Lower Control Arm Snapped!

[Hugh]

Thank God I was only traveling about 15 MPH when this failure occurred.

I had just made a right turn at a stoplight and moments later heard a "pop" then the car had a pronounced wobble coming from the right rear. I thought I had a tire go down. Nope. The right rear wheel looked like a front wheel turned to the right. I got down on all fours with a flashlight and immediately saw that the lower control arm snapped in two. The car was able to be lifted onto a flatbed.

The red line in the image below indicates the point of failure. I'll post pics once the car is on a lift.

 

[scorp965]

Wonder what caused it to fatigue; I've seen bent control arms from being ratchet strapped to a flat bed; are your tow hooks in place?

 

[Hugh]

are your tow hooks in place?

Negative. The only tow hook on the car is the one behind the front bumper cover.

Here's a crappy cell phone pic of the right rear wheel.....

 

[davidf]

With nearly 300,000 on the clock. I'd lean towards metal fatigue.

 

[JLCoolman]

Ouch, sorry to hear that Hugh.

Glad you weren't traveling at speed when this happened. Could've been bad.

 

[03 raw nsx]

gotta a pic

 

[blue_myriddn]

My first thought was holy cow, that's scary, then I remembered:

With nearly 300,000 on the clock. I'd lean towards metal fatigue.

And ya, I have a hard time blaming that chunk o metal for finally saying "I've done my duty folks!"

Very happy it was a low speed incident.

 

[vmlinsx]

Holy smokes! I thought I was the only one!

I just had the same failure on my car this summer. Mine was on the left rear. I was driving in city traffic when it snapped, and feel fortunate I was not on the freeway.

Will upload pics soon...

 

[docjohn]

Holy smokes! I thought I was the only one!

I just had the same failure on my car this summer. Mine was on the left rear. I was driving in city traffic when it snapped, and feel fortunate I was not on the freeway.

Will upload pics soon...

how many miles?

 

[goldNSX]

Did you hit a bump before that?

 

[Aluminsx]

That's scary. Has anyone had a failure on the track like this?

 

[shawn110975]

were you tracking the car?

some time ago people were asking what alum after XXX years would lose tensil strength

but not sure.

the way I drive mine would have snapped years ago.
hitting speed bumps at 90+ etc.

but it could have been a fracture that happened a long time ago.

now have you driven thru some f-ked up streets? like pot holes etc.

do you have any children that drive could have taken the car out and ummm well who knows what teenage drivers can do.

just sayin

 

[Caustic]

20+ years and 300,000 miles is a lot! But damn, wow. Glad it was 15 mph.

 

[docjohn]

That's scary. Has anyone had a failure on the track like this?

I had a rear axle not fall off at wgi at speed the rear end wobbled all over thought I dropped a tire limped in and found my wheel dangling.RSO lost a wheel at lrp and spun into the infield on grass.

 

[captngaryr]

Wow! That is very scary! Glad it was at low speed, and you are OK. Hopefully no body damage. I guess you have to wonder about the other 7 control arms. You didn't let Shawn drive her did you? :smile::smile::smile::wink:

 

[sca037]

Interesting!

vmlinsx, how many miles on your car.....and is it turned up to eleven (boosted) like Hugh's?

Brian

 

[PHOEN$X]

Scary indeed. Glad no one was hurt. I wonder if this is going to be one of those parts that owners of older cars will need to replace on a preventative basis, like the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer.

 

[Ponyboy]

Hugh, holy crap! In all of my years here, I think this is the first time that I've seen/heard evidence of a control arm breaking from routine use.

Looks like it's time for a vendor to start making aftermarket control arms.

 

[doctor z]

I would think somewhere in its life span, that control arm took one hell of a whack. Fatigued in the impact, and finally snapped. So, have you had any issues with tire wear, or odd or difficult alignment? Have a nice THANKSGIVING everyone, good day to take a little spin and be thankful for owning a legendary sports car!

 

[AU_NSX]

I have seen a front one that was bent almost back on itself after a high speed impact into a wall.

For this aluminium to break, it would need to have one of two things happen to it and we will need to see a close up photograph of the broken material to determine further...

1. Metal fatigue: smooth break with concentric circles originating from an imperfection or some form of damage like a nick in the surface.

2. Brittle fracture: rough surface with a lot of jaggered edges like the metal was ripped or torn apart.

Now, for the material to have a brittle fracture, it must have been heated at some stage which will change the Aluminium properties.

Have the ball joints been replaced? If the whole control arm isn't replaced as per Honda service bulletin, one method some repairers use is heating the control arm to remove the ball joints...

Couple of guesses here Hugh, can you describe or have a photo handy of the break in elevation?

 

[Hugh]

The car is still sitting in my garage after the initial tow home. The new control arm is due in on Friday. The car will be flat-bedded down to Dwight at Foreigntech on Monday so I will have an opportunity to view and photograph the damage close up.

Have not tracked the car in years, haven't driven on rough roads or hit a large pothole in a very long time.

Since this is such a unique failure can anyone point me to a contact at Honda that might be interested in knowing about this? I know I should have asked Shigeru Uehara for his phone number and email address when I had the chance!

 

[docjohn]

The car is still sitting in my garage after the initial tow home. The new control arm is due in on Friday. The car will be flat-bedded down to Dwight at Foreigntech on Monday so I will have an opportunity to view and photograph the damage close up.

Have not tracked the car in years, haven't driven on rough roads or hit a large pothole in a very long time.

Since this is such a unique failure can anyone point me to a contact at Honda that might be interested in knowing about this? I know I should have asked Shigeru Uehara for his phone number and email address when I had the chance!

Talk to Larry B...

 

[Hugh]

Here's a pic of the broken arm. I'll post close ups of the fracture points tomorrow when I can shoot in direct sunlight. I wonder if my non-compliance bushings might have something to do with this.

 

[Elite]

That's a very interesting spot to break. Also, it's not the spot you indicated with the red line above. From first glance(and just a simple understanding of load), it's not even the most load bearing spots of the arm. I'd lean toward an abnormal history/event that assisted in this failure.

 

[Hugh]

That's a very interesting spot to break. Also, it's not the spot you indicated with the red line above.

I updated the previous pic, thank you. I'm still leaning towards the use of non-compliance bushings and over 30,000 miles of street use since they were installed as the culprit.