18 replies to this topic

[minidan]

has anyone ever experienced the tiebars snapping? where it be standard tiebars or upgraded ones.

this has happened about 3 times now and not on the same mini either! first time was a few years ago on my mini when i was slowing down to go into a carpark (so the speed was very low) and again when slowing down outside my house (again about 25mph) about 6 months later.

now its happened again recently to my g/f's Minus!both tiebars at the same time! now of course we didnt build the car so we didnt have a total idea of what parts were used to build it but surely thats besides the point.


what i want to know is why are the tiebars snapping under braking? the point at which it breaks is where it joins the subframe at the front. the threaded part snaps off.

both minis had pretty standard suspension (apart from being lowered) so nothing unusual.

we have bought these tiebars to replace the broken ones when we get the mini back from the bodyshop!

Edited by minidan, 18 May 2007 - 08:26 AM.

[TimS]

I snapped my old tiebar bolts, at 60mph, that was very scary, and bent both A panels.

Edited by TimS, 18 May 2007 - 09:39 AM.

[minidan]

did that happen while normal crusing or just under braking?

also , when the wheels go flying backwards did you bend the subframe?

[minidan]

anyone else know why this happens?

[taffy1967]

Could the bushes have been too hard? Say of the hard poly variety? The ones on my Mini are just that but I've not had any problems.

The other thing to bare in mind is that I've heard that you shouldn't completely tighten the tie-bar bolts up until the car is back on the ground. Otherwise the bushes will be twisted or put under pressure and that could account for the snapping issue?

[Dan]

That's not tie-bars, it's the bottom arm bushes.

Tie rod bushes normally snap off the end of the rod under braking because they are too hard, either too hard because they are poly or becuase they are solidified, very old and tired stanadard rubber ones. Lowering the car changes the force on all the bushes from standard. If you do lower a car and leave existing worn out tie rod bushes in place you could get this happen I think. Tie rod bushes need to deform at a different angle when lowered than at standard height and old tired bushes are generally fixed permanantly in the suspension rest position. This causes huge problems with ride comfort and handling because the tie rods become very resistant to moving and when they do move it's against a solid object rather than a compliant one. I can see how if you are forcing a tie rod to spend all of its time forcing against a bush that is fixed in position it would over stress it. Only a theory really.

[Sprocket]

Where are they failing? I doubt very much that if there was a problem with tie bars failing that Austin, Morris and Rover would have done nothing about it.

Put up some pictures. Failure of normaly reliable items is rarely down to the items themselfs, but rather the conditions they are put under as a result of human intervention. And im not saying you did it

Ive had four Minis of varying ages and know several people who own and have owned Minis but I have never heard of any tie bar failures.

[jonny d]

Standard ones bend because they are made of cheese.

[Sprocket]

Standard ones bend either because they have been used for towing the car, or because the wheel has been subject to an impact.

If they did not bend, the forces would be transmitted elsewhere and damage something else. Also, as they bend they absorb some of the force when involved in an accident, heavy duty tie bars transmit the force so its a harder hit.

Up to you. Genuine original tie bars are half the price of the heavy duty items.

[koss]

I had a tiebar fail a long time ago, nearly killed me.
I was negotiating a slight S bend at @ 50 mph, when I completely lost control and slammed into a very large kerb.
When the car was on the back of the recovery truck, I looked under to see that the tiebar had snapped off where it
meets the lower arm. Elongated holes maybe worked loose I dont know.

[minidaves]

never seen one or had one break yet, bend yes, snaped the front subframe where they bolt into a couple of times, and have seen one bottom arm pin failure.

remember for the road good standard is better than modified

dave

[biggav]

Minwah had one fail on his old car and he is convinced that it was due to having solid bushes.... he now uses poly on the outside and rubber on the inside.... or was it the other way round....

[Sprocket]

Its the other way round

[andywaller]

i had one go aswell when i was slowing down to go into a round about very scary, im sure mine was because of solid bushes as the nut at the front end sheared off.

as above i now only use a mix of poly and rubber and havent had a problem since.

[taffy1967]

Only trouble I've had is with a bendy tie-bar on my current Mini. I believe it was like that before I bought it and was just jacking damage.

I've had heavy duty adjustable tie-bars fitted for about a decade now and they've never caused any problems.