Driver's side torsion bar deeply scratched, is it safe?

[Dibbons]

My 72 SSP project car has some deep nasty scrapes on the bottom of the driver's side torsion bar. Is that going to eventually lead to torsion bar failure? I've never heard of a torsion bar breaking. Do I have anything to worry about?

 

[ZR9B]

I woulnt keep it...the only time I have seen them fail is when the car was parked...happened like that twice to me....Im sure others will have a better anwser though.

 

[Daves69]

Had one go on a '66 Charger sitting in a parking lot. Sounded like an m-80 went off. Front right dropped like a rock to the bump stop. Not a fun drive home.
Sharp edges can become stress points and lead to cracks. I'd plan on replacement if myself.

 

[jprather]

I woulnt keep it...the only time I have seen them fail is when the car was parked...happened like that twice to me....Im sure others will have a better anwser though.

Question, my 72 was parked for YEARS, when i got it it was riding on the bump stops, i had it raised any realigned, still sits kinda low, would sitting like that make the torsion bars go bad?

 

[Dako]

I woulnt keep it...the only time I have seen them fail is when the car was parked...happened like that twice to me....Im sure others will have a better anwser though.

Had one go on a '66 Charger sitting in a parking lot. Sounded like an m-80 went off. Front right dropped like a rock to the bump stop. Not a fun drive home.
Sharp edges can become stress points and lead to cracks. I'd plan on replacement if myself.

ZR9B, Dave69,

Curious...in your cases, where did they break? In the middle of the bar(s)...front end...back end? Had the car's been driven hard?

The reason I ask is the only torsion bar I personally have known about breaking, was on an old high school buddies Nissan 4x4 pickup...and that was while he was wheeling off-road (had the suspension twisted up when it happened). I believe his broke at the control arm...likely due to what he was doing at the time! He jacked it up, 'strapped' a piece of wood between the control arm and bump-stop and drove it back out, then home.

 

[badlite]

When Chrysler first went to torsion bars in 1957, they had a lot of them break. It was because they didn't put seals on bar where ir set in socket at rear, and rust caused a lot of them to break fairly quickly. I have seen one on a 69 charger break, and it broke about 3 inches from end. I have seen a lot of them severely scraped and no problem with them.

 

[WileE]

The real-world answer is... flip a coin. Regardless of what the "pundits"say, I can tell you for a FACT... Id seen bars with gouges like beavers teeth in them... not broken. Others, not a scratch... snapped. Only once a bar snapped on me personally, sometime around 1976 or so, on a Dart I had... not gouged, snapped in the middle while I was driving on a fairly level street.

 

[rumblefish360]

I myself would replace it. I also have seen snapped bars. Not a pretty site.

 

[Bb70charger500]

I'd let it ride if it brakes it brakes then replace it ,what motor are you running ? As in big block over small bars ? Then this might cause you problems.