Removing Stubborn Springplate

HarryD · 02-04-2005, 08:29 PM

I decided to finally replace my worn rear bushings. The passenger side took a bit of time but came apart with no problems. I then started on the drivers side and I cannot get the spring plate out of it's hole!

I did a search here and found lots of threads on how to remove the torsion bar from the spring plate after they come out together but nothing on stuck spring plates that will not come out of the hole with or without the torsion bar.

HELP!!!!

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

have you got the 4 bolt cover off? if so i would just get a flat bar, a pry tool and get it behind the spring plate and pry it off. if you are concerned about marking up the body with the tool tape it up. try using 2 pry bars 180* from one another and go to and fro. dont let it wedge by one side coming off more than the other all at once. pry left and pry right trying to keep the sides even. mark the thing so you can monitor your progress.

mine stuck to the torsion bar. i clamped a vise grip to the t-bar and pryed it off the spring plate. i marked it so i could tell how much progress i was making. it is amazing how much better it goes if you can tell its moved. its inspiring if you will.

good luck.

HarryD · 02-04-2005, 09:12 PM

No, the cover is also stuck on the worn bushing. I have been working top, bottom and the side towards the rear and so far no evidence of progress. When I rock the plate by hand I can feel it rock but no outward motion. I should pint out that when i removed the bolts from the plate, the entire plate turned down about 30 degrees from where it was with the bolts in.

I'll be going at it tommorrow, but if any one has some ideas, i am open to them.

randywebb · 02-04-2005, 09:14 PM

the spring plate is stuck so it is like it is attached to the body, right?

use a crowbar w/o bending the unit body metal -- hit it repeatedly with a metal hammer - try to make the steel 'ring' (vibrate). See if you can twist it even 1 mm... repeat over & over and make it feel unwelcome; you can also try some heat, cursing, and negative psychic energy. Make it wish it wasn't there.

I think a guy used a come-a-long once to get his out....

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

is it disconected from the trailing arm?

if you cant even get the cap off you are being way too gentle. if you can get a flat nail pulling bar you can pry the F outta the outer cap. that can be pried off w/o worrying about body damage. you should be able to put your bar on the cap and pry off the spring plate surface.

if the trailing arm is not "unloaded" from the spring plate you are putting pressure on the bushing which may be contributing to the resistance. i found using a bottle jack under the trailing arm allowed you to keep it close while unbolting and reassembly

HarryD · 02-04-2005, 10:24 PM

Thanks Randy....

The BFH route will be attempted again tommorrow (I have a small sledge with that spring plate's name on it). I may stop by Harbor Freight for tools of destruction as well but Iif the BFH fails I think I'll pass this on to a regular shop before I go the come-along route since I'll probably pull my house down instead of breaking it loose.

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

you need a couple of these.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37514

HarryD · 02-04-2005, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by k911sc
is it disconected from the trailing arm?

if you cant even get the cap off you are being way too gentle. if you can get a flat nail pulling bar you can pry the F outta the outer cap. that can be pried off w/o worrying about body damage. you should be able to put your bar on the cap and pry off the spring plate surface.

if the trailing arm is not "unloaded" from the spring plate you are putting pressure on the bushing which may be contributing to the resistance. i found using a bottle jack under the trailing arm allowed you to keep it close while unbolting and reassembly

Yeah it is separated from the trailing arm. I have been prying on the cap and the plate to see if something will move. Like I told Randy, more BFH moves tomorrow.

HarryD · 02-04-2005, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by k911sc
you need a couple of these.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37514

I have a couple of these (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43651) but I may try your idea.

HarryD · 02-05-2005, 03:46 PM

Well,

Thanks Mr. k911sc!

The larger bar did the trick. After teaching my 9 year old some new words, that grungy, nasty plate came off and the bar just slipped right off after it.

Eric_Shea · Eric_Shea's Garage

They can be a biatch... mine finally loosened up but the bars were stuck. I didn't need either one so I cut the bar with a cutoff wheel. Weeeeeeeee

pwd72s · 02-05-2005, 04:09 PM

Harry?

HarryD · 02-05-2005, 05:27 PM

Paul,

Thanks for the support.

Now it's off to Jeff to get it lowered/cornerbalanced/aligned. Right now, my rear is low but my front where I replaced the worn Boge struts with Bilsteins looks like I'm planning on the Paris-Dakar.

randywebb · 03-06-2007, 02:55 PM

Revived - Now I'm having a hassle doing this AND I just took it all apart a few years ago, so it doesn't take long for everything to "freeze' together again.

Also, I think I saw where a guy put a flat plate across 2 of the 4 cover bolts to pry against. It's in a thread I trolled past...

cbeers · 03-06-2007, 03:05 PM

Hey Randy, just curious as to what parts you did everything with a few years ago. I did mine two years ago with Elephant's SP bearings and I just rebuilt the whole suspension over the last week or so.

Getting the cover plate, Tbars AND bearings back out was cake. I didn't think the bearing set into the tub would come out easy, but two pry bars and some nudging and it came out

-Chris

Early_S_Man · 03-06-2007, 03:15 PM

This is why I always apply anti-sieze compound to the splines of every tosion bar I install!

If one side comes off easier ... take out the torsion bar and drive out the other t. bar with a 4-foot long piece of 3/4" rebar and a mallet. You will need the filler plug in the quarter panel out. By working with a longbar outside the panel ... you have more room to move without damaging bodywork, and you can really smack the rebar and give the other t.b. some momentum to break it loose!

randywebb · 03-06-2007, 03:43 PM

I used the factory adjustable spring plates (they were cheap and a lot of the nice stuff now wasn't out then (or I didn't know of its existence)). I also replaced the stock, hard, egg shaped bushings with Neatrix. I think I will go with the SRP items when I have enough $$.

Warren - I can't swear what I did to the splines then - I would have done something to make sure the splines were clean and lubricated.
BTW, sorry to read your other thread re doctor & hospital visits! Best wishes.

I used a French wood splitting wedge to get things going - never could find my medium prybar... any way, I thought the end cap was all one piece but the concave tip of it fell off while I was wailing away, and exposed the end of the torsion bar...

Now - get this - w/o glasses it seems to proclaim itself to be a 27 mm torsion bar (??) The car feels far too stiff for that however. Also, it has white (Weltmeister?) front torsion bars that are 22 mm on it. That doesn't seem to fit with 27 rears.

I am going to take another look and a photo later (felt guilty and came in to do some actual work). Maybe I should pull it out far enough to measure the diameter.

lusso · 03-06-2007, 04:50 PM

I found that a slide hammer worked rather well. Just make sure you put tape around the access hole in the body work for the torsion bar.
I found it took about 5-6 hits (towards yourself) and it pops right off.
Start top or bottom but alternate.
Slide hammers are available "on the cheap" at harbor freight
I second cleaning splines and using anti-sieze.