christallon

Just back from a 1,000 mile journey (which included 150 track miles at Buttonwillow) and was just in the garage inspecting my brake pads when I came upon my left front RS drop link dangling loose. The lower nut (the one connected to the sway bar) was gone. I assumed it had backed itself off. As I inspected the link more closely I noticed that the nut had stripped off, likely under a heavy load, which now renders the drop link useless. I just ordered a new one along with new lock nuts, and asked if this could/would be covered under warranty. Sunset said they would send it back to the factory for inspection and would refund me if it was determined to be faulty. Has this ever happened to anyone here?

I did notice the front of the car had gotten a little less direct, but I wrote this off to the heavy load of tools and jack luggage etc I was hauling in the car. Thoughts?

TIA

KaiB

Shame you don't have the nut. It appears to me that the ramps of the thread have been flattened somehow, moreso to the outside of the nut area, but throughout nonetheless.

Torque issue?

race911

Preload issue? Was the car corner weighted with the bars disconnected? I get that it works through the range of motion when the suspension travels.

Other than that, the nut was somewhat loose and allowed the thread to play inside the hole in the bar.

Can't see how it's a bad part. I've personally never seen one like this, but my sample is on the small side.

christallon

Thanks Ken,

Yes it was attached when corner balanced. I think I'll run a dye over it and get a couple of new nuts and some blue locktight and see how that works. Does anyone know the torque spec for the nuts? Does the blue locktight make sense, or is it overkill?

Thanks all...

boxsey911

Using loctite doesn't make sense to me when you consider that the drop link can be connected to an adjustable sway bar. Maybe it was just a bad nut? On the subject of which I've just checked PET and it lists a different part number for the M10 locknuts:

Normal = 900 910 031 09

RS = 999 084 624 09

I think I'm going to order a couple of the RS versions after your experience.

RSAErick

Yikes! Thanks for sharing this experience, Chris.

I just installed the RS drop links myself, and reinstalled the stock nuts. I used torque specs passed along by Bill Verberg:
sway bar to drop link 63 ft-lb
drop link to trailing arm 34 ft-lb

I didn't notice that there were different nuts for the RS drop links - thanks for noticing that, Boxsey. Anyone know how the RS M10 nuts are different?

boxsey911

I'm picking mine up Saturday and will report back here and post a pic of the two side by side.

Unkle

What is the benefit of RS drop links? and do they fit a C4?

boxsey911

More sturdy than the C2 drop link and more suitable for the angle of the sway bar when the car is lowered to RS height but no, they apparently won't fit a C4 because of the drive shafts.

For some strange reason they are also cheaper than C2 and C4 droplinks!

RSAErick

That would be great - thanks!

Unkle

Thanks Boxsey,

christallon

Thanks for the heads up on the part number Steve, I ordered the nuts Tuesday and am hoping to see them tomorrow. I ran a dye over the threads 10 x 1.5 and the part is rejuvenated. I'm looking forward to re attaching and confirming the set-up. Thanks for the torque spec too Erick. Much appreciated! Does the 63 lbs apply to both nuts at the front? I see 2 torque specs, but I assume the one that connects to the trailing arm refers to the rear?

RSAErick

Good question. I assumed that the 63 ft-lbs applied to both front nuts - where the drop link connects to the sway bar; and to the wheel assembly. Unfortunately, there wasn't room to get a torque wrench onto the nut which connects the drop link to the wheel assembly, so I had to guess.

ThomasC2

I don't think it's an issue with a corretct nut or not. I just think it came loose a little bit and when the sway bar started to move the stress became to big on the threads. Just my 2$.

Thomas

The Flying Dutchman

my 2 cents:
was the nut attached correctly? if you force your nut to go on wrongly, the thread will get damaged. As a result it has less grip and then finally it gets loose. This in my eyes seems to be the case (seen it on a wheel nut looked exactly the same)

Otherwise the other 2 reasons mentioned in earlier posts.

Also: is there a solution for the droplinks at a C4 when lowered to RS height?