First time for everything: snapped anti-roll bar

[diggerdave]

Snapped the rear ARB like a twig of celery last weekend laning in Northumberland!

I've removed it and - predictably - all four bolts holding the brackets in place sheared off (despite heat and lube).

Will it fail an MOT if I leave it off? (My MOT guys are pretty sympathetic)

Also, for anyone who's running without one, does it make the vehicle worse on side slopes? It's bad enough anyway, so this might decide me on whether to re-instate it or not.

Has anyone got one in the north that they've removed and would like to sell?!

 

[Shayne]

They can't fail whats not there just remove all evidence of it .

Mine came off because the morons failed 6 month old arb bushes

 

[diggerdave]

They can't fail whats not there just remove all evidence of it .

Mine came off because the morons failed 6 month old arb bushes

Have you MOTed it since removing, Shayne?

 

[Shayne]

The front one was already removed i think , seems to me the average mot tester knows absolutely nothing about 4x4 so if its not there like as not he wont even notice .

 

[diggerdave]

Feel fairly confident about the MOT then.

It's the side slopes that bother me most. I guess I'll try it out in Wales next month and see how it feels.

 

[goodoldboy]

Feel fairly confident about the MOT then.

It's the side slopes that bother me most. I guess I'll try it out in Wales next month and see how it feels.

Both of mine have broken and been replaced .it's on road handing that will be affected as well as tyre wear especially with only one in place.my advice is if you change it is to go for a new one as work hardening is the problem- as they age they become brittle.

 

[chapel gate]

A mate of mine recently removed his from his 80, because it had snapped, to get it through the Mot. Wasn't even mentioned by the tester.

 

[frank rabbets]

It's snapped where it's been thinned by bush wear. (Thinning of the ARB means that new bushes will be loose).

 

[Towpack]

If the tester is really on the ball it will fail as its removing a factory fitted safety feature, much like removing ABS when it fails but with vehicles this old most testers probably have no idea what the original spec was and will just test what they see.

 

[diggerdave]

It's snapped where it's been thinned by bush wear. (Thinning of the ARB means that new bushes will be loose).

Confirmation of that in the photo below. You can actually see how much it thinned where the bush is. Surprising but it's been working constantly for 200k miles.

 

[diggerdave]

Brand new ARB + bushes ordered from Amayama for around £100 including postage! It will give me the option of reinstating if that's what I decide to do.

Just those pesky sheared-off bolts to drill out and re-tap.

 

[Finiterex]

Brand new ARB + bushes ordered from Amayama for around £100 including postage! It will give me the option of reinstating if that's what I decide to do.

Just those pesky sheared-off bolts to drill out and re-tap.

What's your rear axle like dave?

I should've said you can have my second hand ones if you want... But tbh like everything on my truck... They is rotten!

 

[diggerdave]

What's your rear axle like dave?

I should've said you can have my second hand ones if you want... But tbh like everything on my truck... They is rotten!

Thanks for the offer Finiterex, but my back axle's holding up with a bit of help from a welder... and I've taken Goodoldboy's advice an bit the bullet on a brand new ARB.

Not too bad pricewise - I strongly recommend Amayama for you if you need any new bits on your build (the bits are all cheap but the postage can make it uneconomical for some things like suspension springs).

If my back axle eventually goes I reckon I'll be looking at a new one from Roughtrax.