Real time help: Torsion bar removal

[KlausVanWinkle]

Anyone have any advice?

Background: this truck lived in the East Coast for awhile until I rescued it a little over a year ago. I'm trying to get the stock T-bars out to stick the OME t-bars in. I have the driver-side in but am having trouble indexing it correctly, but that's a separate issue.

What I've done so far: After struggling through 3 of the Torsion bar anchors/mounts, the last one (passenger side rear) will not budge. Liberal PB Blaster and a dead blow hammer got the other 3 off. The Driverside rear was stubborn but after letting the adjustment bolt arm hang down and beating it with a dead blow hammer while holding the bar with one hand, it finally slid off.

I've beaten the torsion bar and the mount with the dead blow hammer to no avail. I've soaked it in PB Blaster. I've torched it several times until it was too hot to touch. I've tried to cut it off with a sawzall, but that's just chewing up all my metal cutting blades. I have an angle grinder but that would take forever and I'd still have to get the torsion bar out of the socket.

I'm trying to get this done so I can get the bars adjusted and the alignment done in time to go on a trip this weekend. I didn't anticipate this being so difficult.

 

[3D FJ]

Are you able to dislodge the front mount of the t bar (I forget the proper name) off the lca? Or is that the problem?

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Are you able to dislodge the front mount of the t bar (I forget the proper name) off the lca? Or is that the problem?

Yes, that came off rather easily. Is the rear mount that's stuck.

 

[3D FJ]

What I did was to try and pull the t bar forward allowing the rear mount to knock against the housing of the mount. I was able to free mine this way. Probably not the best way to do it but mine was definitely not as difficult as yours sounds. I believe if it's this difficult to remove then it may be necessary to cut it and get a new rear piece. (once again, the proper term escapes me)

 

[Layonnn]

PB blaster and blows with the hammer to the rear part the TB attaches to were able to remove it. Took quite a few hits.

When you install the new ones, put a little bit of grease on them. It will ease them in and prevent rust.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

The only other things I can think of are using a metal bar as a chisel and hitting all around the mount. There doesn't seem to be a good way to pull the tbar forward other than by hand.

It seems like whoever designed the rear t bar mount and rear upper shock mount on these was an idiot.

Believe me, everything on the new tbar is coated in antiseize.

 

[Layonnn]

I agree, it is a difficult design to work on.

If you do cut it, you have the benefit of being able to work on it in a much better position.

 

[anthonycds]

Klaus, I say cut it. That's exactly what I had to do to my driver's side TB. Roughly 20 mins of angle grinder and it became 2 pieces. Once off of the truck, I still had to deal with separating the TB from the anchor arm. A lot of heat, PB blaster, and DO NOT hammer that anchor arm. I attached a big pipe wrench to the torsion bar and hammered that until it loosened from the anchor socket.

Here's a pic of how mine looked. Good luck!

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Although if I cut it, there is no going back until I get it out of the mount. Right now, I could just reattach everything if I needed to drive it.

Anyone think baking the mount in the oven would help break the corrosion?

 

[SanDiegoCruiser]

Adam, sounds like a nightmare you are dealing with here. Your experience has proven that it could be worth the $300 for a shop to install my Radflow's and OME T-Bars....

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Adam, sounds like a nightmare you are dealing with here. Your experience has proven that it could be worth the $300 for a shop to install my Radlows and OME T-Bars....

In retrospect, yes that would be worth it. I might have to cancel my trip to the Sierras this weekend if I can't fix this today or reinstall the OEM ones.

 

[APKhaos]

Impact is your friend. Any way you can rig a nice heavy slide hammer to the bar? If so, that will probably break it free.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Impact is your friend. Any way you can rig a nice heavy slide hammer to the bar? If so, that will probably break it free.

Yeah that would work, but there is no where to really attach one on the front torsion bar. If the front mount could somehow lock onto the front and of the torsion bar and hang down, then you could hit that and force the bar out of the rear mount. But the torsion bars are designed to slide through the front mount, so no luck there.

 

[3D FJ]

I don't understand. If you cut the t bar and can remove the anchor arm, how do you even try to remove the t bar then? It's so short that you have no leverage or anything substantial to grab on to.

 

[APKhaos]

I suspect it wont take much once you can actually deliver a couple of strikes in the right direction.
Try locking a large vicegrip onto the bar and tap on that with your hammer. The thing is to get the impact operating along the axis of the bar, of course.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I don't understand. If you cut the t bar and can remove the anchor arm, how do you even try to remove the t bar then? It's so short that you have no leverage or anything substantial to grab on to.

That's what I'm wondering too.

I could hit the front end of the torsion bar, forcing the rear end deeper into the rear anchor. Maybe that would help break the rust bond. Or maybe it'd make it worse.

I'm also going to try tightening everything back up (so at least I can move the truck if I need to) and hit the torsion bar and housing with the dead blow hammer. Right now, a lot of the impact is being wasted by the bar moving when I hit the anchor.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I suspect it wont take much once you can actually deliver a couple of strikes in the right direction.
Try locking a large vicegrip onto the bar and tap on that with your hammer. The thing is to get the impact operating along the axis of the bar, of course.

Actually that could work. The end of the torsion bar flares out some. If you could lock a clamp or something onto the skinner part of the torsion bar and hit it with the hammer, it'd act as a giant slide hammer.

 

[APKhaos]

Yep. Thats the plan. Once that tab is our you are on the glide path to your trip this weekend.

 

[APKhaos]

Bloody phone. Read "Once that tbar is out......"

 

[Layonnn]

I don't understand. If you cut the t bar and can remove the anchor arm, how do you even try to remove the t bar then? It's so short that you have no leverage or anything substantial to grab on to.

Place torsion bar side in a vise and tap on the anchor arm near the TB.
You have to hit the anchor arm near the TB so that the force on the anchor arm tries to slide it off the TB.