Cobb: Broken sway bars-first the front and now the rear-->Update: Cobb Steps UP.

Thread update:

I want to let you know that Cobb is stepping up to the plate and is going to take good care of me. I will say that without proof of purchase and some polite phone conversions and civil email exchanges, this likely wouldn't have happened. When all is said and done, the folks at Cobb were quick to resolve my issues and they did so with a smile.

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I installed a new set of Cobb sway bars and rear reinforcement bracket in January 2010. The front bar failed last November and the rear failed today.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8213195698_83ce36a6ef.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8576821152_de3c4e77bf.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8104/8576818450_e10cd1cf3d.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22998272@N07/8576821152/

How long were they on your car b4 failing? I've got the Cobbs f/r as well.

Mine have been on since 2006.

The bars were installed in January 2010 (as mentioned in the OP) and were lubed regularly. This is a daily driver and I live in snow country, but I'm still disappointed.

To Cobb's credit, they have offered me a store credit on the front bar. We'll see what, if anything, they might do for me on the rear. I emailed them late last night, so they haven't had a chance to respond.

Who is the current manufacturer????

I have had mine on since 2005:eek:

Are OEM bars hollow too? They sure are light.

Not hollow that I know of, they're just tiny.

Update: I've pasted Cobb's email response below:

To give you a bit of history, when we manufactured these original sway bars, they were transported before being powdercoated. Therefore we have seen over time that customers living in harsh conditions can potentially see failures like this due to contaminants during that transportation before the protective powdercoating was applied. Our newer swaybars do not have this extra step, and are therefore much better. But, this doesn't help your current situation!

 

Please let me know your vehicle make, and I will make sure to get you all taken care of.

Not hollow that I know of, they're just tiny.

 

 

Update: I've pasted Cobb's email response below:

 

The ball is back in their court.

So they rusted from the inside out:lol: Or powder coating lasts for years

Does not compute:eek:

So they rusted from the inside out:lol: Or powder coating lasts for years

 

Does not compute:eek:

Sure does, Roibin. The bars were manufactured and then shipped to a different business where they were powdercoated. It was during the shipping to the powdercoast facility where the bars were contaminated and started rusting b4 they got the powdercoat.

Sure does, Roibin. The bars were manufactured and then shipped to a different business where they were powdercoated. It was during the shipping to the powdercoast facility where the bars were contaminated and started rusting b4 they got the powdercoat.

I don't know about you, but in New England salt and sand, the powercoating got blasted off years ago

I suppose the powder coating could have covered rust, and that rust could have caused the failure. But there are lots of hollow sway bars out there, without powder coating that have lasted the lifetime of the car

What I HAVE noticed, is that broken sway bars seem to break in the same place. That, to me, seems to be a binding problem, IE, a bar out of specs.

I am sure, that a strength and materials engineer could look at it and diagnose the problem.

I can't really tell from the pics, but it looks like a crystalline failure to me:confused:

It is odd that the rear bar did not break at the bushing.

I recently picked up a pair from the east coast, and what I found is consistent with Cobb's statement; the rust was present under the powder coating, which you can see on the back of what flaked off.

What is shown in the attached picture came off after a single pass with a gloved hand.

After going back and forth on the topic and not finding significant pitting, I took a wire wheel to them to clean them up and am planning to install them this weekend. I am still disappointed though, considering that I asked in nearly every e-mail if there was much rust apparent.

^^^ I would probably have them bead blasted, maybe even shot peened, and then powder coated.

That was the route that I was headed, but before putting more money into them, I want to run them for a bit to make sure that there is not already too much fatigue.

I almost shipped them back the night that opened the box, but I decided that I would clean them up a bit and look for tell tale signs.

There is pictures attached to this post if you follow the link

OK...so here is the update. Sunday my brother in law and I pulled the broken front Cobb bar and installed the stock bar. I forgot how much of a PITA it is, especially since all the bolts are so corroded from liberal use of salt here in the winter.

 

Anyway, I have been in touch with Cobb and they have been super helpful. They have asked I return the bar to them so they can investigate the failure further with their supplier. But the good news is I think this was a complete fluke and was just a bar that had a defect, not a poorly designed bar.

 

When we got the bar off and we took it outside for a closer look we immediately noticed corrosion on one part of the break. It appears as if the bar may have had a defect from day one and has been corroding for the last year and a half. On either side of the corroded area the break is very bright indicating it was a rapid crack propegation. Directly opposite the corrosion is a dull band, where teh bar was flexed over and over until it failed. So I think what happened was the initial defect allowed continued weakening of the bar; then when the bar was loaded it snapped causing the popping sound and the bright cracks. Then as I drove further through the day the remaining section of bar continued to flex until it finally cracked off. This is likely why it didn't fall off for 60 miles.

 

As can be seen in the first thre pictures there is a fair amount of corrosion and some paint embedded. In next three pictures you can see the bright fractured area and you'll see the fracture lines are curved which is likely do to the torsion load on the bar. The next picture shows part of the dull area between the bright "quick" fail sections and these fracture lines are not present. The last photo is from the other side that indicated a quick failure, again the fracture lines are curved.

 

Honestly this makes me feel much better about putting a Cobb bar back on the front. Any part can fail and I think this failure was a total fluke. Cobb has been very helpful thoughout this process. Because of their support I wouldn't hesitate to buy their products in the future...though I will likely wait to do an install until it gets warmer.

Stock bar

http://www.jbarbieri.net/crap/crap4.jpg