Moab disaster turned best experience. Grandpas Garage!!!! BUY THE BRACKET! (1 Viewer)

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kelly saad

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First of all, if you dont read this whole tread that's fine, but buy this stinkin bracket and don't wait. Cruiser Outfitters has it and it's pretty cheap. Look on the suspension page on their website.

OME 100 Series Front Torsion Bar Reinforcement Bracket (sold as pair)
Part# OME FK27

While attending Cruise Moab with my wife and 6yr old girl, on our first trail (Fins & Things) and on day 1, we broke the 100. While creeping down the steepest section of that trail, at the bottom, when I compressed the drivers front suspension, I heard a loud POP. At first, I thought that I had just hit my bumper but then I heard my tire rubbing on the inner fender plastic. As we headed towards the lunch break location, I felt as if the vehicle were leaning to the left. After I stopped and looked at it, I noticed the tire was tucked up in the fender, it looked like a "low rider", not cool in this situation.

The pressure of the torsion bar bracket or the inner bolt broke off the thin section of the lower control arm. At that point, I was riding on my bump stop. After much help from other generous attendees, we decided to hobble down a "short cut" and get out on the main road, if possible. It worked! we made it with the assistance of a couple wing men and drove into camp solo after that.
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I need a welder, grinder, tools, and some steel..... :hmm: and.... a lot more of :hmm:. I had some help from others offering phone numbers and suggestions. Finally I ran into Woody and he said that he had the place for me to go. The next morning, I called Grandpas Garage and he said to head over.
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Well, let me tell you I was disappointed that we were not on Hell's Revenge trail this day, but this experience would turn out to be much better. Grandpas Garage has every tool you need to fix your broken down vehicle! Best part, it only costs the price of paying forward the generosity that he offers you, and anyone that needs help. There is no mechanic on site, just the shop and tools, but that is a savior if you are mechanically inclined. He had some scrap metal with the exact size hole and thickness of steel I needed! I cut the old chunk of ripped metal off the control arm, fabricated a new piece, checked the alignment of the bolt and Boom!
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All welded up nicely, and ready to assemble.
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Turns out, a lot of people I spoke with did not know of this guy and his garage. He is a life saver, a modern hero! Helping out people in these situations, while on family vacation is just outstanding and quite rare. If you are broke down in Moab, look up Grandpas Garage! Super cool guy and he is there to offer his shop to all that need need it.
 
Nah, this'll never happen to me :p

/jk
 
Would you recommend this on a stock height 100?
I would recommend it on any 100 that goes off road. I say this because its fairly easy to install, and cheap. If it breaks, then what? I was lucky.
 
I'm not a huge off roader, but still upgraded to the brakes when I have the 100 lifted. Kurt offered them and for like $20, it was well worth the insurance.
 
Good stuff. Enjoy tales like this. Thanks for the tip, good job on the fix.
 
This bracket was included with the Iron Man lift kit I installed years ago-what about others?
 
To be honest, it drove really well. I wasn’t worried about safety really, because the suspension was still all together. I rolled Moab for a whole day 25% slammed, it’s the new“hoopty style”. Riding on the bump stop is the new thing, it’s totally cool.
 
Thanks Kelly for the heads up.
Your the man! for having the skills to fix and return your family safely.
As i'm i search of my own 100, this will be one of the first list items.
This should save my Moab trip.
 
Pepper, Robert (July 2006). "LC100 Suspension Solutions". Overlander 4WD Magazine
This is an interesting article regarding exactly the problem you experienced.
Heres the gist:

"The specific problem is cracking of the lower suspension A-arm, caused by the suspension bottoming out and hitting the bumpstop hard. Diagram A simplifies the components of the LC100's front-end and in diagram B shows the A-arm contacting the bumpstop (a small bit of hard rubber), with the arrow indicating where the cracking occurs, which is generally on a weld on the back of the arm.

This problem isn't apparent on road-going LC100s as they aren't heavily loaded and aren't going over terrain rough enough to cause a bottom-out. For those LC100s with the usual gear like a bullbar, winch, snorkel etc going over rough roads it is a problem, especially with the stock suspension. As always, reducing tyre pressures for gravel and unmade roads helps the suspension do its job.

The fixes are fairly simple. To prevent the A-arm breaking, ATS weld a reinforcing plate around the area known to crack, then paint it over to avoid rust. That's the end of that problem, but of course owners are well advised to consider aftermarket suspension designed for carrying heavy loads over rough terrain so there is less bottoming out in the first place. There are other A-arm solutions on the market, but these act as a cradle to catch the arm once broken, as opposed to strengthen it in the first place. "
 
Ironman also has their own version

Tough Dog Includes them in their kit

But they all work the same. I read the pepper article above prior to buying the reinforcement tabs. I was scared this was going to happen. Glad to see you got it sorted out.
 
I dug out my other lower arms from 4 years of pine needles in the back yard. I will weld plates on them and rebuild, then take mine off and install them.

I have been on this forum nearly everyday for the last 5 years, rebuilt my suspension twice, and never heard of this bracket. Crazy.
 
Those brackets are popular in Australia because of the extra weight of the 4.2 1HD-FTE... and probably the washboard outback roads.
 
Been running these for a few years now. I managed to see a post outta AUS and figured while I was doing tbars it was cheap insurance.

It’s good to spread the word.
 
Kelly great to hang out a bit this week and glad you were able to get buttoned up... I was digging the ridin dirty stance.
Anyway nice work on the repair recon, 100 looks great, and see you again later this summer!
 
Kelly great to hang out a bit this week and glad you were able to get buttoned up... I was digging the ridin dirty stance.
Anyway nice work on the repair recon, 100 looks great, and see you again later this summer!
Yeah, good to see you too, and thanks for your help. See you at HIH!
 
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve never seen this on mud, only heard about the bracket on trail tailors site. $20 to really prevent a catastrophe
 

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