So I've snapped my Neuspeed rear sway bar.....

[sukebe]

I'd been noticing a lot of creaking/squeaking in the rear recently, particulary goind over speed humps (slowly!), and the back end of the car seemed kind of unstable when cornering. I had figured that the rear sway bar (hollow 25mm Neuspeed) needed the bushes regreased. So I get the car on jack stands, get the wheels off, and discover that the sway bar is snapped! It has happened at the point of greatest torsional strain which I guess would be expected, but surely it shouldn't break (especially since its less than 12 months old)! I haven't even really pushed the car much - just the odd "spirited drive" out to the Dandenongs/Black Spur etc. In removing the swaybar it appeared to have been installed correctly, it just looks like it broke due to metal fatigue (or manufacturing flaw?).

Has anyone had experience of this happening? Do you know what kind of warranty Neuspeed has? Bought it through Rennenhaus, don't know if they will be able to help me out......

[qsilverza]

If it was installed correctly, my guess is it should be covered. It snapped... wow Got any Pic's of it ?

[sukebe]

If it were not installed correctly I would have thought it wouldnt have lasted as long as it did. When I removed it I couldn't see anything that seemed unusual (well, except for the broken bar). Will try to get a photo up, not too sure how to do it without using something like photobucket tho...

[Tim]

damn thats a good effort to snap one!

There was a guy who snapped one on golfmkv.com but in the US. Neuspeed sent him out a new one. Not sure how that works in Australia though.

[sukebe]

it was the hollow bar, not the solid one. Supposed to be lighter with the same torsional siffness (but clearly not strength!). There was no effort involved, as I sai, Ive never really thrown the Bora into anything much as I don't want to hurt it. I used to throw the VR6 around into all kinds of gnarly stuff and it never complained.....

[MIS.18T]

it was the hollow bar, not the solid one. Supposed to be lighter with the same torsional siffness (but clearly not strength!). There was no effort involved, as I sai, Ive never really thrown the Bora into anything much as I don't want to hurt it. I used to throw the VR6 around into all kinds of gnarly stuff and it never complained.....

they did stop making the hollow now tho, maybe there was a prob cause i did want that one,

[tigger19]

My Anti-Sway Bar snapped too!

I bought an Neuspeed Anti-Sway Bar for my Bora V6 4Motion (also the hollow 25mm) way back in January 2008. It has been great but today it snapped ?? I heard a bang and saw a section of red pipe shoot across the road. I was travelling less than 50kmph and on a very gentle bend on Burwood Highway (for those in Melbourne - who would know this is hardly a demanding piece of road). So given that it is almost 2 years old, I don't expect much come-back from Neuspeed.

The advice I need is it worth trying to see if I can get the solid bar from Neuspeed (who may take pity on me and at least offer a small discount) Or what else would others recommend I look at? Whiteline? H&R ? Eibach?

Picture attached and also this - photobucket so I hope it works!

[Tim]

its clearly a design problem. It cant hurt to contact them to see what they have to say about it.

[tigger19]

Thanks Tim, I'll try my best. I notice the company I bought this from no longer list Neuspeed on their 'Handling' page and only list whiteline - maybe that is a hint?

[gavs]

I would be jumping up and down about it to them, obviously it is a design problem or they have a severe flaw in their installation instructions!!

I personally have a Whiteline bar fitted and i haven't had a problem and I haven't heard a squeek since I fitted it almost 8 months ago.

[SoVeReIgN]

The one reason I went with whiteline - Local support. But they've been faultless so far.

[tigger19]

Cheers guys - Rennenhaus (thanks Ian) was quick to pass the information on to Neuspeed so it will be interesting to see their response will be. If no joy comes out of this, it is looking like a move to whiteline is the way to go.

On that, has anyone fitted the Whiteline Swaybar 24mm-X h/duty Blade adjustable (AWD) to a MarkIV? After snapping a RSB - h/duty seems like a good idea although I don't remember this model being available when I last took a look at whiteline a few years ago. Also is the Whiteline Anti Lift Kit FWD/AWD worth looking at for a Bora 4Motion? Or is that a MarkV R32 option only?

[sir_camel]

Whiteline products have been known to fail in the past. A whole bunch of guys with jeeps who i used to 4wd with had whiteline front adjustable trac bars. One let go on a jeep driving in front of me at 100kmh. pretty scary stuff. Obviously that was an issue a few years ago they had but just a heads up that everything can have a bad batch.

[No457 Snowy]

I've had a Neuspeed solid bar at the rear for about 4 years now, when looking at what to install I went with the solid one because I was dubious about the hollow bar's strength, despite the weight difference. (I didn't notice the extra weight after installing the bar tbh).

As a rule, you usually get what you pay for, always remembering anything made by man can fail.


Snowy