How to tell if front torsion bars need replacement?

[itwasntme]

Hi Pelicans,

Long story short — the 911SC is my new project. I’m currently tearing apart the front suspension, and it’s been a tough ride so far. It looks like the car was never taken apart before: every bolt is seized. It literally took me a week just to get the ball joints out.

Now both control arms are out, but the torsion bars are seized on both sides as well. I’ve actually never dealt with torsion bars before, so I have a newbie question.

Once I finally get them out, how do I determine whether the torsion bars are still usable or need replacement?
Spending ~$400 per bar is not something I was planning, so I’d really like to understand what to look for before ordering new ones.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. If I use an air hammer on the open end of the torsion bar, will it pop the rear cover out, or am I asking for trouble?

[PeteKz]

If the torsion bars do not have gouges or other damage, you can reuse them. Clean up any corrosion, preferably by sandblasting, and repaint with a heavy corrosion resistant paint. Those rubber bushings look original. If so, replace them while you have it apart.

Yes, an air hammer will pop out the "front" cover. But don't use an air hammer. A mallet or brass hammer will do the job and have less potential for damage.

[PopsRacer]

Seconding this. You can just tap it out with the torsion bar using a non-marring hammer. The cover is just pressed in.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by PopsRacer

Seconding this. You can just tap it out with the torsion bar using a non-marring hammer. The cover is just pressed in.

Thanks! I just wanted to double-check that the torsion bar isn’t retained or capped at the other end (except that cover) , and that tapping it out won’t cause any issues.

[Tom F2]

Originally Posted by PeteKz

If the torsion bars do not have gouges or other damage, you can reuse them. Clean up any corrosion, preferably by sandblasting, and repaint with a heavy corrosion resistant paint. Those rubber bushings look original. If so, replace them while you have it apart.

Yes, an air hammer will pop out the "front" cover. But don't use an air hammer. A mallet or brass hammer will do the job and have less potential for damage.

Why replace the bushes? I don't see any eccentricity in the photo. Or any eccentricity is minimal.

[ccallana]

Originally Posted by Tom F2

Why replace the bushes? I don't see any eccentricity in the photo. Or any eccentricity is minimal.

If they've never been replaced, I would expect they would be hard as a rock and need replacement even without "wear" - old rubber would not give a good ride I would think...


On the torsion bars - if you pull them out, make sure you mark sides - they have to go back into the same side of the car if you are reusing. Bad things happen if you swap them to the other side....

[Mike Andrew]

I just did bushes all around this year. While they were not badly deteriorated, there was some ovality and the rubber had hardened somewhat compared with the Elephant replacements. I went with stock replacements for ride reasons.

I reused the original torsion bars.

If it is torn down this far, why not do everything now and avoid a second project later? A "while I am in there" thing.

[PeteKz]

Tom F2: You can't tell whether the front rear bushings have been deformed unless you put them back in the car and put the car on its wheels to see how far they compress upwards. If they don't compress eccentrically, and are not squeezing out the ends, I would continue to use them. When I replaced mine with the Rebel solid bushings, the rears were squeezing out noticeably, however the fronts showed no sigs of wear or compression.

That is because the weight of the car rests almost completely on the car bushings, not the front. Same at the rear, where the outer bushings carries the weight of the car, but the inner spline only sees torque.