early a body torsion bar ?

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The bar should **** the LCA toward the ground so when the cars suspension is loaded it is putting tension on the bar. It will naturally want to install and hang in a very downward position and will take a bit of force to lift it and the spindle up to meet the hanging UCA, ie. with a floor jack. There are 6 hexes so you can get the bar in 60 degrees 'out' and have the LCA almost stick straight out, this position will not support the front end and it will lower all the way to the stops. You should not have to loosen the adjusters.
so what is the proper way to do it, thanks for any help
 
If you keep the spindle and brakes on the LCA and let it droop disconnected from the UCA, there should be enough weight on the LCA to **** the torsion bar socket down far enough to where the bar will slip right in or tap in from the rear depending on how rusty the sockets are. I don't know the 'proper way' to do it, only what works.
 
If you keep the spindle and brakes on the LCA and let it droop disconnected from the UCA, there should be enough weight on the LCA to **** the torsion bar socket down far enough to where the bar will slip right in or tap in from the rear depending on how rusty the sockets are. I don't know the 'proper way' to do it, only what works.
ok thanks.....i just dont know how far to let it droop down...before i put the bar in...thanks
 
If you keep the spindle and brakes on the LCA and let it droop disconnected from the UCA, there should be enough weight on the LCA to **** the torsion bar socket down far enough to where the bar will slip right in or tap in from the rear depending on how rusty the sockets are. I don't know the 'proper way' to do it, only what works.
how far do i need to bring the lca down before i try to slide the bar in?
 
as far as you can get them like pointing at your feet sitting there. The moveable hex in the LCA as to line up with the stationary torsion bar hex. Once it slips in, its gonna look strange as it will naturally point the LCA to the ground at about a 45 angle off horizontal.
 
as far as you can get them like pointing at your feet sitting there. The moveable hex in the LCA as to line up with the stationary torsion bar hex. Once it slips in, its gonna look strange as it will naturally point the LCA to the ground at about a 45 angle off horizontal.
what about the adjusting bolt where should it be? all the way out or ? thanks
 
The adjuster is usually pretty far out, maybe 1.5 inches showing? Te farther out it is, the lower the front suspension will sit, you can screw them in to raise the front suspension to spec. Usually the driver side is a smidge 'tighter' to compensate for driver weight. 1st pic looks pretty stock , 2nd pic would be loosened to lower front end. The whole front suspension rests on these 3/4 hex bolt struts! Picture the torsion bar socket attached to the thin metal between the LC stampings, they are seperate and can rotate independently. The adjuster hits the torsion bar socket strut (red portion in pic 3) and the square metal 'nut' holds the LCA. If your adjusters are removed then the socket may not move with the LCA as its bolted through to the K member as shown in pic 3. you can loosen this bolt and the whole socket will move freely. Remember to tighten this bolt once at ride height!
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The adjuster is usually pretty far out, maybe 1.5 inches showing? Te farther out it is, the lower the front suspension will sit, you can screw them in to raise the front suspension to spec. Usually the driver side is a smidge 'tighter' to compensate for driver weight. 1st pic looks pretty stock , 2nd pic would be loosened to lower front end. The whole front suspension rests on these 3/4 hex bolt struts! Picture the torsion bar socket attached to the thin metal between the LC stampings, they are seperate and can rotate independently. The adjuster hits the torsion bar socket strut (red portion in pic 3) and the square metal 'nut' holds the LCA. If your adjusters are removed then the socket may not move with the LCA as its bolted through to the K member as shown in pic 3. you can loosen this bolt and the whole socket will move freely. Remember to tighten this bolt once at ride height!
View attachment 1715639205View attachment 1715639206View attachment 1715639207
so i can put the bolt out like the second pic, drop the lca down pointing to the floor, then install the bar in the socket and use a jack to raise the ica up to uca and finish the install?
 
remember that the LCA will rotate down independent of the socket as they are not connected, loosen the socket bolt in front of the K member to rotate that socket if you can't get socket to align. It will usually align with a little force with every thing hooked up but yours may be different.
 
this thing is kicking my butt...i re did both sides,. let the jack down.....no go could not even get the jack out from under the k frame.... ok, heres what i did, i took the bolts out of the uca that let everything fall down with the lca pointed to the floor, slid the bar in, it went in with no issue. used the jack to jack up the lca to get the uca back in place installed the bolts in the uca, put the wheels on let it down no go....this cant be this hard,lol,,,
 
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Sounds like your repeatedly putting the Bar into the same position in the hex.
Mark the spot on the hex with paint or something, and get the bar into the next tighter position on the hex that isn't marked yet.
With the LCA pointed down, then grab onto the hex with a pipe wrench or something and turn it down also. Just because you've pointed
the Lca down doesn't mean that your going into the next position on the hex. You must turn the hex to get the bar in the correct position.
 
