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Torsion bars
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:37 pm
by pskipper
Hi,
I'm currently changing the master cylinder on my other halves daily drive and have discovered that the previous owner turned the bolts round resulting in a groove being sliced out of the torsion bar.
Rosie is currently off the road to be stripped down for a nuts and bolts restoration so I'm hoping that I can just swap Rosie's torsion bar to the other car?
Comments and reassurance please?
Philip
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:42 pm
by aupickup
should not be any problems but keep the drivers side to drivers side etc
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:43 pm
by bmcecosse
It would be better to swap the bar for an 'ungrooved' one - if doing so be sure to use one from SAME SIDE of car. However - the grooved bar hasn't snapped yet - so realistically - if it's only a small groove - it will probably be ok for many many years to come. Just trim the bolt so it doesn't make any further contact!
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:49 pm
by aupickup
snap
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:52 pm
by bmcecosse
Congrats on 4444 posts!
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:54 pm
by aupickup
who me
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:50 pm
by rayofleamington
Just trim the bolt so it doesn't make any further contact!
Or just learn the lesson that others have not - and fit the bolts as they were designed so that the very thin head will be clear of the torsion bar.
Sadly this reversed-bolt error is very common, and there's a lot of torsion bars in a poorly state out there. Maybe it helps to maintain the supply of new ones though!
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:56 pm
by mike.perry
Or fit a washer behind the bolt head. There should still be enough thread. I swapped my bolts around 25 years ago and the torsion bar is still there.
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:03 pm
by bmcecosse
My car too has swapped bolts - and non-grooved T bar. It's a perfectly good and sensible modification - provided care is taken to ensure the T bar is not rubbed by the bolt!
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:18 pm
by leyther8008
I must say the torsion bars on my van are well clear of the (reversed) bolts, and others I,ve seen are the same. Must have been an assembly tolerance thing that makes some cars more prone than others. Or the rear of the torsion bar isnt located corectly in the cross member with the 'C' washer.
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:13 pm
by pskipper
Turned out that the torsion bar wasn't damaged after all, the large strip of waxoil that ran along it was a gonner though! Still never mind, it gave me a chance to replace the bushes!
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:50 pm
by les
Just trim the bolt so it doesn't make any further contact!
Or heaven forbid, put them round the right way, all this talk of all bolt heads being thinner than nuts may well be true, but don't tell me they are all as thin as the m/c ones, because they are not They would not be made THAT thin for the hell of it.
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:06 pm
by d_harris
my feelings exactly. Its a job you don't have to do often, so why risk your safety so you can do a job 10 minutes quicker once every god knows how many miles......
(iit really does take less than 10 minutes extra work with the bolts the right way!)