broken torsion bar? what to replace with and how fun is it to do?

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Ben Drinkin said:
If your ball joints are all still connected, remove the rubber bump stops. Will probably give you just the extra you need. And left does indeed mean driver's side...
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thank you ben drinkin!:violent2:

the rubber bump stops are not in the way of anything....
 
RustyRatRod said:
Replace it with another torsion bar. It takes about 15 minutes with the right tools.
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it is a new torsion bar...:glasses7:
took 10 min to get old one out.... spent 2 hours trying to get this to line up...

maybe im not wearing the right socks
 
Loosen the nut on the LCA pivot pin (in front of the T-bar socket) and knock it back a little to loosen it up.
 
tarvin890 said:
10 min its out heres the pics.... ouch... lets hope reinstall is as quick!!
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The section on the right has indications on the point of origin of the failure. It appears to begin on the outside surface and radiates inwards towards the opposite side. Most likely the point at which someone (PO?) knicked it.
 
Pry the LCA down with a prybar and the torsion bar will go right in.
 
good god. ive done everything but the LCA bolt.... cant get it... let that bolt soak for a day or two then try.... anyone close to charlotte nc id pay for a hand!
 
RustyRatRod said:
Pry the LCA down with a prybar and the torsion bar will go right in.
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i have been prying with a nice persuader bar on the pawl for hours and pushing on the wheel assy down.... so close but no cookie... arghh try again in a day or two... maybe if it sits and thinks about what it has done it will have a better attitude the next time i try to get it in.... holy smokes... it will be something silly to get it in eventually i know that.
 
DFX 340 Duster said:
The section on the right has indications on the point of origin of the failure. It appears to begin on the outside surface and radiates inwards towards the opposite side. Most likely the point at which someone (PO?) knicked it.
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yeah the pics tell a good story for sure....
 
doug 371 said:
do u have the upper control arm bump stop out?
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yes i am putting a pry bar on the adjuster lever pulling it down as far as i can get it and its just not enough....... assuming that pulling down on that is the same as/ when pulling down on the lower control arm...
 
even pulling both down its a bit short... it is taunting me..... lol
ive spray loosened the crap out of everything that moves everything moves real nice now.... just need that added umph.
 
You may want to consider disconnecting the control rod at the suspension end of things. Really, anything that will let the LCA go lower where the TB is not putting any load on it.
 
Get you a big old fat woman to sit on the prybar.
 
are your bars clocked or the same hex at both ends? PST bars over 1.00 IIRC have been made with early non clocked hex (same, bar will sit flat at both ends) and later clocked (more like OEM) When I worked with mine, I used a large pipe wrench on the LCA socket and used my foot to push it CW (unloading) and the bar slid right in. If you do get a nick in the bar, you are supposed to dress it down with a file or replace. I heard a van break a torsion bar when I was waiting to cross a street, sounded like a gunshot. I ducked instinctively and then noticed the vans front tire on the stops.
 
Like I said, you've got to get the socket loose by loosening the pin. All you are doing is rotating the LCA around the T-bar socket. That's why you can't it in...
 
2 Darts said:
Thanks for the photos, guys. I didn't realize that the metal used in a torsion bar was so porous. Now I understand: 1. Why the paint on them is so thick. 2. Why every text I've read about removal says don't nick them but if you do, get the rust off the bar and repaint.
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What you are seeing is not porosity in the material, it is what I would call a fairly typical rapid fatigue failure. What you are actually seeing is the grain structure of the steel as the crack propagated very quickly, it is most likely a trans granular fracture where the crack goes through grains as opposed to around them. The reason you dress and coat any damage to the surface is that it creates a stress riser and an area for corrosion to attack. Smoothing it out and re-coating lowers the effect of the stress risers and the coating protects it. Most suspension components such as springs and t-bars are coated with with a soft coating that is designed to absorb the energy of an impact from road gravel, some springs mostly rears have a double layer of coating that can be over 200 microns thick for this purpose. If anyone is curious I am a metallurgist with several years of work on fatigue failures and corrosion testing and failure analysis of of corroded parts automotive suspension components, however; I did not stay at a holiday inn last light so YMMV.

I had one go on my car years back in the parking lot of my apartment, sounded like a shot gun blast and as the neighborhood was less than ideal I assumed it was as such. Came home from work the next day to the lean.
 
ggt1_02 said:
What you are seeing is not porosity in the material, it is what I would call a fairly typical rapid fatigue failure. What you are actually seeing is the grain structure of the steel as the crack propagated very quickly, it is most likely a trans granular fracture where the crack goes through grains as opposed to around them. The reason you dress and coat any damage to the surface is that it creates a stress riser and an area for corrosion to attack. Smoothing it out and re-coating lowers the effect of the stress risers and the coating protects it. Most suspension components such as springs and t-bars are coated with with a soft coating that is designed to absorb the energy of an impact from road gravel, some springs mostly rears have a double layer of coating that can be over 200 microns thick for this purpose. If anyone is curious I am a metallurgist with several years of work on fatigue failures and corrosion testing and failure analysis of of corroded parts automotive suspension components, however; I did not stay at a holiday inn last light so YMMV.

I had one go on my car years back in the parking lot of my apartment, sounded like a shot gun blast and as the neighborhood was less than ideal I assumed it was as such. Came home from work the next day to the lean.
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yes, and my head was under that side not 12 hours before.... im very lucky..... or am i really here now? maybe my hell is to spend eternity trying to get the TB back in... and it never will..... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm:pale:
 
OK SUCCESS!!!!!!!!! thanks to everyones input and cheerleading! breaking free the LCA bolt was the trick lined up tapped in... one more time and im a pro... thanks to all!!! now on to the chassis shop for new rear frame rails.... funny this broke the morning i was to take it to the chassis shop.... ! it could have killed me when i was under it... 2 if it broke going down the road,,,, my nice hemi deep pan would have been oil free...
 
do coil spring front ends do this also? break like a torsion bar? the effect on front end wouldnt seem as drastic.......
 
Jim Lusk said:
Like I said, you've got to get the socket loose by loosening the pin. All you are doing is rotating the LCA around the T-bar socket. That's why you can't it in...
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I feel your pain, brother. lol
 
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