Story: My Pfadt front sway bar snapped - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

TofuDragon · 02-06-2015, 11:39 AM

I don't mean to post this up to cast a negative light on the Pfadt company or their quality of product. It's simply what happened to me, and I thought I'd at least let people know that it can happen. Plus I installed the sway bar myself, so who knows, it may have been ever-so-slightly dented during the initial install, which led to the catastrophic failure over 2 years later. Or it could have been the constant level change whenever I turn right to go up my uphill driveway. Or the funky weather in Austin, TX, being 70 degrees one day and close to freezing the next. Point is, it could have been anything.

Some background. I bought the front and rear Pfadt sways from JDP Motorsports back on June 1, 2012. Installed them as soon as they arrived. Used my stock endlinks. Great handling, great experience with the seller, satisfied customer all around. I only do city street driving, to and from work. The sways allowed me to take turns much faster than I could before and to this day I consider them the best first suspension upgrade you can do to a Camaro.

In Feb, 2014, I heard that Pfadt was going through sales bankruptcy. I remember thinking, uh-oh, I hope my sways don't fail, haha. Should've knocked on wood.

Around late Novemeber, 2014, I was going over a speed bump in a Home Depot parking lot and *bang, a loud pop (louder than the sound of the default suspension pop on the 2010s), followed by the sound of scraping metal. Got out and saw that the front sway had snapped, and was now dragging on the ground.

Since my car is a daily driver, I immediately went Amazon and ordered a front Eibach sway with 2-day shipping. I chose the Eibach due to it being a solid bar, instead of a hollow one. Whether or not this made a difference in the failure, again, who knows. Installed the Eibach and everything is great again. Still running the Pfadt sway in the rear, but honestly I doubt it will snap or anything like that. Plus I hear that the Pfadt company has restructured and is back in business, so I'm sure they'd help me out if anything went wrong in the future.

I never contacted Pfadt or JDP Motorsports about this; I'm sure they would've taken care of me. JDP in particular, has always been a great seller every time I've contacted them. At the time, I was just in a hurry to get it fixed so I could have things back to the way they were.

Anyway, here are the pics (the red bar is the Eibach)

bannonm · 02-06-2015, 01:31 PM

Has to be a manufacturing defect. You didn't mention whether or not your end links got screwed up. I had a track mishap and broke a coil over shaft, and bent both Pfadt end links, but the bar was fine. I have the ZL-spec bars on mine. So IMO, even if you hit something the end links should have bent and/or broke before the sway bar snaps.

JusticePete · 02-06-2015, 02:22 PM

Small and large diameter hollow bars break where they are bent. Small diameter solid bars break where they are bent too. How the bar is bent and normalized has a great deal to do with the durability of a bar.

A broken sway is no reflection on the quality of the company or the bar. It happens. When you see 20 or 30 on C5 from the same company, then it is a quality problem. I don't remotely expect anything like that to occur.

TofuDragon · 02-07-2015, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bannonm

You didn't mention whether or not your end links got screwed up.

Nope, nothing happened to the endlinks. In fact, still using them on the replacement bar.

LimaCharlie · 02-07-2015, 11:41 PM

Have you greased the bushings lately? I don't think it's the issue but I'm curious to know how often you did this.

TofuDragon · 02-08-2015, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LimaCharlie

Have you greased the bushings lately? I don't think it's the issue but I'm curious to know how often you did this.

Not since the initial install. I know what you're thinking, like maybe the bushing was seized or something... but that grease is pretty long-lasting; the bushings were still able to slide easily after the uninstall.

JusticePete · 02-08-2015, 09:48 AM

A dry bushing would not have sufficient bind to cause a large diameter hollow bar to break.

ActNup NY · 02-08-2015, 05:59 PM

Holy crap !! I have Pdaft sway bars as well. That sucks !

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JusticePete · 02-08-2015, 06:01 PM

No need for concern as this appears to be an isolated incident.

SS PANTHER · 02-09-2015, 04:21 AM

I have Pfadt ZL spec bars on my 2013 vert that I purchased from JDP also. Tyler is a great guy and I would like to have him chime in on this as they sold a lot of Pfadt products. Maybe he knows about the failure rate, if any, besides yours, on these bars.

JusticePete · 02-09-2015, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS PANTHER

I have Pfadt ZL spec bars on my 2013 vert that I purchased from JDP also. Tyler is a great guy and I would like to have him chime in on this as they sold a lot of Pfadt products. Maybe he knows about the failure rate, if any, besides yours, on these bars.

Failures and bad news travel faster than the speed of light on forums. There is one failure posted. One.

SS PANTHER · 02-09-2015, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JusticePete

Failures and bad news travel faster than the speed of light on forums. There is one failure posted. One.

Thanks for researching the whole forum for me. I was just curious if Tyler had heard of or seen any other failures besides this.

