RACER X FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM FAILURE WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY: UPDATE WITH MORE D

[chezzy79]

Background

So my Racer X Front LCA failed quite suddenly while I was driving on a highway going around 60-65 mph, and I have been working with them in regard to making this public and take responsibility as a vendor.
To be honest, I wasn’t really satisfied with the way Racer X has publicized this incident as seen here; the thread makes it seem like the bumper was ripped off by impact that broke the FLCA, but that is not at all what happened, and I found it quite misleading.

In reality, the impact that snapped the FLCA in half was nothing out of the ordinary as seen in the Video, and the front bumper was ripped off by a couple inexperienced tow trucker, although it was completely intact after the FLCA failure (granted the inside of the fender well and the liner were torn up by the wheel). Also, they did not seem interested in receiving any surrounding information from me (such as mileage on the parts, my driving habits, condition at the time of failure), which struck me as odd. That’s why I decided to post all of the records I have publicly, also as a way to share information with them as well.

Without further ado, I will list the sequence of events that ensued in a form of timeline, so you know exactly what happened with my car and can make an informed decision if you are considering buying something from Racer X.

September 2016

I ordered a brand-new set of Front Lower Control Arm without the ball joints, to be shipped directly to and installed at Truline Bellevue, a suspension/frame shop that was recommended to me by Ishii Motors. The ball joints from the OEM arms that were previously attached were kept on.

October 2016

Installation at Truline Bellevue is complete, the mileage on the car at the time is about 19,800 miles.

February 21st, 2017 - Day of the Failure

I was traveling from Lynnwood, WA to Stanwood, WA for work, and was on my way back driving southbound on I-5 when the incident happened. It is about 45 miles each way of easy highway driving, and you can see exactly when the control arm fails at the 1:27 mark on the video below (please excuse my cringeworthy singing, I work for a Japanese company and was practicing for a karaoke they force me to do every year):


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjFf0_iD81M"]Racer X Front Lower Control Arm for Subaru BRZ Failure During Highway Driving (Break at 1:27) - YouTube[/ame]

As you can see, the control arm failed while driving around 60 mph which made the right-front wheel become loose. The car lost control and started swerving for obvious reasons, which forced me to pull over immediately.
For the record, I have last previous 3 days’ worth of video recording if anybody would like to see, but the manner of my driving looked very similar to how it is like in the video above, and the car did not see any large potholes or anything that could have been a definite cause of the failure.

At the time of the failure, the car had about 26,000 miles on the odometer, meaning the FLCA had about 6,000 miles of usage, all from a rather easy driving.


↑What I saw once the car was lifted up on the truck bed, as you can see the chromoly caster arm is snapped in half

Front bumper getting torn off

I called AAA to ask for a tow so I can get my car off the highway, and this is when I realize that the caster arm on the right FLCA is snapped in half, as seen below.
Picture
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the front bumper before the accident, but the picture below is from when the two geniuses ripped the front bumper off my car:



Shortly after, I notify Racer X of what happened. Meanwhile, I notice that on the product page of the control arm, the description of “Recommended for daily driving and light track usage” has disappeared.\

After the failure

The car was towed to Truline Bellevue for an inspection and disassembly of the components. You can see a more close-up pic of the break, as well as other components of the suspension. If anybody is a material engineer, I would love to hear about what you think after looking at the break, as it does seem like inside is porous(?) and the break happened at the most vulnerable point of the arm.






It is worth noting that the front-right wheel has been found to be slightly bent after the incident, but it is unclear whether that was caused after the FLCA failed or not, although that seems more likely.
The caster arms have been sent back to Racer X for analysis, which is supposed to arrive this weekend. Racer X has agreed to provide me with a full refund of the order price once they receive the returned armsI am a bit disappointed with the aftercare after the whole debacle, but they have no legal obligation to go any further as written in their Terms of Contract.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the arms failed with only 6,000 miles of easy daily driving WHILE driving on a highway at around 60 mph, after being purchased brand-new and installed professionally by a trusted shop, and there is no way to get around that.

I truly hope Racer X realizes that a failure in a component such as this could easily lead to injury or even death, and we trust the information and description displayed by the manufacturer... After taking a good look at the thread Racer X posted, I do feel like they have downplayed the significance of this incident, especially considering the circumstance of the failure and the location of the break; I’m sure the road conditions of the PNW isn’t the greatest, but the incident strongly indicates there was a defect in the design, material, and/or the endurance test they perform on their products. I still run the rear upper control arm by Racer X, but it is sad to say that I am no longer confident in buying any Racer X products.

Anyways, that’s basically the gist of what happened so far, I tried to be as objective as possible with the information that was provided above and exclude my opinions as much possible, so that you can form your own opinions about the incident. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there is anything you would like to know or for me to post.

Thank you for your time in reading this!

[pndjones]

Man I am sorry to hear about you accident but I am glad you are ok. I am a material scientist and engineer and this topic has made me quite interested in the materials used in this LCA. I really wish you still had the failed parts as I could have done an analysis on the part. Unfortunately, It is very hard and possibly impossible to give an answer as to why it filed without the actually part. I won't get into any of my personal theories but I really wish you still had the actual part


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[FirstWinter]

Damn that's scary as hell. Glad you're okay and safe.

[Tor]

I am shocked!!!


Can a company really force you to sing karaoke?

[redlined600]

On one hand racer x recalled all the units and replaced them with the rod end versions, what more would you expect. I know it sucks when it happens to YOU but things do happen. Glad you're OK.

The failure seems obvious to me, but I'm not a materials engineer and would only be speculating.

[Boomerang]

Glad you survived!

I think your singing broke it however..

[solidONE]

Failed seconds after singing... coincidence? hmmm

[mnuttall]

That is very clearly a fatigue failure. Looking at the design (and comparing to the new rod-end version) I'm not at all surprised that it failed this way.

[pndjones]

How can you tell it's fatigue failure. I am a material science engineer and although it is a possibility. There is no proof of that in any of the pictures shown. Unless your are simply speculating and misused the words "very clearly a fatigue failure".


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[mnuttall]

Originally Posted by pndjones

How can you tell it's fatigue failure. I am a material science engineer and although it is a possibility. There is no proof of that in any of the pictures shown. Unless your are simply speculating and misused the words "very clearly a fatigue failure".


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In the following photo it looks like there are initiation points on both the top and bottom. Beach marks top and bottom. Brittle fracture in the middle. Classic fatigue failure.
Without a rod end on this end of the arm it would have been subject to cyclic bending. Combining that with a stress riser at the root of the thread I'm not surprised that it would fail this way.

[pndjones]

However seeing that the component is a suspension component and exposed to the elements there should be oxidation at the initial crack points on the top and bottom. In the image. The middle portion is obviously shear. Without looking at the micro structure there is no way to know for sure impact or heat cycling or a combination could all possibly could be an equal culprit. With than said if Racer X Fab is interested in finding out the full story I would be happy to look into it for them


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[mnuttall]

Originally Posted by pndjones

However seeing that the component is a suspension component and exposed to the elements there should be oxidation at the initial crack points on the top and bottom. In the image.

The part is only four months old so not necessarily.

Originally Posted by pndjones

Without looking at the micro structure there is no way to know for sure impact or heat cycling or a combination could all possibly could be an equal culprit.


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Agree.

[jamal]

Uh, yeah, is that a stiff bushing there that resists control arm articulation and then the smallest section of the supporting rod is right next to it?

[sosick]

Nasty, glad your ok.