Torsion Bar Removal

[Kevin]

Due to the interesting noises coming from the front of the car while going over the local speed humps (I think they were supplied by Alton Towers) I decided to renew the front rubbers with poly bushes, to my amazment neither of my manuals mentions about marking the Torsion bar lever or the rear lower suspension arm before removal (although I did) I wonder how often the unsuspecting owner has done this and then had the fun of retrimming the ride height.
Anyway while dismantling everthing I was a little concerned at the way I was having to use muliple jacks (the car was on axle stands before you ask) to split the lower suspension arm while still under tension and I can see its going to be fun to put back when the new eyebolts arrive as the old ones were quite poor on the inner surfaces, has anyone got a foolproof or straightforward way of dismantling and reassembling this tensioned part with the front suspension arm

[Cam]

if you mark the torsion bar at both ends, together with the rear adjusting arm and the front (rear) wishbone arm (usually with the edge of a chisel) then lining up again is fairly easy.

On reassembly:

put the eyebolt & bushes in place and fit the rear wishbone arm together with the pivot pin through the eyebolt. then fit the torsion bar (under no tension). then start to jack the rear wishbone up until the hole in the front lines up with the lower trunnion pivot pin and slot it into the hole. Then put the front wishbone arm on and tighten all the nuts.

When dismantling do the reverse of the operation above, but jack up on the rear wishbone arm only. remove all the nuts and the front wishbone arm then knock the trunnion pivot pin out of the rear wishbone arm to free the stub axle. Then lower the jack, remove the torsion bar (after marking) and the rear wishbone arm and then remove the eyebolt. Also remove the eyebolt pivot pin from the rear wishbone arm if you are replacing that too (recommended).

Using this method you should only need one jack.

[fweddy]

My first experience with removing the front suspension unit was quite um - uninformed . I started with the damper, (not knowing that that was what it was). I'll leave it to you to imagine the result when the four bolts were taken of with the vehicle up on the jack.

Putting it back together after having taken a few others to bits I first put the torsion bar in - I hadn't marked the splined bits on the tail bit - but neither had I separated or moved them in the dismantling - putting it back in I simply slid the rear arm forward, put the tail end into the hole then slotted the front in moving it all forward again then slid the rear arm back into place.

The last connection in the set up I made was to attach the torsion bar to the lower end of the hub assembly bit (don't know if I'm using the right name for parts here). I simply jacked up the vehicle by the arm and had the weight sitting on it while I swung the hub bit into place and slid the bolt in, put the front peice in and the front stay - did up some of the bolts and lowered onto the axle stand which was just below the chassis.

Was all much easier than trying to reverse the inital removal process

tools - one jack - axle stand and nearly all your spanners.

[h_____]

Kevin,

It is not a pleasant job, I follow Cams method, which means that once you have the car on axle stands you can reuse your jack. However as you tension up the torsion bar when it goes back in, it lifts the chassis leg away from the axle stand it always makes me very nervous.

Also, putting the eye bolts back in is a PITA! I always end up being more brutal than I would like. But then taking them out always requires a lot of prying or use of a hammer

If you come up with any great ways of doing this please let us all know.

[Kevin]

Hugh,
That is exactly what my concern is over, when you tension the torsion bar by the rear arm everything moves especially the arm along the jack while being raised (I use a 2 1/4 ton trolley jack) and I thought that there must be a better method but maybe not.

[Kevin]

Having put one side back together using above mentioned method with new eyebolt & pivot pin as that had quite a shoulder worn into it I then find out that the tie bars are different on either side so new ones are on there way, but on the nearside I found the lower Trunion seals had turned to well a form of mushy rubber and that the Pivot pin was showing signs of wear so I have ordered a new Trunion and pin, my question is do I need to remove everything from the stub axle to enable the lower Trunion to be removed / fitted.
I also found that by positioning the axle stand about 6" - 9" behind the eyebolt on the chassis rail it enabled the torsion bar to be relocated without lifting of the stand, and I did not have the problems with the eyebolts that Hugh experienced (was I just lucky)

[Cam]

do I need to remove everything from the stub axle to enable the lower Trunion to be removed / fitted.

I would say that you have to remove the brake back plate to enable you to unscrew the lower trunnion. I can't actually remember though. I know I have to do it with disc brakes fitted, but I can't remember if I had to do it when mine was on drums. Have a look to see if there is enough room between the trunnion and the brake backplate to swivel it around. I suspect that there won't be. Oh and don't forget to remove the trunnion link pin before you start unscrewing, as it won't come off otherwise!

