Broken Rear Sway Bar Bushing Bracket - It happened to me, too

[powercat_ras]

Inspecting beneath my 2015 Vista 27N, with only 18 months and 16,000 miles on it, I discovered that the left sway bar bushing bracket had failed. It was good at 12 months and 12,000 miles, that was the last time I had checked it. Top bolt and nut and a bit of the top part of the bracket is still there. It is broken off at point where it would have started to curve. Bushing still on sway bar in good condition. It looks like another case where in what order I don't know - the lower bracket bolt nut got loose, fell off, bolt fell out and the bracket with only tight 1 bolt flexed, stress fractured, and failed.

Will let my local Ford Truck service center repair it since am still under factory warranty.

I had NOT done CHF on the rear sway bar, so this is another example of the rear sway bar bolts needing to be checked and to be secured with locktite, no matter if you have done CHF or not on the rear.

[TeJay]

Thanks for the report. You have restored my faith in Ford. Well I'm still sure that Ford may have screwed this up from the factory and anybody who has an F-53 chassis should remove and secure those rear SB bracket bolts with torque and blue lock tight.

My original thread alerting the F-53 owners to this issue is not getting as much coverage as I thought it would. I'm going to add more information to the thread.

It's not just good enough to assure that the bolts are still tight. I believe that adding the blue lock tight is a must to assure that they won't come loose.

[1badhemi]

Do they make a lock nut that size i would be more inclined to use that instead they don't come loose . i thank you for this thread i will have the dealer check this while they have the couch its in for Warranty repairs at this time .

[rjsupersonic]

Originally Posted by TeJay

Thanks for the report. You have restored my faith in Ford. Well I'm still sure that Ford may have screwed this up from the factory and anybody who has an F-53 chassis should remove and secure those rear SB bracket bolts with torque and blue lock tight.

My original thread alerting the F-53 owners to this issue is not getting as much coverage as I thought it would. I'm going to add more information to the thread.

It's not just good enough to assure that the bolts are still tight. I believe that adding the blue lock tight is a must to assure that they won't come loose.

Yes I just found the top bolt on the driver's side broken and the bottom bolt was loose. I ordered a new U bracket, the old one is bent. Ford apparently does not carry the bolt so I will have to find one.

[TeJay]

Here's the original post that was made to ALERT all F-53 owners to check these bolts and add BLUE LOCK TIGHT so they won't come off.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/atten...ad-305445.html

Several have checked those bolts then they came off later in their travels. I still believe there is an issue with them and because some/many have happened after warranty has run out they do not get reported to Ford. Therefore Ford does not believe/realize there is a problem.

Glad you found it and got it fixed.

When I first made the thread above I tried to made the word ATTENTION!! in BOLD letters so attention would be brought to it but they don't allow it and I understand why. If they did everybody would eventually use the BOLD print option and then nobodies thread title would stand out.

[Skuterdude]

Blue loctite and torque to 66 ft lbs.......best defense against broken brackets

[mojoracing]

Im surprised your broke. Mine (same side) just had the top bolt fall out. I replaced with grade 8 and set to proper torque, has been fine ever since.

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by 1badhemi

Do they make a lock nut that size i would be more inclined to use that instead they don't come loose.

No. There is no nut. They're bolt's that goes through the bracket and screwed in. Remove the bolts, clean threads, apply blue locktite, torque to 66ft.lbs.

[JMynes]

I found my rear left sway bar bracket dangling as well. 2015 Itasca Sunstar. Took it to the Ford dealership, they couldn't do F-53 warranty work. Nearest truck center is 25 miles away, in Orlando traffic.
I bought the bushing, bracket, and bolts from Ford and did it myself to minimize the hassle. I also used blue Locktite and did the rear CHF at the same time.
I kept an eye on it, and a few trips later it was still intact. Last I knew, all was well prior to trading it in.

[joes2901]

Stop accepting the lost bolts or broken brackets as no big deal. Report it to NHTSA as a safety problem every time. It is a big deal if at highway speed you have to swerve to avoid something and you rock and roll out of control. After a winding down hill mountain road with a broken bracket I stopped to see what was wrong and could smell the hot tire stink on each end of the rear axle from the weight transfer from the side to side sway that was overloading and over heating the rear tires.

[mojoracing]

Oh please, I drove mine for over 1500 miles before I realized what had happened and could get home to fix it. All this ehile towing a 20 ft enclosed trailer up and down the mountains and speeds up to 75mph. It does not make that big a difference. You feel I bit more sway on one side but it would in no way cause you to lose control even in severe circumstances.

Sent from my SM-N915V using iRV2 - RV Forum mobile app

[TeJay]

Ok don't get all wadded up about this. Can something happen if the bracket falls off??? Well it is possible but the chances are minimal. In fact nobody has reported any real adverse driving experiences as a result of a missing/broken SB bracket. Some have reported a banging or clanking noise. I presume it's the SB hitting something when in a SWAY condition.

Most do not even realize their SB bracket is either loose, broken or gone. Yes the SWAY control will be less but since most driving will not be under adverse sway conditions it's not usually a concern or something that jumps out at you.

The average driver seldom realizes either loss or reduced sway control just as they don't realize when the shocks are not working. Well they will know when they have them replaced.

In the forums experiences most find out about a SB problem when they do an inspection.

If I'm in bad SWAY conditions either from roads or winds the RV will have my full attention, both hands on the wheel and proceed at reduced speeds.

We travel most of the time while in AR on 2-lane mountainous roads. No they are not the Rockies but they are winding, twisting and often with a decent amount of traffic as well as a few tractors, deer, coyotes, stray dogs and typical farm traffic.

Just last week my Brother heading from Ft. Worth to Houston late at night, doing 75 MPH (allowed on their roads) hit what he thought was a wolf or large coyote with his brand new car for just $3,000 worth of damage. I guess there wasn't enough left to identify what it was. He did drive it the last 100 miles home.

[Polyian]

Originally Posted by Skuterdude

Blue loctite and torque to 66 ft lbs.......best defense against broken brackets

Now that's the kind of post I really like...everything I need to know without spending days digging through hundreds of opinions.

Thank You

[bbrowncods]

Problem still exists on new frames. Just checked mine - 2018 22k chassis w/ 1700 miles. All were hand tight. Blue locktight and 66 ft-lbs.