I think I screwed up

-
ragtop

ragtop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
109
Reaction score
10
Decided to replace my upper control arms on my 64 dart which went well.I noticed the lower ball joint had play so I decided to leave the torsion bars a bit loose until the new ball joints arrived.Now here the problem.I put the tires back on & lowered it to the ground and of course it sat lower than before.Well I decided to back it up to clean the grease etc off the garage floor when the front dropped and starting making noise as I backed it up.It now is sitting on the bump stops.What do you think happened ? Did the torsion bars jump a tooth or something ? Is that even possible.
 
when you installed the torsion bars did you make sure you had the car jacked up by the frame with the lower control arms pushed all the way down? They have to be all the way down before you re-install the t-bars. After that you then would have thrown a jack under the lower control arms to get the spindles, etc back on.
 
Ya I did everything correct except I left the torsion adjusters a bit loose since I had more work to do on it.I didnt plan on driving like this just back it up to clean the garage.
 
It probably is ok. You won't know til you jack it back up and inspect it, finish what you started, and then drop it on the ground again.
 
probably didnt release all the tension where you backed off the adjuster till you backed up
 
If you backed the tbars all the way off it probably WILL sit on the bumps.

that's a no brainer
 
redfastback said:
It probably is ok. You won't know til you jack it back up and inspect it, finish what you started, and then drop it on the ground again.
Click to expand...

I got the lower ball joints today so I'll inspect and install tomorrow.
 
68 Sedan said:
If you backed the tbars all the way off it probably WILL sit on the bumps.

that's a no brainer
Click to expand...

Well it didn't.After lowering back to the ground I bounced the front up & down and it still had aprox 2'' of travel.Didn't collapse until I backed up.
 
So it is still backing off after you back the car up? Did you try backing the tension all the way off and then reset the tension to see if that helps?
 
70dart said:
So it is still backing off after you back the car up? Did you try backing the tension all the way off and then reset the tension to see if that helps?
Click to expand...
Im going to install new lower ball joints tomorrow then hopefully re-set the torsion bars.I'll know more tomorrow.
 
ragtop said:
Well it didn't.After lowering back to the ground I bounced the front up & down and it still had aprox 2'' of travel.Didn't collapse until I backed up.
Click to expand...

That sounds normal. It really won't "settle" until it is moved. How far out below the LCA is the adjuster bolt sticking out?
 
I got back to work on the front end.Installed lower ball joint's, new upper control arms and shock's and set the ride height.The drivers side is still dropping over an inch and grinding when I back up.I added more pre load and it still does it.I have no idea whats going on.I never touched the torsion bar except loosening the adjuster to remove the ball joints.Any idea's ?
 
When you first set the car down with no spring pressure the tires gripped the floor while being severely pigeon toed as the alignment is way off with the car lowered. And when you backed up the tires trued back up a little settling the car down. Your tires might be hitting the fender and or suspension. Basically when you first set it down the tires look like this from the front
\--/ and when you you let it roll the true up like this l--l or even to this extent /--\
 
Is it possible that you left the alingment cam bolts loose when you put upper control arms in and they are turning when you back car up?
 
Ragtop. I had the same problem and took over a month to figure it out. It was my UPPER CONTROL ARM CAMS. I had both cams on both sides of the car totally out of adjustment. That will let your car look fine until you move it and Bam...it drops. If you will observe the front wheels after the front end drops, you will probably notice they are leaning in at the top at a terrible angle (camber). You have to get the cams adjusted so the tires at least look at a right angle to the ground. Then it should not drop after moving the car. This was not a fun project but patience will fix it.
 
steptoe said:
Ragtop. I had the same problem and took over a month to figure it out. It was my UPPER CONTROL ARM CAMS. I had both cams on both sides of the car totally out of adjustment. That will let your car look fine until you move it and Bam...it drops. If you will observe the front wheels after the front end drops, you will probably notice they are leaning in at the top at a terrible angle (camber). You have to get the cams adjusted so the tires at least look at a right angle to the ground. Then it should not drop after moving the car. This was not a fun project but patience will fix it.
Click to expand...
Ya I think that is the problem.I left the cam bolts only snug tight and they are probably shifting.The grinding sound is the upper control arm rubbing the inside of the wheel.It actually knocked off the balancing weight.IM going to try to set the cam bolts the best I can and take it in for a alignment.
Thanks Guys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top