Torsion Bars

Post by **croft** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:39 pm

Hi all, after a bit of a cock a doodle diddley-up at the sandblasers, I now have two identical looking torsion bars! All the manuals say to keep them sided? I now have no way of knowing which side was which! Is it critical to keep them on there original side or can I just put them on any side and not worry? Thanks in advance Croft

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:45 pm

Yes - you really should keep them same side - but it seems you now have no choice but to stick them on and hope for the best! Risk is - they make break. I'm not entirely sure blasting these was a great idea anyway - may just cause stress raisers on the surface .

Post by **croft** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:08 pm

Hmmm, would there be much of a differance between sides? I did take some measurements, more for the suspension height but might be able to sort sides out from these, I will check these out when I find them!! The bars themselves where covered with lots underseal and rust, hence the reason for the sandblasting.

linearaudio · Post by **linearaudio** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:03 pm

I agree with Mr Ecosse. Maybe bead blasting would tame down the surface?

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:13 pm

Well - shotblasting is used to toughen up items such as con-rods, but the forces in a bead blast machine (usually using shattered glass particles) will be nowhere near strong enough to do that!

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:13 am

The torsion bars were made so they yield before the break. If you use them the opposite way round you'll strain them the other way which may add some work hardening but I'd be surprised if you can notice any difference.
If your top bump stops are in place, then you greatly reduce the risk of getting high stresses in the torsion bars anyway.

I'm not sure if I ever mixed the bars up on any of mine (I know I try not to as it's not good practise) but wouldn't be the biggest worry I've seen on torsion bars.

[the biggest worry I've seen on torsion bars is where people have reversed the m/c bolts and then unwittingly ended up with 2 deep grooves in the side of the torsion bar!!]

Post by **bmcecosse** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:14 am

At least the grooves will indicate which side the bar came off!

Post by **MoggyTech** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:49 am

If you very carefully inspect the torsion bars, you might just find some 'witness marks' where someone has levered them down to change the master cylinder. So if you find scuff marks that are level with the master cylinder bolts, that's the drivers side torsion bar.

As Ray states above, if you have top bump stops in good order, it would be unlikely for a torsion bar to break, even if from the wrong side of the car.

Post by **Mogwai** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:21 pm

There may be some marks on the splines which could indicate which way they were twisted.
failing that theres a 50/50 chance of getting it right