Need help! Trying to remove torsion bar ... (1 Viewer)

[atlgapdo]

I am trying to slide the torque arm off of my torsion bar to re-index it. However, the front stabilizer bar is in the way and I could not slide it all the way out.

Is there a way to get the stabilizer bar out of the way without having to remove it? thanks ...

 

[2000UZJ]

can't help, haven't done mine yet. But let me know how re-indexing goes. I really need to do mine... I am to big of a sissy to start fooling with them.

 

[pfran42]

I'd like to see a comprehensive how-to on this subject as well. Since I will finally have my own garage in a few days, I want to put a lift on by myself.

 

[2000UZJ]

I'd like to see a comprehensive how-to on this subject as well. Since I will finally have my own garage in a few days, I want to put a lift on by myself.

I can assist. So we don't screw up mine after we screw up yours


No, but really. How hard can it be?

 

[mechanixhorseman]

I put new OME's in a couple weeks ago.

I originally wrote all that below, and it may still help you, but after I went down and looked at my own cruiser to try and figure out how you were having this problem. The only way your front control arm should be in the way of your torque arm is because you still have a load on the spring/wheel/suspension/etc. is your tire still touching the ground while you're trying to re-index?

(You should not need to remove your stabilizer bars at any point during the process. If my memory serves me correctly, you should just be able to slide the torque arm up on the bar after disconnecting the two bolts connecting it to the frame. At that time you can index the bars to where you want them utilizing the anchor arm and adjusting bolt (Hopefully you've thoroughly greased and cleaned the splines on the torque arm as it will be easier to put back on).

Once you've indexed the bolt position where you want it, replace the torque arm so that it is aligned to re-attach to the frame. )

 

[spressomon]

I'd like to see a comprehensive how-to on this subject as well. Since I will finally have my own garage in a few days, I want to put a lift on by myself.

You mean like this one: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series...p-install-notes-observations.html#post4724983


If you/OP live in a rust belt state or similar getting the t-bars out of their sockets can be a royal PITA. A weeks worth of PB soaking didn't even come close on mine and that was when it was only 6-years old! I ended up having to take my rig in to my mechanic and it took three of them 1/2 day solid of repeated OA flame and PB soaking before they popped free.

OTOH I helped RustyTLC with his Nevada lived '98 a few years ago and they almost fell out of their sockets! Rust sucks.

 

[atlgapdo]

For those who have not done it yet, thanks for the encouraging words .... I have been reading up on the posts on how to do it and still don't have yet a clear understanding of what needs to be done yet but I figure I need to start removing things to see what people have been describing ...

I did have the tires off the ground and the stabilizer bars was still in the way. I took the tires off and that did not make any difference. Of the many threads I have seen here, I did not see anyone mentioning that the stabilizer needs to be removed. May be I need to have the jack stands at certain places on the frame ?

See picture below to see where I have the jack stands and the close proximity of both the torque arm and the bar.

 

[spressomon]

The t-bar needs to slide rearward (or forward I forget now...in any case the t-bar splined ends need to be able to float from their female counterparts/torque/anchor arms to get them out) so you can get them out. If you can't move the t-bar back/forth from either end/anchor you're only going to get more frustrated.

But it is, as I mentioned, a RPITA with even the slightest amount of rust...which I can see peaking through on your's in your photo.

Keep soaking them and you might hit them with flame (be sure you don't light the PB on fire ). And smacking the t-bar near each anchor end with a BFH will help too. Last resort assuming you are installing new t-bars have them flame cut off. Then you'll be able to pound the t-bar ends out of the sockets. Be sure to get as much of the rust off the inside of the t-bar anchors as you can and moly grease them or anti-seize both outer and inner splines...just in case you want to remove those at a later date.

I assume you've removed the rear anchor arm adjusting bolt?

And no: You don't need to remove the anti-sway bar.

 

[mechanixhorseman]

It's hard to tell from your picture, but is the jack stand on the A arm? As long as your suspension is fully relaxed this shouldn't be an issue.

I am 100 percent certain, you do NOT need to remove the stabilizers to do this. I'll go take another look at mine again to see if I can figure out why you're having this problem.

