Apologies – I can see that my wording has caused some confusion so I will try again to be more clear.
No – the torsion bar adjusters are not
“used to set the correct height (19. 75 front and 20.50)”.
The torsion adjusters are used to do only two very separate things in a vehicle with AHC suspension:
- Cross-levelling
- Adjusting front AHC pressure
The aim of so-called
‘Cross-levelling’ in Step 1 using the torsion bar adjusters is
only to get the same load carried by RHS torsion bar and LHS torsion bar. It is not to set the height of the vehicle. The principle here is that torsion bars behave like springs. To get the same load, we want the same deflection or movement on both the RHS side of the vehicle and the LHS of the vehicle, without any involvement of the AHC system. This is why this is done with engine and AHC turned “OFF” in this Step. We assume that the RHS torsion bar and LHS torsion bar are the same product, same specification and not defective. Then if the front hub-to-fender distance on the RHS and LHS are the same, we can conclude that the RHS torsion bar and the LHS torsion bar are carrying the same load. It is only important in Step 1 that the RHS front hub-to-fender distance and the LHS front hub-to-fender distance are
equal. The actual distances do not matter in this Step. Do not worry about 19. 75 front and 20.50 rear in this Step – it is not relevant in Step 1. Those numbers are the specifications which are only relevant when the engine and AHC are switched “ON” and running. That comes later, not in Step 1. Achieving
“19. 75 front and 20.50 rear” is
never done with the torsion bar adjusters.
It is important to have the torsion bars carrying the same loads because
- the Right and Left sides of the vehicle must be in balance so that the vehicle does not behave differently when turning left and right, and,
- so that the operating heights can be set correctly in the later Steps.
When ‘cross-levelling’ complete, then we think about correct heights. We switch “ON” the engine and also make sure that the AHC is switched “ON” and operating. The AHC Electronic Control Unit (ECU) will now receive information from the Height Control Sensors at Front Left, Front Right and Rear. These Sensors will determine the actual heights. Probably the heights will not be correct. We now wish
“to set the correct height (19. 75 front and 20.50 rear)” on the RHS and LHS of the vehicle.
We definitely do not do this with the torsion bar adjusters because that would change the loads carried by the torsion bars and make them unequal. That would destroy the effort already made in Step 1. So we “
set the correct heights (19. 75 front and 20.50 rear)” using the adjusters at the Height Control Sensors, starting at the Front LHS and RHS and then at the Rear.
After “
setting the correct heights (19. 75 front and 20.50 rear)” using only the adjusters at the Height Control Sensors (not torsion bar adjusters), then it is time to consider Front and Rear AHC pressures.
The front AHC pressure is adjusted using the torsion bar adjusters. Note that this will not change the operating heights because the heights are set by the Height Control Sensors when the engine and AHC are running and these already have been adjusted.
In your case, you mention that you have
“high 7s low 8 (Mpa) at front”. This may be different when you have set the correct heights as previously discussed – so the AHC pressures should be measured again before going further. If the pressures really are so high even at the corrects heights (maybe due to other loads, 'armour', or equipment on the vehicle?), then you need to get down to the lower part of the FSM-specified range for front pressure of 6.4Mpa to 7.4Mpa. Usually, one full turn on both torsion bar adjusters in the same direction makes a change of about 0.2Mpa, so you will need to do at least 5 turns, probably more like 8 turns.
After such a big change, you should again re-check the ‘cross-levelling’ (with engine and AHC “OFF”) and the correct operating heights (with the engine and AHC “ON”), in case something has been disturbed.
Hope this is more clear.
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