far has not seen any issues. Some have added suspension parts and some haven't.

To be real honest with you I have no clue how they set mine up when they installed my sways and springs.

I do remember discussing with Ron about FI versus a Cam. He explained that FI would give me more instant torque rather than a cam would ease into it.

My thinking on this is that FI with the more added torque on bottom end and it being applied quicker adds more stress, thus causing more downforce ie twisting the weak link. Just a theory. Boy that sounded good Speedster would be thrilled.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by GTAHVIT

Randy, obviously that line was indeed a crack..

you think you bent it while leaning on those endlinks since we are trying to get them so damn tight...

If you look at a brand new control arm, including the one Pete sent me, there is a joint, or production stamp, clip spot, whatever it is, RIGHT ABOVE the bolt hole. Look at this arm for a minite, there are other cracks. The first failed arm has other cracks as well. Every one of them was jagged. This is not a crack in metal that was one piece. When Pedders gets done with it, we'll see, but I promise, if you guys were here to see it you'd agree. A crack is jagged at least some. This was as straight as a hair pulled tightly. I looked and looked and looked. We'll see what comes out of it.

Originally Posted by Dr Jkel

Ok I'll ask this again. Do you think this is being cause by the increase in torque/horsepower? Or is it just a design flaw/ weak link that is being shown because of the horsepower increase since the new pieces Randy got seem to have the same issue as the old if I am reading the thread correctly.

The reason I am asking is not to assign blame to GM, Pfadt, Pedders, Coke or Sprite but more of a knowledge learning question. If the failure is being caused by a combination of increased power and bad design/weak material and use of the added power then those ( ME included ) need to be on the lookout for this problem before it becomes a bigger issue. It seems that the different vendors may have come up with a solution that will easily fix the problem without having to change a bunch off parts as long as the original parts are not damaged.

Since I do plan on adding any more power adders to mine I think the Pfadt part adder fix, for lack of a better term, may be all I need. Just trying to learn.

I blame Coke and Sprite........

I can't even guess anymore. All I can do is repair it and hope Pete and the guys at Pedders can get some definitive answers for my curiosity.

Originally Posted by Darth_Emma

I think people have proposed hypotheses for why they failed, but I don't see any evidence that there is a definitive answer as to what caused these control arms to fail. The stock control arms in PQ's car obviously were not strong enough to handle the task they were designed for. I don't think it has to do with the nut being loose, as was proposed previously, because it happened to the control arms on both sides of his car and PQ made sure to securely tighten them both.

It may be partly due to some aggressive driving, but because this problem has arisen on both stock cars and modded cars, it can't be entirely blamed on added hp or the modded parts. However, aggressive driving may have contributed to the failures. But, these cars were made to be driven aggressively. Why buy a car with 400+ hp if you aren't going to have a bit of fun with it?

What I can't figure out is whether PQ and a few others happened to get a bad batch of control arms or whether this is going to happen to many of us as time goes on.

I had my shop check my control arms when they were putting some bushings in a couple of weeks ago and they said my control arms show no evidence of this problem. So, I'm sitting on the fence as to whether I should put in new control arms or not.

Well, if you consider that both nuts could have loosened over time, then I guess it's plausible that the second arm (this new failure) was already compromised before I changed the end links to Pedders. In which case the failure would have been imminent.

That 'crack'/'fracture'/'joint'/'flaw'/'casting defect' or whatever it is, could have never reared it's ugly head had the bolt been tighter?

[themossman]

The strangest thing I see in those pics is the new pedders coilovers...

[PQ]

Thanks Rob@WrechedMS for the offer. Overnight shipping is crazy.

Rob advised me to go through the dealer to save costs. It will be around 53.00 and be here on Thursday. Hopefully no more problems.