For those with torsion bar questions (1 Viewer)

[Hugh Heifer]

So whats the answer? What direction for the driver side i need to do mine. Clockwise or Counter Clockwise?

Left hand side (driver in the US) needs to be clocked clockwise in the mount to raise it. Right side (passenger in the US) needs to be clocked counter-clockwise.

Also - of note ( and I did not see it in here) a single spline of indexing seems to be worth about 3/4 of an inch of threads on your adjusting bolt. I was totally out of adjustment and re-indexed mine about 4 splines and now I am super high (no rake at all) and my adjusting bolts hang well below the housing. I will be addressing this by pulling it all apart and moving it back a couple splines.

I am running a Slee 20mm diff drop and an OME 2" lift.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

As others in this thread have noticed, rotating the drivers (left) side torsion bar counterclockwise is incorrect. Since the adjustment arms point towards the inside of the vehicle and the goal is to increase the distance between the arms and the threaded blocks above them, the arms (which are attached to the rear of the torsion bars) must go downward. That means the left side must rotate clockwise and the right side must rotate counterclockwise.

Once again, this is incorrect:
View attachment 3074254

This thread is very helpful but this oversight in the first post by @Gunney should be amended.

Wish it was fixed. I went through this today and was scratching my head. @Gunney if you are still around....

 

[GerLC100]

Anyone having some guidance on how many splines to re-index?

I'm about to swap quite some parts out: UCA from Dobinson, Dobinson extended travel front, Dobinson rear coil with 2" lift for me, I'll swap bushings and ball joint on the LCA, ... but TBs will stay stock for now to see how it rides.

As of now the front is at ~19", target is ~22"

Should I start with 2 or 3 splines? Just want to avoid taking the TBs our 3-times :-D

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Anyone having some guidance on how many splines to re-index?

I'm about to swap quite some parts out: UCA from Dobinson, Dobinson extended travel front, Dobinson rear coil with 2" lift for me, I'll swap bushings and ball joint on the LCA, ... but TBs will stay stock for now to see how it rides.

As of now the front is at ~19", target is ~22"

Should I start with 2 or 3 splines? Just want to avoid taking the TBs our 3-times :-D

I was fully adjusted up and out of threads when I re-indexed on OME heavies. I moved mine a single spline. That gave me just at an inch of extra splines on the adjusters. (Per my post - just a couple above yours - I went 4 splines first and my adjusters hung well below the frame. It as way to much.) So I would only do 1 or 2 at the max.

 

[jLB]

Anyone having some guidance on how many splines to re-index?

I'm about to swap quite some parts out: UCA from Dobinson, Dobinson extended travel front, Dobinson rear coil with 2" lift for me, I'll swap bushings and ball joint on the LCA, ... but TBs will stay stock for now to see how it rides.

As of now the front is at ~19", target is ~22"

Should I start with 2 or 3 splines? Just want to avoid taking the TBs our 3-times :-D

From a guy with ~20.5” (front) on his DD, with OE torsion bars, dual rate 1.5 coils, Dobinsons IMS front shocks, and Dobinsons MRA rear shocks. I’d suggest, that you should focus more on (front) droop, and less on (front) lift. IMS rears seemed a little “too much” over MRA rears, on relative lightweights. I suspect that you’ll be pleased with the final results.

I’d also point out that Dobinsons rear coils seem to exceed (height) expectations, on relatively stock vehicles.

 

[LCReunion]

+1 on making sure you maintain proper droop on front. Plenty of places to read up on how important it is.

 

[blackthecrowes]

I just wanted to add one point here that I haven't seen mentioned about indexing

I have just finished fitting Iron Man shocks. torsion bars and standard springs (I didn't want a lift)

100 is sitting right now at

• Front right 49cm or 19.3 inches
• Front left 49cm or 19.3 inches
• Rear right 57cm or 22.44 inches
• Rear left 54cm or 21.25 inches

I think standard on AHC was supposed to be 50cm / 19.5 inches at the front and 52cm / 21 inches in the rear on the middle setting
So I'm not so far off, except the rear right sits a bit higher - although it has no driver when measured and no spare tyre on board.
I'm going to let it settle a bit and then look at it again when I guess it will need the torsion bars adjusting again

However, my torsion bars are adjusted nearly up to the top of travel- I guess I have 3 or 4 turns of thread left on the 30mm bolt

I was looking at this thread about re-indexing as I think I might have to do that. However, I think I have made a mistake when re-fitting the torsion bars

I had to cut out the old bars as there was no way they were coming apart when on the truck. When I got them off, I labelled the anchor arms but I forgot to mark the left and right anchor cups / brackets. They needed a lot of cleaning up. These cups are marked 10 and 20, and are offset from the factory with the missing spline. There is also a bump on the casting to show the offset

I guessed from their condition that 20 went on the left side and 10 on the right side. I think I'm wrong.

If we know that to re-index we go counter clockwise on the RHS and clockwise on the LHS, then by me swapping the cups around it will have the effect of re-indexing each side in the appropriate direction if I align the white marks with the factory cups as advised

Like I said - I'm not doing it right away but when I have driven the car for a while I'll swap them over and start the adjusting all over again. The only consolation is that they will come apart a lot easier this time!

 

[rjlc]

This is one of the best threads on iH8MUD!

