For those with torsion bar questions

[frawstme]

On your build thread, it looks like you've been dealing with a good bit of rust on your truck. That plus those bolt threads may not have been worked since new, so I bet they are rust seized in place. Soak Kroil or PB Blaster from the top so it will get down in the threads hopefully.

Heat would be good, but a bigger impact gun is the answer. Bump it IN (up) for a bit, then try to reverse/back it out.

I have, the rear shock mounts and the exhaust specifically, but this area of the truck doesn't look bad. I see some but not too much rust. It's kind of hard to see it because the PB blaster

I'll get a clear pic of the actual bolt in a bit. It did soak over night and after giving up this morning I sprayed a bunch more on it. Hopefully it lets up because I really don't wanna buy another impact

 

[frawstme]

Alright it's worse than I thought

If I disconnect the other end of the torsion bar, would that relieve pressure off of this bolt completely?

 

[hoser]

Front wheels off the ground? High torque, name brand, impact gun? 6 pt impact metric socket?

 

[Dirt J]

That rust is your issue. Yes, removing the tbar mount from the LCA will relieve the pressure on the tbar, but unfortunately I don't think that will really help your situation.

What impact driver do you have? You really need that to break that rust free. A breaker bar is more likely to snap the bolt in this situation, IMO. Even putting a socket on the end of the bolt and hitting the socket with a mini sledge would be worth a try.

Ideally you would put a torch on that threaded cross bar that the bolt threads into.

 

[GTV]

If I disconnect the other end of the torsion bar, would that relieve pressure off of this bolt completely?

That could be a very dangerous way to relieve the tension. The adjusting bolt needs to be backed off. Give it some heat, Kroil, heat, Kroil and slowly try to work it off.

 

[frawstme]

Front wheels off the ground? High torque, name brand, impact gun? 6 pt impact metric socket?

That rust is your issue. Yes, removing the tbar mount from the LCA will relieve the pressure on the tbar, but unfortunately I don't think that will really help your situation.

What impact driver do you have? You really need that to break that rust free. A breaker bar is more likely to snap the bolt in this situation, IMO. Even putting a socket on the end of the bolt and hitting the socket with a mini sledge would be worth a try.

Ideally you would put a torch on that threaded cross bar that the bolt threads into.

That could be a very dangerous way to relieve the tension. The adjusting bolt needs to be backed off. Give it some heat, Kroil, heat, Kroil and slowly try to work it off.

Thank you guys, I got one side free. I have a dewalt impact, not sure the exact model but its 20v and says XR on the side. My socket set is pretty cheap but it says its 6 point.

I heated it with a torch and sprayed more PB blaster, I don't have any kroil. I did that a few times and then after absolutely smashing it with a sledge it broke free. Even once it was free it was a bit of a struggle, I had to keep turning it a bit then go in the other direction, then turning it a bit more until I got there. I appreciate all of the advice, going to go get started on the other side.

 

[BiotechBoy]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm a little stuck. I have followed all the directions but I cannot get either one of my torsion bars to budge in either direction, I'm not 100% sure what to do. The truck really doesnt even have much rust on it and from what I can see there isn't really much rust on the bolts.

I have the front end lifted, and I've tried everything that I know. An impact in either direction gets me no where, my 4ft breaker bar won't budge in either direction with my full strength on it. I had it soak over night absolutely drenched in pb blaster then tried again this morning and it still wont move. I have tried light impact to the frame area and bolt surface to jolt it. They will not move even a mm, its just completely seized in. Is there a trick that I haven't read about somewhere to freeing them up?

I thought about using a propane torch, but im honestly not entirely sure which area I should put the torch on. The bolt head would be easy, but the actual area that the bolt screws into is kind of hard to access with a torch

Any advice would be much appreciated

i need to find the link to a thread that i added to with this very problem. i ended up having to cut the bolts because they were so rusted. i can look later when i have more time to find it but try searching my name.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Keep at it. You can take the adjusting bolts all the way out and clean them and then coat them liberally with antiseize. That is what I ended up doing. Run them in and out. (Obviously getting them out is still the challenge.) You got this.

 

[whitec13]

That is not rusty. In my region, that thing is clean. For any rust, heat is always the best route before impact, especially in that area. If you snap that bolt, it’s not exactly something you can run down the street and grab. Mine is 1000x rustier than yours and persistence with PB soaking, heat, and 2ft breaker were able to move mine decently easy. Glad you got it worked out!

 

[jaewastooshort]

I've been seeing people talking about melting a crayon (wax) on the bolt threads after heating, that it will supposedly get in and act as a lubricant. Never tried it myself, but I'm curious whether it actually works.

 

[whitec13]

I personally gave up on anti-seize. It is gone in like 8 months in Michigan and becomes completely useless. I have started using the red Valvoline Moly grease that I use for my wheel bearings instead. It sticks and stays nicely lubed up for much longer. Also, you don’t get silver schmutz literally everywhere.

 

[frawstme]

Keep at it. You can take the adjusting bolts all the way out and clean them and then coat them liberally with antiseize. That is what I ended up doing. Run them in and out. (Obviously getting them out is still the challenge.) You got this.

I really should have completely removed them and cleaned them, but to be honest by the time I got to the second side I was so fed up that I didn't bother. Luckily the second side wasn't nearly as bad, I started with the torch and sledge right off the bat and made pretty quick progress

I was just expecting it to be a 15 minute thing and it took half the day. Tires aren't rubbing now tho