Accurate way of setting torsion bars.

Dont forget by playing with torsion bar hieght you also change your camber wheel alighnment settings. By winding them up you effect negative camber which leads to poor road holding and understeer. Torsion bars are a Pr*&ck of an idea and after the spectacular faulure of the Valiant front suspension (if you got 10,000k out of the front tyres you were ahead) I cant believe they are still used. The last vehicle i drove with them was a 1978 Nissan van

Hi Dan

make sure the wheels are offf the ground when doing it and I would wind then up a little and then make small adjustments up, not wind them right up and then back off. It is fiddley but just take your time, you will have to lift the 4wd up and down a bit.

Ads

Each bar may have settled or lost some spring tension differently, so trying to work from a common mark such as fully wound may not work.

If you want to lift the right side, try say 2 turns, bounce the car a couple of times and see where it settles.

It is a trial and error job.

At least where they are now you have some idea of the ide height on each side, and the relationship one ot the other. You will loose that starting from fully wound :-)

In regard to torsion bars, I like them.

After all a coil spring is just a torsion bar wound helically, but you can only adjust a coil by replacing them!
I have 2 cars with torsion bars, the front of the pajero and the rear of the beetle.
The beetle has 40 splines one end and 42 the other, you have to count splines which is even more fun, each spline being 9 or 8.6 degrees.
The front of the pajero is like yours, bolt adjustment at one end, a lot easier.
Wish the pajero had the 9" of suspension travel the beetle has though, and a little bit if a play on the rear fo the beetle adjusting stops and I can get 12".

Dan,

It's trial and error with adjusting them. I found with my Rodeo I would adjust them bounce the front end up and down 1/2 doz times and adjust again until I got both sides approx level. Also use a tape to measure the height from the guard to the hub and when you're within 10mm then that's close enough. Go for a drive and then remeasure and adjust the torsion bars again if need be. But don't get too greedy and lift the front too high as you will end up with no downward wheel travel!!

Leroy

We adjust the bars on our wheel alignment ramps that way we can go straight
onto the aligner with it.
I would suggest you adjust the right side up about 10mm higher than the left side to accomodate for a driver that is in it all the time.
Measure between the center of the hub and the wheel arch.
Regards
120scruiser

Dan

This may help???? www.offroad.com/toyota/tech/torsion
while this site refers to Hilux, you might get some help here.

Andy

Jack the basted up so both front wheels are hanging free, Equal amount of turns on both torsion bar adjuster bolts (I think I did 6 turns on mine) plus a bit more for the drivers side.

Then drop it down drive around the block and check the height and re-adjust if necessary also look at the angle on the CV’s and make sure you are happy with it, and then take it down for a wheel aliment.

Dan,
I ve been through the process of what you are talking about, and assuming it is a 4X4,if you value your tyres, and dollars, take it to a GOOD mechanic with wheel alignment equipment and get it done professionally.

When you lift the front of the vehicle by winding up the bars, you also change the wheel camber , and to bring that into correct measurement, the mechanic will most likely have to remove(or add) some of the shims that are used to set the camber and castor which are held in place by the mounting bolts for the upper suspension arms.He might also have to adjust the tie rods for your toe in/out as it all gets affected, and the only way you can measure it properly is with a good alignment machine and a mechanic who knows how to do a GOOD job.
Dont waste your time with the Bob Jane/ Beaurepairs/type franchises as they will not spend the time to do it properly.
Depending on the year model you have , I could give you various measurements that I was given by Holden mechanics, like the height between the lower suspension arm and the rubber bump stop, or the measuremants from the manual, but they do not take into account the age of your torsion bars, or the relative sag on the right hand side from every mile your car has driven with a bum in the drivers seat.
If you are in Sydney I can give you the name of the workshop that did mine for me and finally got it right. they are used to working on race vehicles. Other wise, good luck.
"sails"

Dan, Measure from your guard to the top of your rim (with the car on level ground) screw the adjusting bolt up until the right side is equal to the left side, if you want to take the height up a bit just keep adjusting the bolts up evenly and measuring the guard to rim distance and taking the car for a drive around the block to settle the suspension, don’t go wild with the height and you shouldn’t have any problems..
Stew