Cracked Front Stabilizer Bar

[1999montana]

Howdy Folks,

I don't know if there has been a recall for this defect, but it wouldn't do me any good anyway, 'cause I already fixed the problem! Our van has 135,000 Kms (approximately) so I don't think the General is too interested in fixing it anyway.

While replacing the lower ball joints today, (only got one done!) I needed to loosen the stabilizer link that connects the lower control arm and the stabilizer bar.

I noticed that the under side of the bar, where it ends in an eye hole was cracked on the underside, in-board of the hole. The bar is actually a thick steel tube that has been flattened at the ends and then the hole for the link has been bored.

What would be the underside of the bar or the bottom layer of flattened tubing was cracked and had broken free leaving only the top part of the bar to act as a torsional sway bar.

Well, you guessed it, I spent the next two hours trying to remove the bar so that I could weld the two ends back together. Had to lower the rear of the sub frame (engine, transmission and all) about 5 inches to allow the bar to clear the frame.

I do a lot of MIG welding on auto restorations, so I cleaned the ends up, clamped the two pieces together with a pair of vise grips and proceeded to weld not only the cracked tube, but all the way around the outer diameter of the eye.

Put the bar back in and went on to replace the left ball joint. Those rivets sure are a pain. Will do the right one tomorrow.

My suggestion is to examine the underside of the stabilizer bar where the links attach to the lower control arm the next time you change your oil.
.