Hey I just had a shop install 1.03 pst torsion bars and they also replaced the shocks. Now my front end sits alot higher. Thing is the adjuster bolt is turned down all the way already. Did they install the bars wrong?
Torsion bar help 1970 dodge dart.
- Thread starter pheats
- Start date
-
68383GTS
Well-Known Member
Need some pics.Is it a V8 car?
It’s possible they installed them on the wrong side.
It’s also possible that they “clocked” the lower control arms incorrectly. It’s hard to do with stock lower control arms, but it can be done. That would be a hex flat off, which can result in a very high (or low) ride height and no adjustment left.
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
They clocked the lowers arm wrong, time to do it over again.
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
That is exactly what they did.
The arm swung too low when they slid it in with the t bar, people do that when they can't master lining up the strut rod.
harrisonm
Well-Known Member
Totally agree. That is the ONLY way you'll get that ride height with the adjusters all the way out. I'd take it back to the shop that did it and NICELY encourage them to fix it. My motto is "Always be nice until it's time to not be nice".
I have 1.15 torsion bars in my 70 Charger. I bought them from Bergman Auto Craft. The owner, Peter Bergman told me over the phone how to properly install them.
The car has to be on a lift or on stands. The wheels need to be about where they normally sit at a regular ride height. The adjustment "finger" that the threaded screw presses against needs to be level with the floor. Now install the torsion bars and retaining clips. Tighten the adjuster screw to add tension to the bars. Set vehicle on the tires and drive back and forth several feet, turning the wheels as well. Make any additional height adjustments as needed.
I followed the instructions and my adjuster screws are centered in the control arm.
Good luck with the car.
The car has to be on a lift or on stands. The wheels need to be about where they normally sit at a regular ride height. The adjustment "finger" that the threaded screw presses against needs to be level with the floor. Now install the torsion bars and retaining clips. Tighten the adjuster screw to add tension to the bars. Set vehicle on the tires and drive back and forth several feet, turning the wheels as well. Make any additional height adjustments as needed.
I followed the instructions and my adjuster screws are centered in the control arm.
Good luck with the car.
They look like Polish sausages next to the 1.0 bars. Imagine how they look compared to the stock .88 bars ???
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 24,900
- Reaction score
- 12,255
YABUT
1.03s with a six; I'm just dying too know why? OK; not dying just really curious.
1.03s with a six; I'm just dying too know why? OK; not dying just really curious.
Thought it would be the easiest way to lower the front a bit.
Why not? A /6 isn’t all that much lighter than a V8 to begin with. The 340 in my Duster is probably lighter than a stock /6 set up with the aluminum parts I run, and I’ve got 1.12” torsion bars. And truly, if my car was a dedicated road track car running race tires I’d probably have to go bigger for a higher wheel rate.
It is. Larger torsion bars mean less suspension travel, which means you can lower the car with the torsion bar adjusters. Lowering with the torsion bar adjusters reduces the amount of available suspension travel, using larger torsion bars compensates for the lost available travel.
As a bonus, the car will handle a lot better because it’s not horribly undersprung like it was from the factory.
You’ll probably also have to change out the LCA bumpstops to go significantly lower. I use a polyurethane “button” style bumpstop, I’ll get the part number.
There’s a really good chance that shop has no idea what they’re doing. Make sure they confirm they installed them on the correct sides first, the new PST bars are marked left and right because they have a 20* index.
Second, it should be easier to install them the way they need to be. LCA’s should be roughly parallel to the ground at time of install for those bars. Not all the way down like described in the factory manual. If it comes down to it, lift the LCA’s higher to install the bars. Worst case then is you’ll need to run the adjusters all the way in to get it up to ride height. But really there should only be two possible installation possibilities, one of two hex flats. You want them to use the flat that places the LCA higher during installation.
***edit***
And I assume you know that you need an alignment after all of this, because you do.
Last edited:
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2014
- Messages
- 24,900
- Reaction score
- 12,255
I wasn't trying to pick a fight; just really curious as to his thinking. I too have the 1.03s
Older ones had no clocking and were neutral.
It but the car on the bump stops.
It but the car on the bump stops.
Hey I’m not trying to pick a fight or anything either, just saying it doesn’t make any less sense to run them in a slant car than it does in a small block car. Most small blocks with aftermarket parts are probably the same weight as an original slant 6 anyway. And 1.03’s aren’t really that big for a small block car with decent tires anyway.
Correct, the old PST 1.03’s had no indexing at all, which was making it difficult for some folks to get the car back up to factory ride height even with the LCA’s clocked correctly. They were great for lowering the car, but not great for stock ride height. So PST added a 20* index so it was easier to run at a factory ride height.
This is true, the OP didn't say & may not know what era PST bars these are, and the shop could possibly be correct..the bump stops may have to come off/be modded.
At least the OP is armed with some info now...................
Don't forget, the slanty ain't exactly light, and worse, it's longer. The mass actually centers farther forward by a bit over a smallblock, so if hard cornering/stopping on
track days is important to You, they are no less appropriate on the era of A-body it appears to be w/a slanty than a SB.
The car was too high before and couldn’t be adjusted lower. That would have been almost impossible to do with the old bars, it wouldn’t have been that high even with the LCA’s clocked incorrectly. And it wouldn’t have mattered left to right as the bars were the same.
PST stopped making the non-indexed bars a couple years ago too. I mean, maybe they’ve been sitting around awhile, I’ve got stuff that old not installed yet. But with as high as that car is sitting I bet they’re 20* bars either installed on the wrong sides or clocked wrong. Honestly though, unless the OP’s car has tubular LCA’s it’s difficult to clock them wrong in that direction because the LCA’s get hung up on the K frame before they hang down enough to catch that hex flat. My bet is they’re swapped left and right, but ya never know.
-