 

[atlgapdo]

yes, I did remove (or loosen almost all the way, to be exact) the anchor arm bolt in the rear and the jack stand is on the cross-bar, not the control arms.

I had been able to slide the torque arm almost 80% out but could not get it out of the bolt studs without hitting the stabilizer bar. Based on what you both have said, I will try to it again tomorrow to see if I can get it off. thanks, guys.

 

[mechanixhorseman]

Alright. So I think I've got the gist of the problem you're having.

Assuming you have zero spring load, remove the bottom two bolts from the torque arm. All the way out.

Next you will need to mark your index (using whatever method you choose, I prefer to count threads on the anchor arm adjusting bolt). Obviously if you're re-indexing you're not going to index back to the same point but you need this as reference point to adjust from.

Once you've done that, loosen and disconnect the adjuster bolt. You'll be cranking on the wrench for a pretty good while. Careful not to get hit in the face by the anchor arm swivel it connects to, it weighs a couple pounds and will definitely leave a mark. I'm assuming this is the step you skipped and are trying to force your way through.

Now you will remove the torsion bar spring from the anchor arm. To do this, I would suggest using a brass mallet and lots of pb blaster, but you can also whack it off the hole in the frame the spring travels through if you're pressed for tools and are feeling daring.

Once you've got the anchor arm off the bar your can remove the bar from the vehicle through that same hole in the frame with the torque arm still attached. (yes you will probably need to remove the whole bar from the vehicle to get that torque arm off).

Once you've got the torque arm off the bar, clean the splines very well. You want it to be able to slide back on pretty easily after you've re-installed the torsion bar through the frame.

Complete those steps in reverse making sure to re-index the anchor arm where you want it before attaching the torque arm to the splines at the front end of the bar.

Hopefully that fixes you up.

 

[anthonycds]

Let's hope your torsion bar isn't seized into the torque arm from rust like mine was. I think I'm still the only one that has cut the torsion bar in half with a grinder. Once the anchor arm with a 1/4 of the TB still in it came free, I had to apply enough heat and a BFH to finally get them apart.

Once you get em free, make sure to clean and grease the splints really good.

Goodluck

 

[Nottajeep]

I gotta say this was the biggest task in putting on the OME lift. My truck is a 99 with a TX life and the SOB still was a beach to remove. I had a good local cruiser shop install the lift and they struggled getting the t bars out. I believe they dropped the front control arms for the t bars.

I don't think they used heat but did use a good dose of PB Blaster. Rear shocks are also a MF'er, but that's already a consensus on this site anyway.

 

[atlgapdo]

making sure to re-index the anchor arm where you want it before attaching the torque arm to the splines at the front end of the bar.

Hopefully that fixes you up.

Can you tell me how exactly to accomplish what I have highlighted above?

If you have re-indexed your t-bars, can you describe to me how exactly you did it? I have been reading many posts and instructions and am still not very clear on how exactly one should be doing it. I was removing things methodically so I could see clearly what needs to be done.

I just replaced the shocks and springs and as the result, the front is much lower than the rear. Cranking up the torsion bar did not raise the front enough for me. That's why I need it to re-index the t-bars.

I had loosen the anchor arm adjusting Bolt almost all the way and just re-attached about 1/8" of it back into the anchor arm swivel. Then I tried to slide the torque arm of the front end and that's where I got stuck with the stabilizer arm. May be I will try it again tomorrow to see if I can slide it off.

Do I need to take out the torsion bar completely and put it back in to re-index it or is it just a matter of twisting and turning it against the anchor arm in the rear to give me more room to raise the front end up? That's how I got it from some of the instructions found here.

 

[mechanixhorseman]

Can you tell me how exactly to accomplish what I have highlighted above?

If you have re-indexed your t-bars, can you describe to me how exactly you did it? I have been reading many posts and instructions and am still not very clear on how exactly one should be doing it. I was removing things methodically so I could see clearly what needs to be done.

I just replaced the shocks and springs and as the result, the front is much lower than the rear. Cranking up the torsion bar did not raise the front enough for me. That's why I need it to re-index the t-bars.

