Bone head Tbar question and issues

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yellow rose

yellow rose

Overnight Sensation
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I'm embarrassed to even say what I've done but it is what it is.

73 Demon (Dart Sport but I hate that name) that should have had the 4bbl V8 Tbars (.870 diameter) on it. So I decide to use /6 bars (.810 diameter) bars like I've done before. Buy a set from a member here. They show up and look good.

I install the bars and I can't get the ride height even close. It's way too low. Looks good but it's sitting on the bump stops. So I decide to go back to what I thought were the OE bars and live with it. So I clean up the bars, paint them and get ready to remove the /6 bars. I measured what I thought was the OE bars but they measure 2bbl V8 size(.850 diameter). So the car didn't have the OE bars to begin with.

So I pull the left side /6 bar out and have a look. The moron who installed the bars put the left on the right and the right on the left. I'd slap the crap out of the installer but I'm opposed to self abuse. Damn.

So now my questions since I've proved I'm a dumb ***.

1. Will having the bars on the wrong side make it so I can't get the ride height correct?

2. Did I damage the bars any? They have been installed with weight on them for 12-14 months but actual miles on them while installed wrong is ~20.

What do you think. Should I put the /6 bars back on the correct side and see if I can get the ride height? Or did I wreck them? Or should I just put in known bars and say screw it.

Thanks in advance.
 
Do I know with 100% certainty; no.......My best guess is nothing serious happened other than not knowing your left from your right. Not being able to adjust ride height makes sence now knowing that bars were swapped side to side, the pre-set twist in the bars from the factory was canceling out any adjustment you were making. Get them in the correct side and things will be better.
 
JBurch said:
Do I know with 100% certainty; no.......My best guess is nothing serious happened other than not knowing your left from your right. Not being able to adjust ride height makes sence now knowing that bars were swapped side to side, the pre-set twist in the bars from the factory was canceling out any adjustment you were making. Get them in the correct side and things will be better.
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If I was in the Army they'd make me stand next to a wall and make me say I am dumb over and over.
Damn I'm dumb.

So, with the bars being on the wrong side, the clocking is so I can't get the correct ride height? If so I can buy that.
Damn I'm dumb.

Thanks.
 
wait'n for J par to join this ...... :popcorn:

I agree with JBurch
 
Just put them back in the correct way and let us know what happens.
 
yellow rose said:
As soon as I cool off and calm down I'm going to do it. I'm still pissed I don't know my left from my right. Or I can't tell an L from an R. Or I'm just illiterate.
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Oh don't be so hard on yourself.................that's what we are here for..............
 
After years and years in this hobby, I put a +/- 4 degree timing chain on wrong, lining up the "0" on the crank key other than the "0" by the tooth. Car ran idled and ran but wouldn't crawl past a slant six in a 4x4 pickup... LOL.
It happens to us all.........
 
I'm ashamed to say I made the same mistake...


and I was just as dumbfounded at myself as you are LOL


You'll be good once you switch them.
 
Should we change the topic of this thread to bonehead moves to cheer YR up?
 
I did that, and the bars took a "set" and they would not fit when I tried to put them back into the right location.
Cost me 400$cdn to make it right!
 
2 years. Take the bar out and put it on the floor, if both "flat sections " lay flat you are probably ok. If one side is on the "edge " it has taken a set.
 
A body's have a 30* twist so they can't lay flat on both ends.
 
T bar chart

Torsion Bar 5.jpg
 
My new bars laid flat. My old bars sat on edge and there was no way they would fit.
Maybe I wasn't doing something right. Still have my old bars, I will check tomorrow.
 
Put um right and forget it.
 
Here's what I "don't get." If bars "take a set" how did it work when Ma built 'em? Did they have a machine that "pre twisted" em before install? I doubt it
 
They are made with the hex's 30* apart, They don't twist them.
 
67Dart273 said:
Here's what I "don't get." If bars "take a set" how did it work when Ma built 'em? Did they have a machine that "pre twisted" em before install? I doubt it
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I'm sure when the make the hex ends 30* apart they most likely heat the bar and put the twist in the direction they want and then reheat treat the bar.

I am hoping that actually twisting the bar in the wrong direction didn't screw them up.

And I had more wrong than the bars on the wrong side I *THINK*. So I've got the drivers side back in and correct but I need to pull the passenger side back out and and make sure the control arms are at the bottom of the travel when I stick the bar in.

What a royal PITA.
 
Some new (older dated) PST/FFI BIG bars come with no offset, then they made them with the offset back in them. They are spring steel. Imagine a spring uncoiled. The twist is only the casting in the offset of the ends, it is not "pre-twisted" to my knowledge. As for it "taking a set" I suppose it could as all suspension can get soggy over time, but will most likely be as bad the other way too.
1. Odd numbers go on L, driver side (USA) even #'s on right (from rear)
2. Bars are marked L and R (from rear of car)
3. paint splotches: 2 is left, 1 is right
4. 30 degree(A-body) twist (in hex) is CCW on driver side (USA) and CW on pass.
5. There is no front and back, but the line is usually in the back on untouched cars. and looks nice vertical to match the hex in the frame.. :)

No, the PITA is when they dont come out at all!

<<<Hint>>> get yourself a huge pipe wrench and when your LCA is unloaded, further unload it in the down direction with the pipe wrench on the round socket side and that will assist in lining up the torsion bar hex. I remember using my feet on the pipe wrench and sliding the bar in. also support the front frame in a way that it doesnt flex the unibody (like dont put the jackstands under the bumper mounts, but somewhere balanced under the motor itself).
 
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