Torsion bar issue- any advice?

[Steve009]

Having an issue with my right side torsion bar not holding weight as well as the left side. I thought it was an old bar that lost its tension so I purchased brand new PST bars, same issue. They are both installed when bump stops were removed and lower control arm is dropped as much as possible. Left is on the left and right on the right. Lettering both at the back of the bar. Left side goes in smooth with little effort to tighten it up. Right side needs to be turned in way more and you can feel the tension way more. If both adjuster bolts are screwed in the same amount I have over 1.5” difference in the heights side to side. Is there anything else I’m not thinking of? Adjustment anywhere else in the front suspension that could change this? I’m out of ideas. Not sure it matters but this is on my 64 sport fury.

 

[Rusty knuckles]

I'll bet a dollar your lower control arm bushing is shot.

 

[jimbosride]

Rusty called it ..... I put PST bars in my 65 and they went in with no effort..... but the front end is all rebuilt. The old bars had nicks and vice grip grooves.... The adjustment bolt is the same on both side. Also make sure the " clocking" is correct on the lower arm before sliding bars in. If not the adjustment bolt will be off.

 

[Steve009]

I'll bet a dollar your lower control arm bushing is shot.

I'll bet a dollar your lower control arm bushing is shot.

Brand new bushing. I’m interested to know why you think that could cause the issue. Would play in that bushing prevent tension in the torsion bar? I’m open to a discussion about anything as I’ve tried to unravel this issue a bunch of ways in my head.

 

[Steve009]

Rusty called it ..... I put PST bars in my 65 and they went in with no effort..... but the front end is all rebuilt. The old bars had nicks and vice grip grooves.... The adjustment bolt is the same on both side. Also make sure the " clocking" is correct on the lower arm before sliding bars in. If not the adjustment bolt will be off.

Front end of mine is all rebuilt as well. How do I check this clocking? I’m not sure what you mean by that. Won’t they only slide in if the clocking is correct? I think PST has the bars clocked at 20 degrees

 

[jimbosride]

When I put the old bars in during the restoration I didn't have the arms clock correct so the adjustment bolt was way off on one side to the other. With the bars out can you feel slop in the lower arm? It maybe hard to tell with the upper arm and brakes on. If the rubber on the arm is completely bad the adjustment bolt just fights the loose bushing. I'm no expert on this issue just my experiences...... did the bars come out easily?

 

[jimbosride]

Here is from an old post from a member
"UpperCA bump stop out, let the LCA hang all the way down. Adjuster bolt loose, adjuster arm down about flush in the LCA and slide the bar into place"

yes they will go in but the adjustment bolt will be off ..... to far in .... or to far out

 

[Orig69]

Which side is it that is 1.5 inches higher?

 

[Steve009]

When I put the old bars in during the restoration I didn't have the arms clock correct so the adjustment bolt was way off on one side to the other. With the bars out can you feel slop in the lower arm? It maybe hard to tell with the upper arm and brakes on. If the rubber on the arm is completely bad the adjustment bolt just fights the loose bushing. I'm no expert on this issue just my experiences...... did the bars come out easily?

Everything is really tight. No slop. I even went as far as to disconnect the lower control arm completely to pull it down as far as possible. Still tends to fall into only one place. Bars come out fairly easily once the adjustment bolt is loosened off.

 

[Steve009]

Which side is it that is 1.5 inches higher?

Left side (side that went in easy and adjusts easily) is higher. Right side (passenger) sags. I can get right side to slide in similar to the left side but have to crank the bolt a stupid amount to even out the height even close. I feel as if the torsion bar needs to do one full clock over on the right side (one facet over) to have the same starting point but even with the lower control arm disconnected and hung all the way down it will not reach that next flat spot.

 

[Orig69]

I agree with the one more facet over.

 

[Orig69]

Unscrew the adjustment bolt so it's not sticking out of the adjustment swivel. Turn the socket end (the part that the torsion bar goes into) of the control arm until it touches the adjustment swivel. Then it will go in.

 

[Steve009]

Unscrew the adjustment bolt so it's not sticking out of the adjustment swivel. Turn the socket end (the part that the torsion bar goes into) of the control arm until it touches the adjustment swivel. Then it will go in.

Yep totally agree with this . Tried to get it to line up by doing this and i can’t get it over to that next flat spot. This may be a dumb question but can that socket end/arm that touches the adjustment swivel lose it’s integrity and start to bend under tension? Or is there no way that would ever bend? Seems like it can’t hold the tension as easy on the torsion bar.

 

[66 Sat]

Check your torsion bar crossmember, might be turning at the other end and that's why it's not holding. Any rust in the car?

 

[Orig69]

It will be tuff to bend it. Removing the swivel will allow it to turn even more.

 

[Steve009]

It will be tuff to bend it. Removing the swivel will allow it to turn even more.

My thoughts were to remove the swivel as well to clock down further but then was stumped on how to get it back in

 

[Steve009]

Check your torsion bar crossmember, might be turning at the other end and that's why it's not holding. Any rust in the car?

I’ll have a look but the car is pretty solid. Just had all the body work done and the crossmember wasn’t a concern when down to bare metal . I’ll watch the back and have someone else crank the bolt just to be sure.

 

[Orig69]

It just pops right out, install it the same way it came out. Remove the adjustment bolt first. You can use the adjustment bolt to help get the swivel back in.

 

[ckessel]

Check out the sleeve in the k-frame that the control arm shaft goes into. Welds can crack or tear which will allow the sleeve to rotate.

 

[Jerry Hall]

Of the dozen or so front suspensions we have built, getting the torsion bars back in were one of the hardest parts. We have always had to pull down hard on the lower control arm to get them to start in the cross member. Once we got them to start into the cross member, we have had to drive them in from there. If they slide in or out easily, IMO something is wrong.