Torsion bar trouble

[WB3]

Hi guys, its been a couple years but here I am again...and at least I have a place to go! I was heading to work the other morning and made an easy turn from a stop sign and it sounded like someone hit the side of my car with a sledge hammer. Hmmm, that's NOT normal so I limped home and jumped on my motorcycle to get to work. Anyway, I'm assuming the RR torsion bar snapped. Yes, it's very low in the rear and the RR has no suspension at all...and that's where the Crack noise came from.

I'm thinking that they are the original torsion bars because the black fender protector has not been cut into to remove the cap/cover. Ok, first, when I jack the car up, do I need to lift all 4 wheels off the ground? And about how high should it be?

Most importantly, before I remove anything, what settings do I need to pay attention to? What do I need to mark? Since the RR is already snapped, would it make a difference anyway?

Any beta you guys can send my way would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[MotoSook]

If you're just going to replace the rear t-bars, you can just jack up the rear. Put jack sands on the t-bar tubs inside of the frame "rail"/tunnels. Get the car high enough get the wheels off and work comfortably on the t-bar cover plate and spring plates. Do a search on t-bar droop angle. Wil Ferch and Thom Fitzpatrick have put together a good calculator to determine springplate angle that will get you close to your desired ride height.

Edit: now would be a good time to change the springplate bushings. (a debate awaits you on the type of bushing to use...search springplate bushings)

[dfink]

You say the black rubber has not been cut. If your talking about the rubber strip down the side of the car that pulls just pulls off. Anyhow it does on my 85'

[Superman]

You don't have to take any measurements. Your suspension will need to be re-aligned when you are done.

[JP911]

I think you're talking about the fender guard (sticker), but that doesn't have to be cut to access the torsion bar cap, just peeled back. Personally, I would suport the car at the tub (jack stands with wood blocks) for this project since you do not yet know what failed in the suspension. If, for example, the torsion tube has failed (albeit unlikely) you could create a dangerous situation if you place jack stands under the tube.

[walt]

Bentley's will show you where to scribe a line so you can reinstall the components to the approximate correct position, where the torsion arm meets the trailing arm. This will get your alignment sufficiently close to drive to an alignment shop.

[euro911sc]

I've never heard of t-bars breaking... Its pretty hard to break that diameter of bar. I suspect that you may have something else wrong that will end up needing some welding... perhaps the splines failed on one end of the torsion tube or the tube itself failed.

Will be interesting to find out.

best regards,

michael

[randywebb]

several folks have posted pics of broken ones - corrosion/stress cracking...

[georgep0]

Snapping a t-bar is rare but does happen... Happened on my 86 a year ago. Clean break near the splines... back right was riding extremely low after a hard left turn that made a similar noise. I chose to upgrade to a stiffer t-bar and adjustable plates. Very much worth it. Also upgrade the bushings - made the ride much stiffer.

[euro911sc]

What was the outcome of this mis-adventure? Pics? I'm interested

-Michael

[WB3]

Hi guys, thank you for your thoughts and advice. I have been involved in so many other projects that my SC has been untouched. I will probably jack it up tomorrow and see what's going on...or went on? I'm almost still convinced it was a torsion bar that broke. But of course the proof is in the pudding. Whatever broke had alot of tension on it. I say this because of the sound it made. Would a tube failure make such a horiffic sound? Also, even if it was the tube wouldn't the torsion bar still support the car? Thanks Michael for your get-back. I'll let you know when I find out what happened.

[WB3]

Well, I'm back from down under...under the SC that is. I found no damage to any outer suspension part(s). The torsion bar tube, control arm, spring plate, and shock all looked normal. At this point, I can only figure it's the torsion bar itself. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but the only pre-alignment adjustment is for the heigth right? And as I understand, this is controlled by moving the spring plate on the splines at the end of the torsion bar? Even though the LR is ok I'm still going to replace them as a pair. I was going to use the LR as a guide in marking the spring plate on the fender well once I lower it with the shock disconnected.

Ok, I won't know exactly where the RR torsion bar broke until I take everything apart and get in there. If the bar broke inside where I can't get hold of it to pull it out....what do I do? How can I get at the bar to remove it? It may have broken directly at the outer splines which wouldn't be that bad. But if it's further in I don't know what to do.

Also, I was going to use the inner torsion tube to support the car while I work on it. Any problems or concerns to do it like that?

The rubber trim piece that runs along under the door is fastened with sheet metal screws? So I need to lift it up from the bottom to get to the screws correct?

thanks guys

[JP911]

The torsion tube is a straight shot all the way through, so you can use the other T-bar (or a long pole) to push out the stuck bar, or what's left of it.

As far as supporting the car, you should be OK to support from the inner torsion tube if it looks to be in tact. However, if it were me (and I'm an anal guy) I would support the car at the tub just to be safe.