02-06-2015, 11:39 AM	#1
TofuDragon Drives: 2010 2LT RS M6 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Pflugerville, TX Posts: 189 View My Garage	Story: My Pfadt front sway bar snapped I don't mean to post this up to cast a negative light on the Pfadt company or their quality of product. It's simply what happened to me, and I thought I'd at least let people know that it can happen. Plus I installed the sway bar myself, so who knows, it may have been ever-so-slightly dented during the initial install, which led to the catastrophic failure over 2 years later. Or it could have been the constant level change whenever I turn right to go up my uphill driveway. Or the funky weather in Austin, TX, being 70 degrees one day and close to freezing the next. Point is, it could have been anything. Some background. I bought the front and rear Pfadt sways from JDP Motorsports back on June 1, 2012. Installed them as soon as they arrived. Used my stock endlinks. Great handling, great experience with the seller, satisfied customer all around. I only do city street driving, to and from work. The sways allowed me to take turns much faster than I could before and to this day I consider them the best first suspension upgrade you can do to a Camaro. In Feb, 2014, I heard that Pfadt was going through sales bankruptcy. I remember thinking, uh-oh, I hope my sways don't fail, haha. Should've knocked on wood. Around late Novemeber, 2014, I was going over a speed bump in a Home Depot parking lot and bang, a loud pop (louder than the sound of the default suspension pop on the 2010s), followed by the sound of scraping metal. Got out and saw that the front sway had snapped, and was now dragging on the ground. Since my car is a daily driver, I immediately went Amazon and ordered a front Eibach sway with 2-day shipping. I chose the Eibach due to it being a solid bar, instead of a hollow one. Whether or not this made a difference in the failure, again, who knows. Installed the Eibach and everything is great again. Still running the Pfadt sway in the rear, but honestly I doubt it will snap or anything like that. Plus I hear that the Pfadt company has restructured and is back in business, so I'm sure they'd help me out if anything went wrong in the future. I never contacted Pfadt or JDP Motorsports about this; I'm sure they would've taken care of me. JDP in particular, has always been a great seller every time I've contacted them. At the time, I was just in a hurry to get it fixed so I could have things back to the way they were. Anyway, here are the pics (the red bar is the Eibach) __________________ Self-installed all mods with help from Camaro5 forums!* HUD, Front & Rear View Cameras, VMax Ported Throttle Body, Vararam Intake, VMax Black ICE-olater, Eibach Front Sway Bar, Extended Vinyl Stripes Last edited by TofuDragon; 02-07-2015 at 05:25 PM.

02-06-2015, 01:31 PM	#2
bannonm Drives: 2011 2SS/RS M6 VR Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 1,536	Has to be a manufacturing defect. You didn't mention whether or not your end links got screwed up. I had a track mishap and broke a coil over shaft, and bent both Pfadt end links, but the bar was fine. I have the ZL-spec bars on mine. So IMO, even if you hit something the end links should have bent and/or broke before the sway bar snaps. __________________

02-07-2015, 11:41 PM	#5
LimaCharlie Drives: 2011 Camaro SS/RS - 2004 Silverado Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 2,989	Have you greased the bushings lately? I don't think it's the issue but I'm curious to know how often you did this. __________________ 2011 Summit White Camaro 1SS/RS -6.2 LS3, TR6060, 3.45, G80 2004 Black Silverado 1500 2WD Regular Cab, Short Bed -5.3 LM7, 4L60E, 3.42, G80 2014 White Caprice PPV -6.0 L77, 6L80E, 2.92, G80

02-08-2015, 05:59 PM	#8
ActNup NY Drives: 2011 1LT Black Camaro Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Queens, NYC Posts: 2,496 View My Garage	Holy crap !! I have Pdaft sway bars as well. That sucks ! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ *The DREAM is free... It's the HUSTLE that is sold seperately*

02-06-2015, 02:22 PM	#3
JusticePete Drives: Camaro Justice Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Virginia Posts: 20,174	Small and large diameter hollow bars break where they are bent. Small diameter solid bars break where they are bent too. How the bar is bent and normalized has a great deal to do with the durability of a bar. A broken sway is no reflection on the quality of the company or the bar. It happens. When you see 20 or 30 on C5 from the same company, then it is a quality problem. I don't remotely expect anything like that to occur.

02-08-2015, 09:48 AM	#7
JusticePete Drives: Camaro Justice Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Virginia Posts: 20,174	A dry bushing would not have sufficient bind to cause a large diameter hollow bar to break.

02-08-2015, 06:01 PM	#9
JusticePete Drives: Camaro Justice Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Virginia Posts: 20,174	No need for concern as this appears to be an isolated incident.

02-09-2015, 04:21 AM	#10
SS PANTHER Drives: 2013 SS Supercharged Convertible Join Date: May 2013 Location: SoCal Posts: 2,714	I have Pfadt ZL spec bars on my 2013 vert that I purchased from JDP also. Tyler is a great guy and I would like to have him chime in on this as they sold a lot of Pfadt products. Maybe he knows about the failure rate, if any, besides yours, on these bars.