98 Lexus LX AHC delete problems (1 Viewer)

[Efjayforty]

Here is the story:

My dad has a 98 LX that the ahc died on. He bought a kit that included front and rear shocks and rear coils and had his trusted mechanic put it on. The saga starts where the vendor for the kit told the mechanic to rotate the torsion bars 180 degrees to get the lift needed out of the stock torsion bars. The mechanic could not get that to work so he put them in the "normal" way. The car was too low and so I started reading here that the lx torsion bars are smaller diameter and landcruiser torsion bars should be used instead. I bought him a set of used landcruiser torsion bars from a salvage yard and had them sent to him. The mechanic tried to put them in and he is saying that they will not fit into the factory lx female mounts. Does that sound possible? What am I missing?

My father lives 1000 miles from me so I can't just go and figure it out. The mechanic is well respected and I know him.

 

[krispykritter]

I have stock non-ahc torsion bars installed with my AHC system in order to (greatly) increase the load capability of the system. Swapping the bars was an UTTER pain in the ass, even using a lift, but we managed to get it done without any more issues than needing four or five hands to hold everything in place.

It should be easy enough for the mechanic to put the AHC and non-AHC t-bars side by side to check the end diameters. I've never heard of the mounts being different sizes depending on whether the 100 came with or without AHC. I do know the hard part of installing them was getting the bars situated in the rear mounts but that was just a lot of annoyance rather than any issue with the fit.

Edit: I've also never heard of rotating the t-bars 180 degrees - it doesn't matter their orientation at all, all that matters is the preload applied by the adjusters. Some folks re-index the t-bars to allow them to handle increased weight iwth AHC, but I've never heard of anyone getting AHC t-bars to provide enough spring lift without AHC to take up the rest of the load.

 

[excessive]

maybe the mechanic didn't clean the splines, or the splines on the replacement T-bars are damaged?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

He's posted that he's using 100 bars. They fit, the mechanic may just be thinking that because they're thinner that the end splines are too. Dozens of AHC delete trucks on here using them.

 

[asu4runner]

the PN is the same for both the adjusting end and the anchor end from lexus to toyota. the only change is the thickness of the torsion bar. to be honest, changing torsion bars is like a 1.5 banana job in the driveway.. if your mechanic cant figure it out id say find a new one.

 

[hoser]

Have the mechanic take a picture of the two t-bars side by side and "mating" each other to compare splines. Salvage yard could've sent wrong bars.

 

[97 AZ LC]

What's the part numbers on the non-AHC bars? Both AHC and non-AHC bars should work fine if properly installed. The AHC bars typically need to be re-indexed by two splines, not 180 degrees.

 

[asu4runner]

What's the part numbers on the non-AHC bars? Both AHC and non-AHC bars should work fine if properly installed. The AHC bars typically need to be re-indexed by two splines, not 180 degrees.

toyota
48162-60030 and 48161-60030

lexus
48162-60040 and 48161-60040

 

[Efjayforty]

Thank you for the responses.

I have stock non-ahc torsion bars installed with my AHC system in order to (greatly) increase the load capability of the system. Swapping the bars was an UTTER pain in the ass, even using a lift, but we managed to get it done without any more issues than needing four or five hands to hold everything in place.

It should be easy enough for the mechanic to put the AHC and non-AHC t-bars side by side to check the end diameters. I've never heard of the mounts being different sizes depending on whether the 100 came with or without AHC. I do know the hard part of installing them was getting the bars situated in the rear mounts but that was just a lot of annoyance rather than any issue with the fit.

Edit: I've also never heard of rotating the t-bars 180 degrees - it doesn't matter their orientation at all, all that matters is the preload applied by the adjusters. Some folks re-index the t-bars to allow them to handle increased weight iwth AHC, but I've never heard of anyone getting AHC t-bars to provide enough spring lift without AHC to take up the rest of the load.

Thanks. I do not understand the rotating the bars either.

the PN is the same for both the adjusting end and the anchor end from lexus to toyota. the only change is the thickness of the torsion bar. to be honest, changing torsion bars is like a 1.5 banana job in the driveway.. if your mechanic cant figure it out id say find a new one.

Thanks for checking the part numbers.

Have the mechanic take a picture of the two t-bars side by side and "mating" each other to compare splines. Salvage yard could've sent wrong bars.

That is about the only thing I can think of might be going on here. I may have to just find another set for him.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Yet another strutmasters install gone awry. Amazing they still sell those.

 

[nckwltn]

I had an ahc LX. Before I took out the ahc I was running LC bars. I can confirm that all the mating surfaces and splines are identical on LX and LC.

 

[2001LC]

Here is the story:

My dad has a 98 LX that the ahc died on. He bought a kit that included front and rear shocks and rear coils and had his trusted mechanic put it on. The saga starts where the vendor for the kit told the mechanic to rotate the torsion bars 180 degrees to get the lift needed out of the stock torsion bars. The mechanic could not get that to work so he put them in the "normal" way. The car was too low and so I started reading here that the lx torsion bars are smaller diameter and landcruiser torsion bars should be used instead. I bought him a set of used landcruiser torsion bars from a salvage yard and had them sent to him. The mechanic tried to put them in and he is saying that they will not fit into the factory lx female mounts. Does that sound possible? What am I missing?

My father lives 1000 miles from me so I can't just go and figure it out. The mechanic is well respected and I know him.

Explain to the mechanic:
There is a LH & RH bar. That each bar has a forward end and aft. Each bar end and each female receiver (mounts) have clock marks. Too use care when cleaning old bars, or clock (paint) markers may wash off. I center punch dots at clock marks, before cleaning old bar.

One can study the bars & mounts. Which will yield clues as to LH & RH, forward & aft and the clock points.

Slee Off road has some picture on their web page that may help. You can find more pictures searching in mud.

Key is too clean all female & male splines and grease them. This makes assemble much easier. I find the aft end the most challenging, to get started.

 

[Efjayforty]

Explain to the mechanic:
There is a LH & RH bar. That each bar has a forward end and aft. Each bar end and each female receiver (mounts) have clock marks. Too use care when cleaning old bars, or clock (paint) markers may wash off. I center punch dots at clock marks, before cleaning old bar.

One can study the bars & mounts. Which will yield clues as to LH & RH, forward & aft and the clock points.

Slee Off road has some picture on their web page that may help. You can find more pictures searching in mud.

Key is too clean all female & male splines and grease them. This makes assemble much easier. I find the aft end the most challenging, to get started.
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Thank you for the writeup and visuals. I will pass it on.