Well I spent part of yesterday slapping on a new blower belt and gapping and installing new plugs in case I could make it down tomorrow A.M. for the local Northern Virginia Mustang Club drag day. Once I was finished with that I jacked up the rear of the car to look for the cause of all the banging that I was hearing as the suspension compressed. I found this:



http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/BOOSTED98GT/Brokenrollbaroverview.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/BOOSTED98GT/rollbarweldend800.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/BOOSTED98GT/rollbarweld800.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/BOOSTED98GT/rollbarnonweld800.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/BOOSTED98GT/rollbarjunction.jpg

I had 5 or 6 passes on this UPR roll bar, all of them being at the last NVMC rental. It appears that the circumference of both braces were not fully welded. Of the welds that are there, their appears to be little penetration of the bead.

Any ideas on what could have caused this? The only thing I noticed was the welds (or lack thereof).

Anyone else with any insight?


TIA,
-Joshua

There's no mystery there -- UPR needs to get a better welder (machine, operator, or both)

That's what I'm thinking too.

There's no mystery there -- UPR needs to get a better welder (machine, operator, or both)
I concor on that. Their products are not very strong.. I installed a set of upper and lower control arm in the rear and I bent one of the upper control arms and ripped the polly bushing right out.. You could just weld it back but I would look at getting a different anti roll bar..

Thanks Dan. If UPR attempts to charge me for replacement I'll be looking into something else...

I've got the Wolfe unit myself, no complaints here.

Thanks for the info.

I've got the Wolfe unit myself, no complaints here.Wolfe Racecraft makes some very nice and strong parts..

Wolfe Racecraft makes some very nice and strong parts..

Absolutely. I'm running Wolfe upper/lowers. I'm thinking about doing an
anti-roll bar as well.

I'm not a fan of UPR stuff in general.

Absolutely. I'm running Wolfe upper/lowers. I'm thinking about doing an
anti-roll bar as well.

I'm not a fan of UPR stuff in general.

Hey Unit! I recognize you from ModularFords. Do you have any pictures of the Wolfe uppers and lowers, or maybe a link? I've been running the UPR k member and chromo a arms for a few months w/o any problems, and my buddy is running this exact kit on his 800rwhp Turbo Cobra on the street w/ no problems. Until now their stuff had been working for me.

I plan on cleaning up my car today and taking some pics. I'll try to get some pics
of the upper & lower control arms for you. I'm not sure if I can do it without taking
off one of the back wheels. The car sits real low.

Ok, not a big deal, no rush.

I managed to get ahold of Charlie Booze yesterday. Although he has never had it happen before, he says it sounds as if the roll bar did not get enough weld on it @ UPR. Which is what I was thinking too. He also said that this is the first time he has had a roll bar break. I told him that I was worried that the driving I did on the street is what broke it. He said that didn't matter, if the weld would have been correct it wouldn't have broken. Which of course, made me feel alot better. Lol.

Charlie offered to fix the roll bar free of charge. He believes he may be able to fix it without cutting the roll bar from the frame rails. Needless to say this is a load off of my shoulders. I'm to swing by tomorrow and schedule an appt.


:drive: