Sway Away lift woes

[duggy]

I am having some serious issues with my sway away front torsion bars.

I installed them without much issue and indexed them correctly to obtain as much threads as possible to lift it as I needed (2"). I crank on the 30mm bolt until I get my desired height (~2" from hub to the top of the fender) and take it for a drive.

The problem is after I come back from the drive (~1 mile) and the truck will settle back down to stock height. I have repeated this cycle twice now without much success in getting the ride height to stay static. Has anybody else had this issue with the sway away or even the stock torsion bars?

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Bloomer]

I'm in the same situation. Installed OME torsion bars that I recently installed. Raised the front to 21.5 inches (center of hub to fender), drive a few miles, remeasured and it settled to 21 inches. Turned the adjustment bolt again and raised the front to 21.75 inches (same reference points), drove a few miles, remeasured and it settled to 21.25 inches. Hoping to hear some feedback on MUD to explain what's going on. I know the front end will settle some after adjusting the torsion bars but am concerned why it did twice for me.

 

[Supra88]

Don't even measure it until you go for a drive. Rule of thumb for me is about 1/4" lift/full turn.

1. Go for a drive
2. Measure fender height
3. Subtract height from desired height.
4. Divide this number by 1/4"
5. Turn the anchor arm adjustment bolt the value you have in #4.

Repeat as necessary.


Are you measuring droop? Make sure you have at least 50 mm, preferably 60 mm of droop.

Edit: I have OME torsion bars.

 

[pdxlc]

Was just reading in this thread that it will go back up after an alignment...check out page 3...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/491948-those-torsion-bar-questions-3.html

 

[Bloomer]

I had read previously that some lift would come back after alignment. I only read that in one place, so was hoping to get more feedback on that before doing anything else.

 

[duggy]

I had read previously that some lift would come back after alignment. I only read that in one place, so was hoping to get more feedback on that before doing anything else.

Roger. i also read that but am reluctant to get an alignment before i know this will resolve my issue

 

[duggy]

Any ideas from the day crowd? I still have a lot of threads to go but want to figure out why this keeps happening. Has this happened to anybody else except the few folks in this thread and the other thread?

 

[re_guderian]

Stupid question, but are your wheels straight when you're measuring? Put a dab of paint on the outside face of your bolt head. Is your adjusting bolt remaining in the same place? Seems like strange behavior...

 

[AimCOtaco]

I could see this happening for a cycle or two as the rubber deflects under the increased load and due to measurement variation but it should stabilize. Be sure to settle the suspension before measuring.

If you simply lift the front wheels off the ground and set them back down you will measure a lot of lift that is not there just due to wheel scrub. You really need to roll the vehicle forward and backward several times before measuring to settle it down. Sounds like you're driving it between adjustments which should more than do it.

If you think the T-bars were not heat treated correctly you could paint a straight line down the length of the T-bar while loaded and keep fine tuning. If your line twists and stays twisted that would indicate that the T-bar is twisting and not springing back. Seems un-likely but definitely possible. Might help to eliminate the bars as a cause at least.

 

[duggy]

Stupid question, but are your wheels straight when you're measuring? Put a dab of paint on the outside face of your bolt head. Is your adjusting bolt remaining in the same place? Seems like strange behavior...

The bolt is definitely moving

I could see this happening for a cycle or two as the rubber deflects under the increased load and due to measurement variation but it should stabilize. Be sure to settle the suspension before measuring.

If you simply lift the front wheels off the ground and set them back down you will measure a lot of lift that is not there just due to wheel scrub. You really need to roll the vehicle forward and backward several times before measuring to settle it down. Sounds like you're driving it between adjustments which should more than do it.

If you think the T-bars were not heat treated correctly you could paint a straight line down the length of the T-bar while loaded and keep fine tuning. If your line twists and stays twisted that would indicate that the T-bar is twisting and not springing back. Seems un-likely but definitely possible. Might help to eliminate the bars as a cause at least.

My process is this:

1) Measure the hub to fender distance from stock (19.5")
2) Jack truck up
3) Turn the Tbars ~8 turns
4) Lower truck
5) Measure hub to fender (21.5")
6) Take it for a drive
7) Come back with a 19.5" measurement again

I can definitely not take a measurement after turning the tbars. I have a lot of threads left, but am afraid that I will run out of threads if this keeps happening.

You mentioned that there is some rubber that can settle after I adjust the tbars. What rubber are you referring to? Could this be worn out and need replacement?

 

[AimCOtaco]

You need to drive before measuring it. The front end will always stand high when you lower the truck until you drive it to settle it. The rubber I referred to would be the upper and lower control arm bushings but they should not keep moving either.

As a test try:
1. measure.
2. Lift.
3. Crank both adjustment bolts 3 full turns (clockwise/tighten).
4. Lower
5. Drive around, swerve, hit stuff.
6. re-measure.

If you do run out of adjustment you will need to re-index the T-Bars (which should be a piece of cake if you just installed them).

Also, when sitting static are you sure the T-bars are supporting the truck and it's not sitting on the bump stops? If it's been sitting on the bumps you have a long way to adjust yet.

 

[Supra88]

The bolt is definitely moving

My process is this:

1) Measure the hub to fender distance from stock (19.5")
2) Jack truck up
3) Turn the Tbars ~8 turns
4) Lower truck
5) Measure hub to fender (21.5")
6) Take it for a drive
7) Come back with a 19.5" measurement again

Something is screwed up here. What happens if you turn the adjustment bolt 8 full turns CCW to the original position? Is it lower than 19.5"? I hope not - this could be an issue with steel tensile strength/heat treatment.

Anyone else running Sway Aways?

 

[duggy]

This has been resolved after cranking the Tbars 4 more complete turns and getting an alignment. I guess the caster does affect lift height?