Detached Rear Roll Bar

[Marshall Blair]

My Burstner/Fiat Motorhome had its first MOT 20 Feb 2023 with 7800mls on the clock and failed due a Detached Roll Bar offside rear and the near side rear Roll Bar required attention by having it retightened.
The Manager at the garage believed this was due to weight that i had been carrying in the garage ie a motor bike 120kg however prior to going to France and Spain in May and June 2022 i had the Motorhome weighed and it was within its capacity.
Your comments are required ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Depends what else is in your garage and the length of your overhang.
Don't really see it affecting the suspension our garage is rated at 350 kg. I could of had a 450 kg option which only involves chassis supports under the garage no suspension mods.

 

[Guigsy]

Additional weight won't directly affect the ARB as both sides will be pushed up equally so it should just rotate in it's bushings.

I guess if you had a lot of extra weight and cornered hard, it would add more torque to the ARB. Not sure how it would detach without breaking something. Unless it wasn't bolted up properly in the first place.

 

[Spriddler]

...........failed due a Detached Roll Bar ...........required attention by having it retightened.

There's a contradiction in that terminology. In my mind something being 'detached' refers to a situation where e.g. bolts are missing, and is quite different from something 'needing tightening'.

 

[Badknee]

failed due a Detached Roll Bar offside rear and the near side rear Roll Bar required attention by having it retightened.

Not sure what detached means (bracket broken?) Needed retightening? Perhaps it wasn’t fitted correctly to start with ??

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

My Burstner/Fiat Motorhome had its first MOT 20 Feb 2023 with 7800mls on the clock and failed due a Detached Roll Bar offside rear and the near side rear Roll Bar required attention by having it retightened.
The Manager at the garage believed this was due to weight that i had been carrying in the garage ie a motor bike 120kg however prior to going to France and Spain in May and June 2022 i had the Motorhome weighed and it was within its capacity.
Your comments are required ?

It's possible to be within the weight limits of the van, but to overload the garage area. Do you know what the payload for the garage area is? It may surprise you as some are distinctly low, but not flagged up very prominently so by the manufacturer, like payloads in general!!
Mike.

 

[Stealaway]

My Burstner/Fiat Motorhome had its first MOT 20 Feb 2023 with 7800mls on the clock and failed due a Detached Roll Bar offside rear and the near side rear Roll Bar required attention by having it retightened.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be checking my 690G at its first test in April. Mines done 24,000 miles

 

[donkey]

I agree with above posts. For something to become detached the fastening would have to break or come undone. If either the link or bar was fractured, then I would expect the tester to refer to it as such.
Go back and ask exactly what he means by detached.

Geoff

 

[Marshall Blair]

It's possible to be within the weight limits of the van, but to overload the garage area. Do you know what the payload for the garage area is? It may surprise you as some are distinctly low, but not flagged up very prominently so by the manufacturer, like payloads in general!!
Mike.

Thanks Mike but Burstner Garage limits on weight carried in the Garage we are always well below their limits

 

[Marshall Blair]

Not sure what detached means (bracket broken?) Needed retightening? Perhaps it wasn’t fitted correctly to start with ??

That was on the MOT failure paper work

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[Brains]

I'd recommend you get the van weighed when fully loaded.
Not just the overall weight, but also front and rear axle individual weights.

For every 1 kilo added behind the rear axle adds something like 2 kilos to the rear axle, and the further back it is the greater the weight (look up Fulcrum Effect)

You may be underweight overall, but with the bike onboard overweight on the rear axle.

 

[Marshall Blair]

Additional weight won't directly affect the ARB as both sides will be pushed up equally so it should just rotate in it's bushings.

I guess if you had a lot of extra weight and cornered hard, it would add more torque to the ARB. Not sure how it would detach without breaking something. Unless it wasn't bolted up properly in the first place.

Having thoughts on your comments because i have always had a BUMPING NOISE when pulling away and always believed that it was something within the Motorhome,would a detached ARB cause a BUMP???

 

[Guigsy]

Having thoughts on your comments because i have always had a BUMPING NOISE when pulling away and always believed that it was something within the Motorhome,would a detached ARB cause a BUMP???

Yes. That'll be the bar escaping it's bushing.

 

[Marshall Blair]

I'd recommend you get the van weighed when fully loaded.
Not just the overall weight, but also front and rear axle individual weights.

For every 1 kilo added behind the rear axle adds something like 2 kilos to the rear axle, and the further back it is the greater the weight (look up Fulcrum Effect)

You may be underweight overall, but with the bike onboard overweight on the rear axle.

Thanks for your comments however have had done what you suggested with regards to the weighbridge and i am well within the weights

 

[pappajohn]

They're getting fussy these days.
Back in the day I had a MK1 Escort which failed on the anti roll bar linkage.
Went home, took the lot off and went back.
Tester said if it ain't there I can't test it.....pass.
We didn't call the tester 'near enough' for nothing

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[Marshall Blair]

Yes. That'll be the bar escaping it's bushing.

thanks Brum

 

[dunnah01]

ARB drop links are fragile things so not surprised if they have worn, broken or loosened

 

[pappajohn]

ARB drop links are fragile things so not surprised if they have worn, broken or loosened

Don't know if they've changed over the years but they used to be a ball inside a rubber filled cup.
No lube, just dry rubber.

 

[Orion]

Don't know if they've changed over the years but they used to be a ball inside a rubber filled cup.
No lube, just dry rubber.

That’s basically what they are, with a bolt that mates with the anti roll bar and the other end to the axle. The other point of attachment for the ARB is a couple of rubber lined saddle clamps to the chassis or bodywork, so with the lack of further information it could be either that’s detached.

 

[dunnah01]

Don't know if they've changed over the years but they used to be a ball inside a rubber filled cup.
No lube, just dry rubber.

I replaced the squeaky fronts on my Fiat 500 and the replacements were plastic so they mustn't take much load even at the back of a moho