Sounds like your repeatedly putting the Bar into the same position in the hex.
Mark the spot on the hex with paint or something, and get the bar into the next tighter position on the hex that isn't marked yet.
With the LCA pointed down, then grab onto the hex with a pipe wrench or something and turn it down also. Just because you've pointed
the Lca down doesn't mean that your going into the next position on the hex. You must turn the hex to get the bar in the correct position.
guess i can try that....how much tighter one hex two or ?....i was told by a friend that he has just loosen up the adjuster took the weight off of the front end, the just pulled the bars out and put in other bars adjusted it up some,and set it down and set the ride hight...no problem
 
this thing is kicking my butt...i re did both sides,. let the jack down.....no go could not even get the jack out from under the k frame.... ok, heres what i did, i took the bolts out of the uca that let everything fall down with the lca pointed to the floor, slid the bar in, it went in with no issue. used the jack to jack up the lca to get the uca back in place installed the bolts in the uca, put the wheels on let it down no go....this cant be this hard,lol,,,
Are you disconnecting the upper control arm from the spindle? Did you loosen the nut that holds the lower control arm in the k-member? This is what I've had to do a couple times.
 
let me see if this is correct, on a working suspension, if you jack it up under the k frame,and support the car behind the front wheels on the frame, let the suspension hang, the mark or count the torsion bar adjusting bolt, then loosen the torsion bar adjuster bolt to let off and tension on the torsion bar. then remove the clip from the rear of the cross member where the rear of the torsion bar is. then pull the bar out of the lca socket using a suitable tool if needed, back enough to get the lca out if need be, then reverse the procedure, let it down check the ride height......does this sound right?
 
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When reinstalling the torsion bar, I've had to disconnect the spindle to let the LCA droop a tad more so the bar slides in easier. Someone has already mentioned that above though. If you're having that much trouble, you could always unbolt the LCA stud from the k-member to allow it to drop more, even though you shouldn't have to. If you do that and it's got a rubber bushing, just make sure you don't tighten it back up until it's back in a neutral position (ride height).

Are you sure the torsion bars are oriented properly? Are they new, or used? Maybe someone installed them wrong before and introduced some twist in them that's messing you up??? Just brainstorming here.

Lastly, for complete step-by-step instructions, I'd recommend grabbing a factory service manual. It'll have very detailed instructions on how to install torsion bars and you can download it for free.
 
When reinstalling the torsion bar, I've had to disconnect the spindle to let the LCA droop a tad more so the bar slides in easier. Someone has already mentioned that above though. If you're having that much trouble, you could always unbolt the LCA stud from the k-member to allow it to drop more, even though you shouldn't have to. If you do that and it's got a rubber bushing, just make sure you don't tighten it back up until it's back in a neutral position (ride height).

Are you sure the torsion bars are oriented properly? Are they new, or used? Maybe someone installed them wrong before and introduced some twist in them that's messing you up??? Just brainstorming here.

Lastly, for complete step-by-step instructions, I'd recommend grabbing a factory service manual. It'll have very detailed instructions on how to install torsion bars and you can download it for free.
all I did was slide them back to get the lca out for rebuild, they ate the factory one for the /6 ...they held up the 440 before the sus rebuild...i have pulled the bolts from the uca and let it hang the lca almost points to the floor....i have no problem getting the bar to slide into the sockets with the adjusters loose, I have never had any issues getting the bars in
...its like now they won't hold the weight...
 
i have no problem getting the bar to slide into the sockets with the adjusters loose, I have never had any issues getting the bars in
...its like now they won't hold the weight...

I'm not sure what you mean by this. "Won't hold the weight?" Post a couple photos of the actual issue you're having.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by this. "Won't hold the weight?" Post a couple photos of the actual issue you're having.
after I get everything together and tighten up the adjusters close to where they were originally...i let the car down and it sets all the way down....i can't hardly get the jack out from under the kmember...
 
Are there any threads left on the adjusting bolts? If so, keep snugging them up. Photos would help a lot.
 
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