Can a bent swaybar be fixed?

[robrez]

I picked up a 16mm Dinan adjustable swaybar this weekend. The seller threw in a Dinan adjustable front sway bar, but it's a little twisted on one end from a prior accident. These bars are NLA from Dinan, so I was wondering if the bent bar can be bent back into shape?

[reelizmpro]

Sure, if it is bent, I see no reason why it can't be bent back. Question is how do you do it?

[einstein57]

Blow torch. Otherwise if you just force it back in to shape it will have all kinds of internal stress.

[StereoInstaller1]

I don't think so. They require some kind of heat treatment after they are bent into shape, since they are made of spring steel.

[Ceeker]

Once bent into shape; that is the shape..if you try to bend it back you compromise the structural integrity of the metal. how so? as mentioned above - heating will change the density of the molecule and configuration of the metals used. at this point I can't see how it isn't worth a try. may not need much tweaking.

[nando]

if it's been plastically deformed, then no.

it's exactly the same thing as a coil spring, you wouldn't take a torch to your springs would you? once you've done that it loses some of it's springyness.

[robrez]

Thanks for all the input. What does plastically deformed mean?

This most likely happened during an accident. You can see it at the top of this picture, the part where the endlink attaches is a little twisted outward, and slightly bent downward.

For those who say it's worth a shot to bend it back, how and where would you recommend I take it, an exhaust shop?

[Ceeker]

It doesn't seem excessive..you might actually get away with it..give it a shot!! it's not like your putting this on a race car or jumbo jet..it's an e30 for heaven's sake..light as as feather..lol.

[nando]

Thanks for all the input. What does plastically deformed mean?

This most likely happened during an accident. You can see it at the top of this picture, the part where the endlink attaches is a little twisted outward, and slightly bent downward.

For those who say it's worth a shot to bend it back, how and where would you recommend I take it, an exhaust shop?

it means it's been bent to the point where it no longer bends back.

Since it's a spring, that means it's effectively dead.

heating it up is just going to make it worse. Throw it away and get a different one - there's nothing special about the dinan nameplate on it.

[jlevie]

I don't know if sway bars are heat trreated or not, but I do know that a minor bend can be corrected without having to heat the bar. The trick is usually figuring out how to hold the bar and apply sufficient force.

[nando]

they aren't heat treated, they are formed while the steel is still hot.

It's been plastically deformed. it's dead. you can bend it back, but that's just going to weaken the spring steel further.

ever try to bend back a bent slinky? same thing. you wouldn't try to bend back a coil spring that had been deformed, would you?

[robrez]

Again, thanks for the all the insights. Not trying to fly in the face of physics and common sense or trying to beat a dead horse. But rather than bending it back, I might try running the end link in the position furthest away from the end of the bar, where the twist/bend is less pronounced. Or maybe I really should just toss it :???:

[einstein57]

I did not mean get it red hot. Just heat it up a couple hundred degress, place the end in a vice, and bend it to shape. I'd probably do a slow cool down as well. Eibach cold forms their prings and sway bars, quenches, then bakes their products. Since your sway bar won't be drastically altered like it was in its original formation, it probably won't need the stress relief of another baking.

Its funny that my manufacturing engineering class used to make us watch how its made all the time. Lol. But I had seen that eibach video years ago.

[LivingLegend06]

Go ahead and put it in a vise and bend it. The "spring" action is almost entirely the main body of the bar (the part appearing vertical in the picture) being put in torsion, so a little bending on the end is going to have a very small effect on the overall properties of the bar.

It's hard to tell where its actually bent in the picture, but even if it is in the body of the bar its still worth a shot to try fixing it. As long as the bend is slight then you should be okay bending it back. The changed material properties in that small section will have a small effect on the properties of the bar and the likelihood of it breaking there are increased, but really whats the worst that could happen.

[KennyT]

You should be able to bend that back. A swaybar is a torsion spring with an arm on either end. If the two arms are not parallel then it will corner weight the car. In that case you would need adjustable endlinks. If the arms are still parallel then you should be able to twist the mounting tabs without any issue. Better pictures would determine how easy it is to fix.