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Torsion bar help

Chargered

Chargered

Well-Known Member
Local time
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Feb 12, 2012
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Location
Peosta, IA
Looking for some advice here. I had my torsion bars out to do some front suspension work (new bushings, ball joints, tie rods, etc.). Ride height was good before I took them out.

Now I re-installed everything and dropped the front end back down and its bottomed out. I've tried cranking in the torsion bar adjuster bolt but it doesn't seem to be raising the height at all. I know for sure I have the right and left torsion bars correct. Could it be that I installed them backwards (front to back), would that make a difference? What am I doing wrong?
 
Sounds like they are not indexed right. IIRC, the numbers on the end of the bars point towards the rear and they are left and right. Were your lower arms not hanging at all when you went back together?
 
When we go back in with the torsion bars, the lower control arms are hanging all the way down and we have the torsion bar tool on to apply pressure to turn it the last little bit so that it will go into the torsion bar crossmember. Once in we drive it futher to fully seat it in the crossmember. This gives you full use of the adjusters.
 
Suspension probably wasn't at full hang. Jack the car back up.
pull the torsion bars.
remove shock nut to release shock from mount.
remove rubber a arm bumper.
Loosen torsion bar adjuster bolt all the way.
Make sure you have L and R correct as they are different.
Insert torsion bar (should slide right in)
 
threewood said:
Suspension probably wasn't at full hang. Jack the car back up.
pull the torsion bars.
remove shock nut to release shock from mount.
remove rubber a arm bumper.
Loosen torsion bar adjuster bolt all the way.
Make sure you have L and R correct as they are different.
Insert torsion bar (should slide right in)
Click to expand...
They never slide right back in for me. If that were the case, I would have no use for the torsion bar tool. My feelings are torsion bar tools were made for a reason. Otherwise your post is spot on.
 
Jerry Hall said:
They never slide right back in for me. If that were the case, I would have no use for the torsion bar tool. My feelings are torsion bar tools were made for a reason. Otherwise your post is spot on.
Click to expand...

The few I have done have needed assistance getting out, but they always engage going back in just fine by hand. But the point is that tool or not, they go back in at full hang and should be super close to aligned.
 
threewood said:
The few I have done have needed assistance getting out, but they always engage going back in just fine by hand. But the point is that tool or not, they go back in at full hang and should be super close to aligned.
Click to expand...
They are super close, but still need a little assistance. I really think we are talking about the same thing. I fully agree on taking them out. I will be replacing lower control arm bushings on a project in the next week or so. Maybe I can get some pictures.
 
Never mind. Stupid me. All I had to do was raise it back up and crank in the adjusters some more....should have tried that first before posting.
 
Chargered said:
Never mind. Stupid me. All I had to do was raise it back up and crank in the adjusters some more....should have tried that first before posting.
Click to expand...
Can you get a picture of where the adjusters are now with the ride height like you want it. Inquiring minds want to know. Mine usually end up even with the control arms, maybe just a little more in.
 
Chargered said:
Never mind. Stupid me. All I had to do was raise it back up and crank in the adjusters some more....should have tried that first before posting.
Click to expand...
LOL!! Hey, don't worry about it. We've all have done stuff that makes use wonder why we thought something was wrong.....

Jerry Hall said:
Can you get a picture of where the adjusters are now with the ride height like you want it. Inquiring minds want to know. Mine usually end up even with the control arms, maybe just a little more in.
Click to expand...
Usually mine do the same but I did a car awhile back that had one sticking down a good bit more than the other and after pulling them both out, one was longer than the other!
 
Installing the torsion bars with the front and back ends swapped won't make any difference in their operation. They still twist in the same direction when they are loaded. I like to put the stamped number and L or R to the rear so it can be seen after the torsion bar is installed.

You don't want to swap the bars side to side (which you said you have not done, I just wanted to comment on doing it). In at least some cases, part of the manufacture of the torsion bar puts a twist in the grain of the metal that makes it suitable for a twisting load in one direction. Since left and right torsion bars are loaded in the opposite directions, you shouldn't swap them side to side. Also, torsion bars have an offset built into the hexagon sections on the ends. In many cases, the offset is 30 degrees, which means that the left and right torsion bars are dimensionally identical. Since the faces of the hexagon sections are 60 degrees apart, a 30 degree offset clockwise looks just like a 30 degree counterclockwise offset. Use the L and R stamped on the end of the bar to determine which side it is for.

When you set the front end height with the adjusters, be sure to take the weight off the suspension, as they are not designed to be adjusted under load and it is possible to strip the threads by doing so. Cheers!
 
69_Coronet said:
Installing the torsion bars with the front and back ends swapped won't make any difference in their operation. They still twist in the same direction when they are loaded. I like to put the stamped number and L or R to the rear so it can be seen after the torsion bar is installed.
Click to expand...
That's true....but many think different about that and have been in a couple of discussions with buddies about it before so I just tell people to put the numbers at the back the way the factory did lol
 
Cranky said:
That's true....but many think different about that and have been in a couple of discussions with buddies about it before so I just tell people to put the numbers at the back the way the factory did lol
Click to expand...

I've seen people disagree as well, but in this they are incorrect. That said, there is no harm in always putting them in the same as the factory, and the advantage of being able to see the markings makes it a good idea. I just like to understand the reasons for doing things a certain way. It took quite a bit of Internet searching to find out what they do in manufacture to make the bars directional. Amusingly, the term is scragging the bar. Sorry for my tendency toward being pedantic, but it's in my nature. Cheers!
 
69_Coronet said:
I've seen people disagree as well, but in this they are incorrect. That said, there is no harm in always putting them in the same as the factory, and the advantage of being able to see the markings makes it a good idea. I just like to understand the reasons for doing things a certain way. It took quite a bit of Internet searching to find out what they do in manufacture to make the bars directional. Amusingly, the term is scragging the bar. Sorry for my tendency toward being pedantic, but it's in my nature. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Hmmm, maybe @Kern Dog is pedantic!? :D Never thought that he might be but I think he is lol
 
Jerry Hall said:
Can you get a picture of where the adjusters are now with the ride height like you want it. Inquiring minds want to know. Mine usually end up even with the control arms, maybe just a little more in.
Click to expand...
Here are some pictures. Might be hard to see, but the top of the head of the adjusting bolt is almost even with the bottom of the LCA.

IMG_0387.JPG IMG_0390.JPG IMG_0391.JPG IMG_0389.JPG
 
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