LCA Indexing and Torsion Bar

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Falcon8492

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Okay guys,

A few days ago I made a rather serious error while installing my torsion bars. I believe I misunderstood the written instructions I was following. I don't have an exact size on the bars, but they appear to be the OEM <1 in diameter. I put the torsion bar in with the arm lowered as far as it would go with the strut rod installed but with the hex pivot flush with the top of the arm. Later in the installation process, I attempted to raise the arm on a jack to emulate ride height and this happened:

thumbnail.jpg


Long story short, before I embarrass myself further I would like to ask you all if my current understanding of what I did wrong is correct. Should I have installed the torsion bar into the hex in this position instead?

lca position.jpg


Also, will I need to remove the sway bar and ball joint to get the arm back down further or can I get where I need to be from the following position?

assembly position.jpg


Thanks in advance
 
LCA hanging as low as it can go, rotate the all the way counter-clockwise as far as it will go without the adjuster in. I have an old piece of torsion bar I use for this so I can put a pipe wrench on it. Sometimes its a little stiff to rotate these. Also, you must leave the LCA pivot nut just slightly loose until your ride height is set.
Another note, sometimes you have to remove the upper bump stop to get the suspension to drop enough. Most of the time you dont but it does happen occasionally.
Are those repop adjusting bolts? I bet you your problem is the chinesium metal.
Anti-seize is recommended on the adjuster bolts. Makes adjusting them easier and can help prevent galling.
 
I've seen worse. The finger like thingy in the lower arm has a dimple in it where the nose of that adjust bolt should be. The female threaded adjust block floats. One members adjust bolt went to one side and ruined the dimple and finger.
Even with OEM parts, you can't just crawl under the car with and change its ride heigth. The suspnsion has to be unloaded. Jack to unload, adjust, lower, jounce, check, redo.
And that's why coil springs were much simpler for other brands, but... those owners needed spring blocks to stiffen or a torch to lessen their springs.
Torsion bars provide a screw adjust but it's not as simple as as some beleive.
 
I believe your correct those uca bolts are backwards
 
What is with that upper ball joint boot ? Is it upside down.

That is a junk bolt and block, I have never stripped a T- bar adjusting bolt and I live in the rust belt, Ohio and it doesn't get much worst than here. I always use gear oil on bolts like that. Even all my gear pullers get gear oil, it just works.
 
What is with that upper ball joint boot ? Is it upside down.

That is a junk bolt and block, I have never stripped a T- bar adjusting bolt and I live in the rust belt, Ohio and it doesn't get much worst than here. I always use gear oil on bolts like that. Even all my gear pullers get gear oil, it just works.
Yeah, that upper ball joint seal looks goofy, too.
 
Thanks for all the pointers, everyone.

Those cam bolts were on that way when I took the original setup off the car. Not sure how many miles it drove like that but could/would that have caused any issues I need to look out for?

The upper control arm and ball joint came out of the box pre-assembled. Is that boot salvageable?
 
As long as the ball joint boot is not ripped you should be able to flip it over and re install with no issue. Same can be said for the cam bolts.

Thanks
James From
PST
 
You don't adjust the torsion bar adjuster bolt with the weight on the suspension.
 
As long as the ball joint boot is not ripped you should be able to flip it over and re install with no issue. Same can be said for the cam bolts.

Thanks
James From
PST
If the pickle forf doesn't feck it up. Good luck
 
You don't adjust the torsion bar adjuster bolt with the weight on the suspension.

To clarify, I adjusted the bolt without any weight on the suspension. It sheared after weight was applied later. I think I was off a hex or two on indexing but I'm not sure exactly
 
Uuuh, aren't those UCA cam bolts in backwards? And why is there so much thread exposed?
They look like aftermarket bolts, but, they are in there correctly. The factory ran those bolts from the inside out, with the nuts on the outside. You'll probably have to disconnect the sway bar and upper bump stop to get enough movement on the LCA for installing the torsion bars. Just for my curiosity, why did you pull the torsion bars back out? Didn't you just need to replace the adjuster bolt and nut?
 
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