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Rear Sway Bar broke


BrSurfer
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Hi People,

So, the rear sway bar from my Pathfinder broke a week ago. I was not wheeling or anything, I figured it was when the truck flexed in my garage entrance – which is not much at all.

Anyway, I took it off and after looking at rupture point I could clearly see that it was about to broke for some time, the place was with 60% of the area covered by rust.

 

The truck has about 2 inches of lift on the rear and I haven’t extended the Sway bar links. So, do you think that not extending the links could be the cause of the rupture? :scratchhead:

I’m riding without the bar since that and I was able to feel the difference immediately, so now I’m looking for a replacement. I have checked some junk yards but no luck so far . I’m in Brazil and Pathfinders are not very popular here. :(

 

When looking at some online shops on US I found this one : http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/2025-pathfinder-sway-bar.html

Does anyone know if this is good?? Should I just stick with a OEM one?

 

Thanks in Advance! :aok:

 

P.S. I have now a 1999.5 Pathfinder, my signature was outdated.

Edited by BrSurfer
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I would just leave it off . I thinkin a week or so you won't even notice. Mine has been off for over a year now and I like the flex more and it still feels fine on the street.

 

Unfortunately, for most of the time I'll be traveling on-road and I believe I will miss that safe ride once going to the mountains on fast roads.

So, I was thinking about putting a disconnect link option, but then I still need the sway bar.

Thanks for the feedback! :aok:

Edited by BrSurfer
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I had the exact same thing happen to mine, it broke right above the third member while my wife was pulling into the grocery store parking lot. When I removed it to investigate about 60-70 percent of the break was rusted, like it had been broken for quite some time and it finally gave out.

 

I called the dealer to ask about it and get pricing, the parts guy had never heard of the rear stabilizer bar breaking in half, but was ready to sell me a new one for $170.

 

I found one at a local salvage yard for $50, if the pathfinder wasn't my wife's daily driver I would have just left it off.

 

The stiffer aftermarket sway bar seems nice but at a high price with probably not a whole lot of gain in performance. I would wait and find a good used one at a salvage yard.

Edited by edolmseth
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I had the exact same thing happen to mine, it broke right above the third member while my wife was pulling into the grocery store parking lot. When I removed it to investigate about 60-70 percent of the break was rusted, like it had been broken for quite some time and it finally gave out.

 

I called the dealer to ask about it and get pricing, the parts guy had never heard of the rear stabilizer bar breaking in half, but was ready to sell me a new one for $170.

 

I found one at a local salvage yard for $50, if the pathfinder wasn't my wife's daily driver I would have just left it off.

 

The stiffer aftermarket sway bar seems nice but at a high price with probably not a whole lot of gain in performance. I would wait and find a good used one at a salvage yard.

 

Yeah, it looks like this is not so unusual. I know 2 other guys here from Brazil Pathfinder Club that faced the same issue.

Is your truck lifted? I wonder what could be causing this...

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Humm, I don't think a lift should cause this, I mean when the axle is level there really should not be any tension on the swaybar regardless of how far away from the body the axle is pushed. Unless you lift is way outside the specs of what we are all used to seeing.

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Yeah, it looks like this is not so unusual. I know 2 other guys here from Brazil Pathfinder Club that faced the same issue.

Is your truck lifted? I wonder what could be causing this...

 

My Pathfinder is not lifted.

 

I don't think the lift is the issue, when you lift the rear end the stabilizer bar will rotate in its bushings to accommodate the added height, there will be slightly different forces induced in the bar but nothing wildly outside of stock geometry. I think it is caused by some other issue, perhaps a manufacturing defect..

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It's a shame you are so far away, if you wanted mine you could have it for free. :headwall:

 

Well, I will put some more effort on trying to find one here. But, at the end it may be easier to get one in US and pay for the shipping. Car parts here are too expensive.

Thanks!

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My Pathfinder is not lifted.

 

I don't think the lift is the issue, when you lift the rear end the stabilizer bar will rotate in its bushings to accommodate the added height, there will be slightly different forces induced in the bar but nothing wildly outside of stock geometry. I think it is caused by some other issue, perhaps a manufacturing defect..

 

That is really nice to know.

Thank you guys for all your feedbacks! :aok:

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  • 5 years later...

My rear stabilizer bar also broke a couple of weeks ago.

Replying here just to add to the statistics.

 

Mine is a 2003 4x4 LE.

 

I think that it was bent or about to break for some time now, since I didn't notice any difference in the handling on my pathfinder after it broke.

I just found out because it was clunking when passing over bumps and looked around to find the reason.

 

 

 

 

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