Broken CorkSport Rear Torsion Bar :(

[Jond63]

Well, at least I tracked down one of the mystery rattles from under my car... at first I just thought it had come loose, but after checking torque was indeed still tight I could feel the bar moving around and noticed it was cracked right through at the weld! Cracked half way around the other side too. Bummer because I really enjoyed having this thing on the 2. Maybe chromoly would be better?

I wonder what would be involved to swap in a Fiesta ST rear beam? I'm not sure the RacingBeat will hold up much better, those u-bolts don't give me a ton of confidence.

 

[BigBlueDart]

Is it still under warranty? Have you contacted Corksport?

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

I wonder what would be involved to swap in a Fiesta ST rear beam? I'm not sure the RacingBeat will hold up much better, those u-bolts don't give me a ton of confidence.

Apparently the bolts were stronger than the welds, though.

 

[Minimazda]

You should really contact Corksport, they are really excellent about fixing their parts. Even if it is out of warranty or they won't help you (which I see as unlikely) I'm sure they would like to check out what caused it to break so that they can ensure that it does not happen to other people. I haven't heard of anyone else's breaking at the weld but CS would probably want to check it out and ensure that it was just one faulty one.
I'm curious myself as to what caused that. How long have you had it; hit anything?

 

[Tom_Mazda2]

Well, at least I tracked down one of the mystery rattles from under my car... at first I just thought it had come loose, but after checking torque was indeed still tight I could feel the bar moving around and noticed it was cracked right through at the weld! Cracked half way around the other side too. Bummer because I really enjoyed having this thing on the 2. Maybe chromoly would be better?

You need to give Corksport a call. I'm sure they will help as this looks like an isolated incident. If they don't give you a new bar they should at least compensate you for a replacement.

I've had my CS rear torsion bar on for about 10,000 miles and 10 track days and 3 autocross events. My bar is holding up well.

If Derrick is poking around on the forums I hope he sees this.

 

[molex7]

You need to give Corksport a call. I'm sure they will help as this looks like an isolated incident. If they don't give you a new bar they should at least compensate you for a replacement.

I've had my CS rear torsion bar on for about 10,000 miles and 10 track days and 3 autocross events. My bar is holding up well.

If Derrick is poking around on the forums I hope he sees this.

He's racing in buttonwillow but i'm sure he'll chime in soon.

 

[Jond63]

I think Derrick is doing pretty well in Buttonwillow! 2nd yesterday, don't know about today yet...

But anyway, I have no doubt CorkSport will stand behind their product -- it is good news to hear Tom that your bar has held up for so long with that track/auto-x time on it. My bar only had about 4.5k miles and all street driving. I've never hit anything out of the ordinary except I will say the roads in Seattle suck! Especially down where I work and drive everyday.

I wonder if the bar was maybe not welded perfectly straight/parallel on the ends and was under constant load? Because when I installed it I expected to be able to drop both bolts through easily and just tighten them up, but no matter how I tried I had to slide one bolt in first and then wrench the 2nd in using a socket wrench, basically cutting threads into the 2nd bolt hole and driving it through. That makes me think one side was crooked and then when torqued up it put a load on the welds 100% of the time. Just guessing... but hopeful a replacement will hold up better. I really noticed the car flopping around more the past few days and thought it was just my subconscious telling me to trade up for an FR-S or something -- SO glad it's because the bar was broken and I can get my sweet handling back again.

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

I think Derrick is doing pretty well in Buttonwillow! 2nd yesterday, don't know about today yet...

But anyway, I have no doubt CorkSport will stand behind their product -- it is good news to hear Tom that your bar has held up for so long with that track/auto-x time on it. My bar only had about 4.5k miles and all street driving. I've never hit anything out of the ordinary except I will say the roads in Seattle suck! Especially down where I work and drive everyday.

I wonder if the bar was maybe not welded perfectly straight/parallel on the ends and was under constant load? Because when I installed it I expected to be able to drop both bolts through easily and just tighten them up, but no matter how I tried I had to slide one bolt in first and then wrench the 2nd in using a socket wrench, basically cutting threads into the 2nd bolt hole and driving it through. That makes me think one side was crooked and then when torqued up it put a load on the welds 100% of the time. Just guessing... but hopeful a replacement will hold up better. I really noticed the car flopping around more the past few days and thought it was just my subconscious telling me to trade up for an FR-S or something -- SO glad it's because the bar was broken and I can get my sweet handling back again.

Everyone I've heard seems to say that the bar is pretty difficult to screw in.

 

[BigBlueDart]

Everyone I've heard seems to say that the bar is pretty difficult to screw in.

Mine was pretty easy. The only issue I really had was a getting a good look at my torque wrench, but that's because my jack doesn't go up as high as my jack stands. What's with that?

 

[eyeballs]

My bar needed motivation to get in via tapping with a hammer on the bolt and mallet on the bar.

 

[inspekt]

I had to do exactly the same thing...

My bar needed motivation to get in via tapping with a hammer on the bolt and mallet on the bar.

 

[PGTBrow]

Yikes! Imagine that thing coming off and flying into the car behind you (eek2)

 

[Jond63]

Yikes! Imagine that thing coming off and flying into the car behind you (eek2)

Yeah, I know! I almost left it on (lazy) in thinking I'd swap it out when I got a replacement, and then had the exact same thought as you! Also would have been bad if it came down and wedged itself up into the gas tank, rear bumper, or some other place under the car and ripped something up.

The weird thing was, it didn't make any noise over most bumps -- only on cracks where both rear tires went over at the same time, like on cement roads in between the sections or expansion joints. Potholes only and I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. It went tink, tink, tink...

 

[CorkSport]

Did Kelly contact you about the bar yesterday?

-Derrick

 

[Jond63]

Yep! Contacted and just waiting to hear from the engineers.

 

[Jond63]

Warrantied!

Should have a replacement by this weekend and will be sending the broken one back for inspection.

Thanks again Derrick and CorkSport!!

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

Warrantied!

Should have a replacement by this weekend and will be sending the broken one back for inspection.

Thanks again Derrick and CorkSport!!

F YEAH CORKSPORT!

I just ordered a load of stuff from them, so I'm glad to hear a happy ending to this. (2thumbs)

 

[inspekt]

I am glad to hear it too. I have bought almost everything for my 2 through Corksport and I can't possibly say enough good things about them.

 

[Tom_Mazda2]

Warrantied!

Should have a replacement by this weekend and will be sending the broken one back for inspection.

Thanks again Derrick and CorkSport!!

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out. This is why I choose Corksport whenever I can because their customer service is impecable and by far the best I've seen from any performance parts supplier/ builder.

 

[CorkSport]

Sorry I wasn't able to answer sooner on the forums. We loaded the car up at the track sunday literally right after we were released from impound and drove back to Vancouver which is a 14 hour drive. I normally try to hit the forums earlier in the week.

-Derrick