Lx470 Torsion bars

[ral3019]

I bought a 98 lx470- only had land cruisers before- & the thing is bouncy due to bad accumulators. Bought it as a beater & possible future lift project. It has 300k on it. I was going to lift it but can't right now & need to drive it.

Do I need to change the torsion bars to get around for a few months if I change the the struts & springs? Found a local guy with springs & struts but no torsion bars for $100.

 

[FxFormat]

Lx torsion bars won’t be able to support the weight of these trucks without the aid of AHC. Yes you can drive around but it’s gonna ride like crap. Land cruiser torsion bars are abundant, I’d try to get one from here or locally if you can.

 

[ral3019]

I was thinking that but I'm not experienced with torsion bars & how they work. Although I'm sure it could be worse than it is now! Not too familiar with the site here. I'll check the classifieds for some used ones.

Thanks for your quick reply!

 

[FLWookie]

Smaller diameter on the LX stock. Try to find some OEM Land Cruiser (non-AHC) takeoffs to slap in for the time being. cruiserparts.net, slee, or ebay should be a decent source for a set of cheap used ones. I'm sure Slee has them laying around.

 

[geanes]

I was thinking that but I'm not experienced with torsion bars & how they work. Although I'm sure it could be worse than it is now! Not too familiar with the site here. I'll check the classifieds for some used ones.

Thanks for your quick reply!

Torsion bars are pretty simple. Where a coil or leaf spring work in compression vertically, a torsion bar operates horizontally and works in compression rotationally. One end of the bar is "captive" via splines. The other is "twistable" via a bolt. The easiest way to picture a torsion bar is to grab a twist tie and pinch each end between the fingers of opposite hands. While holding one end static, twist the other. You'll notice that the tie begins to develop torsion, or resistance and wants to "spring" back to inline. That's a torsion bar in principal. One adjusts the "spring rate" by tightening or loosening the adjusting bolt. One can also "re-index" the splines, by removing the bar and rotating the captive end of the bar a few splines. This effectively adds more base tension. The shocks simply modulate the compression and rebound rates of the torsion bar/spring.

In LandCruisers, the torsion bars handle ALL of the spring load and are thus, much thicker. The LX torsion bars in contrast, "share" the spring load with the AHC system and are thus, much thinner. As stated above, if you're AHC is not functioning at all then you'll need LC torsion bars. Otherwise, you'll be driving on the bump stops and doing more damage to the truck.