lowering front suspension

[timetraveller]

hi everyone
im new to the forum and this post has probably been done a thousand times however what is the easiest way to drop the front suspension 1 1/4 inches on my recently purchased traveller ??
i know to twist the torsion bars but how exactly is it done ??
if i undo the crossmember bolt then what ??
how do i turn it a spline ??
how do i know i turned it 1 spline and not more??
any help will be appreciated preferably with pictures as im crap at deciphering written explanations
thanks
neil

[mike.perry]

Strip the lower arms of the front suspension and move the rear lower arm up one spline on the torsion bar which will lower the suspension 1 1/4 in. If you do not know how to strip the suspension please ask as it is under load. The correct height should be so that you can fit your hand vertically between the top of the tyre and the bottom of the front wing. (with normal size tyres)

[bmcecosse]

Why lower it ? Dropping it that amount will probably start the bump stops being mashed through the front wings

[hotrodder13]

bin there done that, looks good but it does make a mess of your inner wings !!

[charlie_morris_minor]

been there done that, do not care how it looks.. did not make a mess of my inner wings as i fitted uprated torsion bars and cut a bit off the rebound stops.

difficult to say if it improved the handling as it was one of several mods i did at the same time and the overall effect was a great improvement.

[timetraveller]

thanks to all the 77 (and counting) people that viewed this post (and the people who replied)
but with the utmost respect to all.....i am no wiser as how to achieve this
what is the best way to strip the suspension ??
how do i move the rear lower arm up ??
how do know if its moved 1 spline ??
laymans terms only please folks ive never messed with a minor before...(should have struts/coils fitted in my opinion:roll: )
thanks
neil

[charlie_morris_minor]

where in the country do you live if you are close to aldershot you are more than welcome to come and have a look at my car as i have just put the front suspension back together so everything is clean and i can point the parts out to you?

it is not an easy job to describe.. have you read the haynes manual / workshop manual as it is fully described in both of them?

and how do you move it, you need to take it apart completely i.e. remove the torsion bar.

before you take the rear part of the suspension apart scrape a thin sharp mark on both parts so you can see when you reassemble it that you have only moved it one spline not two.

[bmcecosse]

Do you have a workshop manual ? The front suspension is detailed therein. Raise the car so the suspension is 'just' sitting on the rebound stops. Then it's just a case of supporting the front suspension on one side with a jack under the rear half of the lower suspension arm, not strictly necessary to remove the wheel - but for a first time probably better to do so, undo the nuts (and one bolt) securing the two halves of the lower arm together, knock the rear half of the arm back sightly on the support until it disengages with the king pin lower trunnion and the tie-bar bolt - then lower the jack. Now knock the arm back along the torsion bar splines until it just clears the splines - move it up one spline and re-engage it on the splines - then knock it forward again and adjust the car height until it re-engages the lower trunnion and tiebar bolt - and replace the nuts/bolt you took off at the start! I used to do this - at the side of the road, usually in the dark, at the start of rallies. Except - I was raising the car because of news of rough roads ahead! It's a mistake to lower the car so there is no suspension movement..........