[les]

Yes Cam, unfortunately for Kevin the back plate has to come off with the drum brake set up.

[h_____]

Kevin,

pleased to hear you didnt have trouble, sounds like it went well, apart from all the extra parts needed. Did you put the slotted washer for the torsion bar on after you had it located at the eye bolt end? I guess that would give me an extra few mm of movement.



Cant think why else, mine was so hard on both sides!

[Kevin]

Finally found time to finish the job off and have one last PROBLEM when I try to refit the Tie Bars back in the suspension forks it is proving almost impossible to get the fixing bolt holes to line up with the new poly bushes. Behind the forks there is a 1/4" spacer can this be moved to the other side of the suspension arm as it would give a bit more clearance or do the spacers come in different sizes, has anyone encountered this before.

[Willie]

Kevin, the spacers should be to the FRONT of the suspension
arms, I have always had to fiddle around with a screwdriver
to get the bolts to go back into the yokes.

[Kevin]

Well its all back together, after new eyebolts, pivot pins new bushes and a lower trunnion and another pair of tie rods

Faults found
Both eyebolts had both started to become oval, both pivot pins showing wear (offside one had an 1/8"+ shoulder in it) previously someone had fitted poly bushes that were nicely marked.

Upper trunnion bushes offside just ok, nearside so badly worn that when removed one half of one was stuck/welded to the other.
Nearside lower trunion pin showing signs of wear and the rubbers were more like putty than rubber.

Tie bars different ones fitted either side and both sets of bushes the wrong way with the shoulders facing outwards instead of inwards.

Les was correct the backplate has to be removed to replace the lower Trunion although the brake pipes do not have to be removed.

Hugh`s eyebolt removal/fitting problem, I found that after removing the retaining nuts and tapping the torsion bar lever forward so that it was clear of the crossmember it gave resonable clearance for the eyebolt to be wiggled out, on refitting the lever was again left with clearance and the slotted washer was left off which gave enough clearance for the refitting, although Hugh had a concern over the washer it can be seen though the slot in the crossmember and can placed in the correct position without to much fiddling when the lever is pushed back.

Willie was correct about the spacers being left to the front of the suspension arms, if they are put to the rear it upsets the steering geometry (as advised by Minor Mania) as for the refitting of the tie bars they advised me that I had the 1 in 20 that are a right b***** to get back in with poly bushes and that if it is impossible they bushes will need to be trimed as they are thicker than the rubber ones, I then decided on a different approach to see if the tie bars were handed, they both looked and measured the same but I decided to try them on the opposite sides to where I had tried 1st time, Lo and behold offside still very tight but went together easier than the other arm, nearside where before I could not get within 1/4" it was almost there ( that includes using levers and screwdrivers ) just a fraction away so I just ran a drill through which removed about a hairs worth of metal and the bolt went home, this I decided was better than trying to trim the bushes, although to attempt this you do need to know what you are doing and not drill oversize.

So that`s that everything tightened up now just have to start the car to check the exhaust on the manifold and then take the car for a run to see how much of the clonking has gone, NOW why is the fuel pump clicking so much what can I smell, quick look under the bonnet reveals petrol so I switch off and check (it was alright 10days ago when last started) The diaphragm where it makes the seal between to the two halfs of the pump has decided to leak in a big way why had it gone home in such a big way a mate who I rang to see if he had a spare in case I cant get a new diaphragm and he said although its unusual for it to go so dramatically a lot of these type of problems are down to the modern petrols and the replacements are made from a higher quality neoprene than the originals, so another little job to do so I can make our Rally this weekend

Then after a few not so urgent jobs it will be engine time has anyone in my area ( Watford Herts ) got a 1275 Ital engine spare ?

[h_____]

Good job done kevin,

I have cursed and sworn over this one on several occasions, I had forgotten how bad the tie bars where too! I tool have had lots of trouble, levering with a screwdriver was the best I had come up with. Will note the torsion bar trick. Lets hope you dont have to do it again too soon.

[Kevin]

At our branch Rally yesterday I was talking to one of the mechanics about the tension involved when removing the torsion bar and how jacking up seemed to be a bit iffy and he said you either use the special BMC tool as shown in the manuals although he could not remember when he last saw one or you do it the traditional way which is to clamp a mole grip on the arm and this stops the jack moving, so I hope this is of use to the next one having to do this job