I had loosen the anchor arm adjusting Bolt almost all the way and just re-attached about 1/8" of it back into the anchor arm swivel. Then I tried to slide the torque arm of the front end and that's where I got stuck with the stabilizer arm. May be I will try it again tomorrow to see if I can slide it off.

Do I need to take out the torsion bar completely and put it back in to re-index it or is it just a matter of twisting and turning it against the anchor arm in the rear to give me more room to raise the front end up? That's how I got it from some of the instructions found here.

The main objective of re-indexing your bars is to have more threads on that bolt to crank down on. As I said, I like to count the remaining threads between the arm and bolt head, using the top of my fingernail. Some people measure their index by marking the anchor arms position in relation to the frame. Hopefully you made some sort of measurement before removing the anchor arm adjusting bolt, otherwise you will be hard pressed to tell if you've re-indexed to a more optimal position (that would allow you to crank the torsion bar springs to a higher tension).

In order to re-index, the position of the bar needs to rotate within the torque arm. Obviously, to do so you must separate the splines of the torque arm and the bar.

Again, you will need to remove your adjuster bolt COMPLETELY to remove the bar, torque arm, etc.

So you've got everything disconnected now. To re-index you will replace the bar into the frame and anchor arm and re-insert the bolt. Lets say your original measurement left you 8 threads on the bolt exposed, and your goal is to get more height out of the bars, you would now want to screw the bolt back into the anchor arm with the torsion bar inserted until you have maybe 10-12 threads exposed(ie more left to screw in left over). Once you have made your adjustment on that end you will replace the torque arm on the splines of the other end of the bar so that the arm can re-attach to the frame with very minimal turning of the adjuster bolt.

Re-install the two bolts that attach the torque arm, and you're ready to begin measuring your ride level and adjusting your height. Hopefully with the extra 2-4 threads worth on that bolt you will have the room to crank to the height you like. If not do the whole thing over and add a few more threads. Just be careful not to over crank on the stock bars. I don't think you should safely be able to get more than 2" of lift out of the stock bars, but someone else can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[2000UZJ]

You can run any amount of lift with stock torsion bars. It's "will it handle well" is the question.

I have stock torsion bars with 140K. Heavy ass ARB on the front, sliders, no sway bar and it's quite exciting.

 

[overhanger]

One word: air hammer. Okay, that's two words, but if you have one, use it judiciously instead of a BFH and you may have better results separating the torque and anchor arms from the torsion bars. Sure worked for me, anyway.

 

[atlgapdo]

Thanks everyone for your input, especially Mechanixhorseman, for the clear instruction on how to re-index.

I have been able to accomplish what I set out to do and it turned out to be much easier than I thought. I have to admit, I had to really take things apart and screw up the first time around to really understand what you and others have described the process ... I got it right on the second time around.

My front end is now close to where I want it to be and I still have quite a bit of threads left to crank. The thing is that it's getting too tough to crank the adjusting bolts now (with the tires off the ground). I know we should not be cranking the bolts too hard but how hard is too hard? Should I get a bigger cheater bar to crank the bolt if I need to?

 

[mechanixhorseman]

Thanks everyone for your input, especially Mechanixhorseman, for the clear instruction on how to re-index.

I have been able to accomplish what I set out to do and it turned out to be much easier than I thought. I have to admit, I had to really take things apart and screw up the first time around to really understand what you and others have described the process ... I got it right on the second time around.

My front end is now close to where I want it to be and I still have quite a bit of threads left to crank. The thing is that it's getting too tough to crank the adjusting bolts now (with the tires off the ground). I know we should not be cranking the bolts too hard but how hard is too hard? Should I get a bigger cheater bar to crank the bolt if I need to?

Glad to help, there was definitely a learning curve for me too. Hopefully others will benefit in the future as well.

As far as cranking on your bars goes, I don't have much experience cranking on the OEM bars, but any upgraded t bars are going to be more difficult to adjust. I ended up using a 2 ft breaker bar to get mine set up how I wanted them, and even that was a PITA.

 

[hoser]

atlgapdo, do you plan on continuing to use those AHC t-bars?