BMW E36 M3 Sway Bar Drop Link Bracket Repair RennsportKC

Had this little M3 come in for a quick repair after the droplink bracket broke off the strut tower. So I put it up in the air to see if the strut was saveable.

As you can see, a chunk of the metal broke clean off and of course the drop link came off with it. Now, I’m a little fuzzy on the story, something about “Refueler, Dave, The Destroyer” and “Get A Bigger Hammer, Chuck” using torches, 12 foot breaker bars, lubricant (lots of lubricant), and a lot of swearing to do something to this poor little strut last fall. I’m not sure what they were doing, but this is what we ended up with, so clearly it is their fault 😀

I was too lazy to walk across the shop and get the torch or cutting wheel, and the hammer just seemed so heavy…..so I just removed the drop link simply by putting the 16mm wrench on the back side slot to keep the link from rotating, and then removed the 16mm nut from the other side.

Ala Kazzzzam!

Luckily the piece that broke off was still attached to the drop link, so I was able to rebend the bracket back in place and insert the old piece.

After that, some welding and it was back in place. A few whacks with the hammer indicated a good strong piece once again.

A little red paint, then for a little extra support, I put big washers front and back to help pinch everything in place over a little wider area. This should help keep this from failing again.