Re-installing front torsion bars

djdawson2 · 08-31-2009, 05:16 PM

OK... so I've taken out the front end to replace my control arm bushings. As it came apart, I quickly realized that the torsion bar had disengaged from the height adjusting cap at the rear of the control arm/torsion bar.

I have meticulously replaced the bushings and mounts to have an exact match, in terms of angle of the mounts, as they were when I took things apart.

Is there any magic or formal process to make sure that the bars are indexed correctly upon reassembly? It seems like it might be easy to be "off" by one spline. It also seems like it should be easy to make both sides the same, simply by measuring the installed angle. But how would one be sure that both aren't off by one spline, leading to a ride height change from when it was disassembled.

I've searched the forum, and can't find a good procedure.

Thanks in advance for any links or advice.

Dave

911st · 08-31-2009, 05:38 PM

Other than there being a left and right bar I do not think you can put the torsion bars in wrong. I believe they have the same number of splines front to back, not like the rear.

I think the position of the adjustment arm on the bar and the setting of the adjustment bolt determine the ride height. If you run out of adjustment with the adjustment bolt you pull the arm and move it one spline.

djdawson2 · 08-31-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911st

Other than there being a left and right bar I do not think you can put the torsion bars in wrong. I believe they have the same number of splines front to back, not like the rear.

I think the position of the adjustment arm on the bar and the setting of the adjustment bolt determine the ride height. If you run out of adjustment with the adjustment bolt you pull the arm and move it one spline.

Thanks. I did mark the bars... one was yellow, one was blue... paint marks were toward the rear, and yellow was on the right side.

I took pics of everything coming apart, so I think I'm OK.

Thanks

A930Rocket · 08-31-2009, 07:18 PM

911st has it right. You just stick the bar in and then then cap. IIRC you can't index the fronts like you can the rears. The most you might be able to do is index the cap. With everything apart and re-assembled, an alignment and corner weight will be needed. If you are thinking of doing the rear, I'd not drive it that much before you do the rear end.

djdawson2 · 08-31-2009, 08:23 PM

Everything went back together just fine. Car drives great, and the feel is much improved.

However, I am still screwed, as the noise is still there. I am totally out of ideas... clunking that seems like it is coming from under the passenger's feet.

I'm not setting anything up until I can figure this out. I guess I'm going to look at everything in the storage area/trunk next. I can't find any evidence of anything else under the car. The only thing I haven't replaced is the strut itself.

Crap.....

911st · 09-01-2009, 07:01 AM

Have you checked your shocks?

Garrison · Garrison's Garage

Sway bar bracket broken? Steering control arms or tie rods ok?

Just throwing out ideas...

JFairman · 09-01-2009, 07:19 AM

Mine was doing that clunk over bumps on the passenger side too.

I drove out the roll pin that secures the bottom end of the shock rod to the bottom of the strut with a drift punch and hammer, rotated it 180 degrees so the slightly bent used up section where it was securing the end of the shock rod was now facing away from the groove in the shock rod and reinserted it with a drift punch and hammer.

This approximately 3/16" diameter roll pin is down below the steering knuckle just above the ball joint.

The clunk was then all gone, still is over a year later and it didn't cost anything and took about 15 minutes to fix including jacking up the car putting a jackstand under a corner and crawling under there to do it.

Fixes that only take a little labor like this one are very satisfying.

djdawson2 · 09-01-2009, 08:05 AM

I've checked *everything* in this front end. I will try the roll pin... I've looked at it several times and wondered.

This is about the only thing that I haven't removed and inspected. The car has 100k on it, and I've wondered if I should just replace the shocks... but it still drives very tight.