Loud Bang in rear end, Anyone ever break torque bar (Pics Inside)

[ACELLR8]

Just curious if anyone ever broke their torque bar before. The Ladder bar that runs parallel to the drive shaft from the tranny and the rear end.
I was giving my buddy a ride in the car this past weekend, driving a little hard and did a shift from first into second, then I hear a LOUD BANG. I was scared that I really screwed something up and wondering what the heck it was.
When I got home I remembered reading some posts about loud bangs or clunks in the rear of the car. So I did a search, some people concluded it was normal and others stated something was loose. I jacked the car up, to make sure all was well and everything was tight (U Joints, half shafts, etc).
To my surprise this is what I found. Glad it is not really anything serious, car can still be driven. I am just taking it easy until I can get the $180 part on.
Personally I thought it was pretty strange!

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[viperdoctor]

Great digital camera! What kind is it? Most that I have seen do a crappy job in low light...

 

[ACELLR8]

ViperMad,
You are not kidding I was happy to see it was nothing major. Looks like my car already has a new rearend and half shafts. I saw a sticker on the half shafts that had a date of 9-1-98 and a light engraving on the rear end with a date of something like 6-1-98. From what I have been told it now has the beefier rear end and half shafts of the GEN II, which I assume is a good thing. So I guess I am not the only one to drive the car hard (I am second owner).
The Viper Wizard is fixing my car next Wednesday along with a few other things gone wrong on the LEMON>

Viperdoctor,
I just bought the camera, I know it is an Olympus not sure of the model number. I will check tonight when I get home and let you know tomorrow. It does take great pictures, very large clear pictures. I actually had to shrink them down. I am no camera wiz, but I know it is 3.2 Megapixels. Rated best camera by consumer reports, if you believe them.

 

[MES]

What does that bar do? Keep the transmission from twisting? I guess the Gen II doesn't have it

 

[JonB]

Gen-1 RT/10s did not have the frame-stiffness of a coupe. So this was indeed a tortional stiffener in Gen-1.

It went away in G-2 GTS....... and I DO NOT KNOW if it returned in G-2 RT/10s. Anyone.

GREAT PHOTOS anbd THANKS FOR SHARING. ARCHIVE THIS !!!!!

 

[Vic]

Wow, great pictures!!!

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Best regards.

 

[SurfSnake]

WOW nice rims ACELLR8 ! What size and kind are they?

 

[dansauto]

not just the rims, look at the whole car!! Lots of extras and detail!!! Perfect--

 

[Jay Herbert]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JonB - PartsRack:

It went away in G-2 GTS....... and I DO NOT KNOW if it returned in G-2 RT/10s. Anyone.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It went away permanently with the '96 GTS Coupes. It is actually called a drag (traction) link, an old drag racers trick to prevent rear axle hop under hard acceleration (on solid axles of the good old days). The way the rear end was mounted changed with the '96 Coupe, it is kind of neat, sort of bolts right to the frame instead. I'm sure Rich C. has a picture or two.

From the description, the previous owner was pretty rough on the car, if the rear and shafts have been replaced, it sounds like he liked drag racing, and he may have damaged the drag link at the same time as the rear.... but the damage may have went unnoticed as it was inside the tunnel.