Broken front torsion bar

[hpmad]

Hello,

My driver side front torsion bar broke! I have no idea how, one day I went to drive the car and the car was leaning. After 30mn with the wrench, I had part of a torsion bar in my hand!

Now, I have 2 problems!
- 1) factory bars seems to be 18.8 mm diameter, (at least according to Pelican Technical Article: 911 Torsion Bar Replacement). However, I can only find 21mm diameter replacement bars! I am not interested in sportifying my car as I use it as a daily drive. Any clue where I can find 18.8mm replacement bars?

- 2) As stated above, I only ended up with 'part' of the bar in my hands... any clue how I could get the other part out of the A Arm? I tried to remove the A-Arm completely from the car, but was not able to detach if from the shock absorber :-(

Cyrille

[Driven97]

Bummer. Keep an eye on the classifieds for a set of OE torsions, or maybe eBay. Mine are packed safely away in case I need to return my car to stock, other people may not desire to.

To get the 1/2 of the old bar out perhaps you can drill a small hole in the front of the a-arm big enough to get a drift through and bang it out? You only need to move it the spline length - maybe an inch or two - before it should just fall out. Just make sure you plug the hole with a bolt or some butyl or something after.

[SiberianDVM]

I have the original set from my 84 Carrera that I will sell you. I went with the biggest I could find since I was making a track car.

As far as getting the front section out, do as Driven97 says, drill a small hole in the front cover and use a punch and a BFH to drive it out. Plug the hole with some Permatex silicone adhesive.

PM me if you want the front T-bars. Or there are some on ebay.

[GH85Carrera]

The t-bar broke because the rubber bushings are shot and the bar is rubbing. The other side will be just as bad. You need to replace the rubber bushings in the A-arms that hold the t-bars. That means removing the a-arms to replace the bushings. You really should look and new Turbo Tie rods, ball joints and of course the bushings. Elephant Racing makes the stuff and it is a OEM type replacement.

The stock torsion bars are not sold anymore, just used ones. The 21 mm bars are not a big difference in stiffness if you can't find some used ones.

Both of my OEM t-bars had significant rubbing and a groove from the wear and would have broken soon. I just replaced mine and gave the old worn bars to a friend that makes knives.

[Jesse16]

Don't think you'll have any problem buying stock bars for cheap, I'd sell you mine but haven't done my front suspension upgrade yet, (this fall). Put a simple WTB in the "for sale" on pelican and you'll be flooded with prospects I think. Removed stock ones are mostly useful as wind-chimes or billy clubs was my thought.

[GH85Carrera]

Check any used bar very closely. It it has been repainted or shows any sign of wear, just pass. Once there is rubbing it will break at that point. It would be VERY bad to have it break in the middle of a corner while at speed.

[Porsche 2]

If you buy used T bars, be sure to know which side of the car they came from, and insert them on the same side as your car.

[tonythetarga]

Originally Posted by Porsche 2

If you buy used T bars, be sure to know which side of the car they came from, and insert them on the same side as your car.

+1
This is VERY important. I also agree that you should look at Elephant Racing's rebuilt A-arms with factory style bushings if you don't want to do the polybronze upgrade. These should be done. If you go to a bigger front t-bar out of necessity you need to look at the rears as well for a balanced set up. Unfortunately, this front broken bar could result in a complete suspension rebuild F & R. But think about it..How old is your car and those parts are probably original...and tired.

[chris_seven]

Originally Posted by Porsche 2

If you buy used T bars, be sure to know which side of the car they came from, and insert them on the same side as your car.

Genuine Porsche bars are are all marked L or R from the factory so it should be easy to check

[safe]

Its hard to find used stock bars that hasn't been rubbing. I would guess that 99% of all 911 will have damaged torsionbars, if the bushings are original and the cars have been on the wheels most of the time.

[bobolsn]

Not sure what year you have, but there is a replacement "dust cover". So, take the cover off the front (drill and pry) then drive the torsion bar to the open end (rear). The part number for the cover is 900 040 008 01. There is a thread here that describes how to replace the front a-arm bushings while you are in there.

Good luck

Bob