Need cam guru thoughts/advice

If you broke a link bar it’s a sure sign your spring pressure was down.
Along these lines, have you put in new springs, or checked spring force of the existing ones? Sounds like they may have been in there a while…they lose performance through use so likely are not what their listed rating is anymore. Your softer cam may crutch this issue a little for the time being.

Would also be good to verify new distance from bind with the decrease in lift. You could shim them some to get back some spring force and get back toward a better distance from bind, thus approaching the max open force available from the spring.