When adjusting the torsion bars, is it necessary to raise both front wheels, or is it possible to adjust one side then the other (lift driver side, adjust driver side...lift passenger side, adjust passenger side)? I don't have a proper floor jack so curious if this would work.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

This is one of the best threads on iH8MUD!

When adjusting the torsion bars, is it necessary to raise both front wheels, or is it possible to adjust one side then the other (lift driver side, adjust driver side...lift passenger side, adjust passenger side)? I don't have a proper floor jack so curious if this would work.

Should work. They are not really connected with anything not fixed.

 

[Bisho]

It will be a lot harder without jacking the frame to relieve some of the tension, but it can probably be done. In an LX you can adjust the bars with the suspension in high. The bars are thinner and high takes some tension off.

You do want to make sure the adjusting bolts are clean. They are fine thread and it would be easy to muck up the threads if they are dirty.

 

[Patassa]

This is one of the best threads on iH8MUD!

When adjusting the torsion bars, is it necessary to raise both front wheels, or is it possible to adjust one side then the other (lift driver side, adjust driver side...lift passenger side, adjust passenger side)? I don't have a proper floor jack so curious if this would work.

You don't have to lift it at all, just makes life easier.

 

[rjlc]

Any suggestions on how to loosen a stuck torsion bar adjuster nut? I've been PB Blasting it for the last week, and still can't get it to budge. Are there any other areas I should be blasting?

This is on the driver side. The passenger side I haven't had this problem, though that area has a lot less rust compared to the driver.

 

[kevgentile]

Any suggestions on how to loosen a stuck torsion bar adjuster nut? I've been PB Blasting it for the last week, and still can't get it to budge. Are there any other areas I should be blasting?

This is on the driver side. The passenger side I haven't had this problem, though that area has a lot less rust compared to the driver.

Got to get some heat on it. Grab a propane/map gas torch from HD or Lowes.
Map gas is better, we use it a lot in the shop, burns hotter than propane. Map bottles are yellow, though some states only sell
a map/propane blend nowadays.

Once you get it nice and hot spray some of your PB on it and work it loose while still hot. If it's really frozen then get that sucka near red.
PS. don't attempt this in a garage, the PB will smoke everyone out

 

[Mike NXP]

How critical do we need to be about side to side differences in our front end height measurements?

I'm at 19.5" on the driver and just over 20" on passenger. Do I care about a 1/2"

 

[2000UZJ]

How critical do we need to be about side to side differences in our front end height measurements?

I'm at 19.5" on the driver and just over 20" on passenger. Do I care about a 1/2"

I adjusted mine with a half tank and I'm about a half inch off (higher on the DS side). I left it and don't notice it. Rarely parked perfectly level and gas levels will move the height a little.

 

[IndroCruise]

How critical do we need to be about side to side differences in our front end height measurements?

I'm at 19.5" on the driver and just over 20" on passenger. Do I care about a 1/2"

Generally the idea is equalise front end heights as close as possible with torsion bar adjusters (not Height Control Sensor adjusters -- impossible). The aim is to equalise the load carried by each torsion bar (assuming both are in similar condition) to avoid unequal suspension and steering effects and as the starting point before starting on AHC adjustments. FSM suggests a tolerance of 10mm or 0.39 inches.

 

[Mike NXP]

I adjusted mine with a half tank and I'm about a half inch off (higher on the DS side). I left it and don't notice it. Rarely parked perfectly level and gas levels will move the height a little.

Good point on fuel in tank, she's full. Sounds like it's not worth messing with, maybe next time I go for an alignment or something.

Generally the idea is equalise front end heights as close as possible with torsion bar adjusters (not Height Control Sensor adjusters -- impossible). The aim is to equalise the load carried by each torsion bar (assuming both are in similar condition) to avoid unequal suspension and steering effects and as the starting point before starting on AHC adjustments. FSM suggests a tolerance of 10mm or 0.39 inches.

Luckily I don't need to go down the rabbit hole of AHC since I am on a LC with standard shocks. I'd like it to be just right as well but I'm going to call it close enough........for now

 

[carsonmac]

Sorry if this has been covered but I can not seem to locate an answer. I installed light duty OME springs with OEM shocks a few years ago. Has been a great setup for us. I cranked the T bars some when i did the work, followed the instructions on the thread from 2011, all went well and have not had issues. I have since added some drawers and additional weight to the rear, which has removed some of the rake I had aimed for when I did the suspension work. The truck sits more level now and if I really load it down the rear will sag more than I like. I am wondering if it would make sense to turn the T bars to lower the front a little bit to compensate. Is it that simple or would I need to re-index?

 

[GTV]

Sorry if this has been covered but I can not seem to locate an answer. I installed light duty OME springs with OEM shocks a few years ago. Has been a great setup for us. I cranked the T bars some when i did the work, followed the instructions on the thread from 2011, all went well and have not had issues. I have since added some drawers and additional weight to the rear, which has removed some of the rake I had aimed for when I did the suspension work. The truck sits more level now and if I really load it down the rear will sag more than I like. I am wondering if it would make sense to turn the T bars to lower the front a little bit to compensate. Is it that simple or would I need to re-index?

You only need to reindex if you run out of threads which in this case sounds doubtful since you previously lifted it. Just wind them back down.

 

[carsonmac]

You only need to reindex if you run out of threads which in this case sounds doubtful since you previously lifted it. Just wind them back down.

Cool, thanks, think I was overthinking this one, appreciate the quick reply