Question?? I got a new tool today.

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hemi71x

hemi71x

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Bought myself a new tool that i wanted to get for awhile, and it came in the mail, this morning.

Anyone ever use one of these battery pack saws, to cut a torsion bar in two?
Or is a torsion bar to hard for the blade?
Haven't tried it out yet on a torsion bar, and would like to find out before i do.
Anyone have any experience with one of these, that you would like to share with me.
Thank's a lot.
Jim V.

DeWalt Saw 001 (Small).JPG
 
I've used one an uncountable number of times but never on a torsion bar, that said I would just get a good metal cutting blade with a higher tooth per inch count... though a grinder with a cut off wheel would be better
 
Torsion bar? Gonna have to go slow. Can't tell if that's an 18 or a 20 volt, the 20v I have will definitely cut long enough on a battery to get through a torsion bar, and then some. But being spring steel if you go full speed with that blade you'll just take the teeth off the blade in short order. With the 20v DeWalt stuff I usually don't run at full speed with the Sawzall's or the drills if I'm cutting or drilling steel, full speed is so fast it'll smoke the blades/bits if you keep it up for very long. One battery will be enough, one blade might not be if you're not careful/patient. Just my .02. I haven't tried cutting a torsion bar with mine, but having used it on thicker steel that's what I would recommend.
 
Cut off wheels are the way to go. I use a 18V Milwaukee for 'junk yarding'.

Be sure the bar is not under tension before cutting for sure.
 
I used these to cut my axles.

Lenox 418G Gold 4" x 18 TPI Reciprocating Saw Blades (Titanium Coated) (10 Pack) | eBay
These are 18 teeth per inch (TPI) but 16 TPI might be better suited for a torsion bar.

You have to use a slow speed so you don't burn the blade. These Gold Lennox blades are much tougher than regular blades. If you can keep squirting cutting fluid on the blade as you cut it will greatly increase the blade life and also help make the cutting go faster. But don't get in a hurry....slow and steady.

Treblig
 
Alaskan_TA said:
Cut off wheels are the way to go. I use a 18V Milwaukee for 'junk yarding'.

Be sure the bar is not under tension before cutting for sure.
Click to expand...

The reason i am asking about cutting a torsion bar in half, is because i have been reading postings on this forum from people in the rust bucket states, that are trying to work on their rusted cars.
When i read a posting, "I can't get a torsion bar out, and what do i do now?"
And lots of replies are you trying to save the bar, or replacing it.
Then you get replies, if your replacing it, Cut it out.
Ok, what was used to cut it in half?
And the other week i saw a picture, i think it even was on this forum, of somebody that cut one in two.
How was it done? What tool?

And another thing.
What if you have an adjuster bolt that is rusted, frozen, stuck that you can't unload the tension on the torsion bar?
I see postings like that all the time on this forum.
Your gonna, hafta, cut the bar in half, aren't you, even with the tension on it.
What other choice would you have?

Ya, a cut off wheel on a grinder is the preferred method, i guess, but i wanted to find out if one of these saws would do it, also.
 
I have the cutoff wheel & an 110v sawzall handy every time I cut a car to bits here at home.

For heavy steel, cutoff wheel all the way & the sawzall can sit back & watch.
 
Lol! I used mine to cut my torsion bar that was rust-fused into my lower control arm. Cut like butter in like 30 seconds!
 
I tried it on a torsion bar at the salvage yard and it was a huge waste of time. Must've had the wrong blade. That bar was going nowhere.

That said, have you tried just removing the bar first? With the appropriate tool, I've yet to have one stay put.
 
I highly doubt it will cut. Some high quality blades, slow cutting and cutting lubricant may do it.
I just got a dewalt cordless grinder,havent picked up my corded grinder since. Used it today to cut u bolts off a car in a field. I am getting a cordless recip next.i use leeson blades when i can.
 
My arms and shoulders are in pain just thinking about using that on a torsion bar. Trying to steady the tool while the blade is moving back and forth on a hardened steel item sounds like a recipe for pain and suffering!

Why not use one of these?
Milwaukee - Grinders - Power Tools - The Home Depot

I've used a grinder for cutting out metal frame windows in a house to removing metal on the 340 six pack coil mount so it would fit around the plenum on a LD4B intake.
 
Alaskan_TA said:
Cut off wheels are the way to go. I use a 18V Milwaukee for 'junk yarding'.

Be sure the bar is not under tension before cutting for sure.


Ok guys, tell be how your gonna unload the tension on a torsion bar when the adjuster bolt and block, are rusted, frozen, in place for probably decades.
Your going to hafta cut the bar in two, the way it sits, when removing the LCA from the vehicle.
No other way to do it.

The majority say the blade won't really work on a torsion bar.
That's what i wanted to know, find out, so I'm not even going to try it.
Cordless grinder is the way to go in going about doing that job.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I say, if you already bought the tool, plug in the charged battery and give it try. What's it hurt to try? You already own the tool.
 
Went and used this Grinder on the torsion bar.
10, 15, seconds later, torsion bar cut in two.
Due to the fact that the adjuster bolt, and block, was rusted solid, and wouldn't budge, even with a 3/4 drive heavy duty ratchet.
And no problems cutting it, with all the tension on the bar either, so that myth is out the widow, as far as I'm concerned.

DeWalt Grinder 001 (Small).JPG
 
Well.....

Safety is a primary concern.

Cutting anything that is under tension is not considered safe.

Glad you had no issues, but I would not recommend doing it that way to anyone.
 
Alaskan_TA said:
Well.....

Safety is a primary concern.

Cutting anything that is under tension is not considered safe.

Glad you had no issues, but I would not recommend doing it that way to anyone.
Click to expand...

Then tell me how you would do it, when the adjuster bolt and block, are rusted, fused, together.
Answer me that please, if you would.
 
I just did one a month ago.

I cut the upper body off first, one panel at a time.

As I did that, the chassis weight unloaded & the rusty torsion bar cross member slowly failed, collapsing in on itself, allowing the torsion bar tension to unwind.

Your results may differ.
 
Alaskan_TA said:
I just did one a month ago.

I cut the upper body off first, one panel at a time.

As I did that, the chassis weight unloaded & the rusty torsion bar cross member slowly failed, collapsing in on itself, allowing the torsion bar tension to unwind.

Your results may differ.
Click to expand...

Not very practicle if your working on a vehicle that is a runner, and a driver, that just needs a rebuild, or replacing the bars.
But thank's for your reply.
 
A diagonal cut, or even a wedge will allow some slack when bar starts to unload.
 
The torsion bar actually has very little twist to it and will untwist BEFORE you have cut all the way through finishing the cut for you. As an experiment one time in a yard I knocked the lower ball joint out with the nut off and the bar still under tension. Nothing earth shattering happened.
 
Jim Lusk said:
The torsion bar actually has very little twist to it and will untwist BEFORE you have cut all the way through finishing the cut for you. As an experiment one time in a yard I knocked the lower ball joint out with the nut off and the bar still under tension. Nothing earth shattering happened.
Click to expand...

Hi, (The other Jim)
Ya, exactly, nothing happened when i cut that torsion bar in two, with the grinder tool.
I will say though, i didn't hear any kind of "bang" or bad sounds, when the bar got cut, over the sound of the grinder cutting through the bar.
Easy peasy, and nothing like making a mountain, out of a mole hill.
Jim V.
 
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