anti sway bar? track bar? lateral rod??? what is it??

[kahlilj]

Hey folks, I need some help. Recently I was driving my car & noticed the rear end seemed a bit "fishy" or loose when making slight turns especially right turns. Initially I thought it was a rear tire gone flat or similar. So I pulled the car off the street into a parking lot and checked, but tires were fine. I then pushed the car from the side rear quarter panel and it moved quite a bit. I then wondered if something was wrong with my rear axle (do FWD's have rear axles? !) But when I resumed driving it was even more noticeable & I heard a scrubbing/scraping sound occasionally too!

Anyway, when I got home that night I jacked the car up & took pics of what I'm sure the problem is (see attached). The pics show the broken connections. They were taken underneath the part as it connects to a bracket on the passenger side of the car. The drivers side connections seemed fine - nothing broken or damaged. Is this my anti-sway bar? lateral rod? cross member?? I can't find my Chiltons manual, & I'm not sure how to fix this other than to weld this broken bracket that connects to the bar.

I also took a pic of the wheel well. This was the source of the scrubbing noise I heard.

Has anyone else experienced this? Know what this part is? & How to fix it?? Also can you suggest some place in the metro Atlanta area that does this sort of repair?

Please help. I need my ride!!

Thanks,
Kahlil

 

[Defiant]

That's a Panhard rod. Who crashed that car, and when? Ask a suspension shop if it can be fixed. You may have trouble finding anyone who'll touch it.

 

[mavisky]

Looks like someone slid the driver's side rear into a curb and forced that to give. I can't believe the rod didn't bend though.

 

[My96AWD]

Looks like someone slid the driver's side rear into a curb and forced that to give. I can't believe the rod didn't bend though.

It prob did. See the paint marker? It looks like what the junkyards put on it.

 

[kahlilj]

Thanks folks. I am the original & only owner of the car & you are "dead on" in regards to the cause of it. I did have a "rear slapper" a couple of years ago which probably directly contributed to this part eventually weakening. Matter of fact, I believe that straight bar (cross member?) beneath it was replaced (as my96awd pointed out). So the bracket connection may have been pre-stressed from that accident?.... hmmmm... but that was over 2 years ago..

Anyway, it seems this bracket is spot-welded to the under body. Can I simply replace this bracket? & if so how do I go about removing it? Or should this be done by a body/weldshop?

 

[DoyoFCT]

i think you are going to want a shop that has a frame rack, to do all of the repairs, just so they know where it needs to be, im assuming the bracket was kinda bent from the accident and when you replaced the track arm it caused a binding point of some sort. which lead to it tearing away. but yea id get it on a frame rack and get it fixed. shouldnt be a big deal.

 

[kahlilj]

Thanks Doyo.. Any idea on how much this might run? I ask because I was actually looking to sell the car. I need a four door sedan since my lifestyle has changed from swinging bachelor type when I bought it to now being married daddy of 3 kids - all in car seats. !