View Full Version : Stuck torsion bars
This is my first time doing it and I just cant get them out ! I dont have a slide hammer, i am not sure where to get one from.
I have been following this guide : http://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthread.php?t=4516 and i bought the bits in the picture in stainless steel and followed the instructions. They just wont shift, either of them and i have ended up snapping both M10 bolts !
I have to get them out somehow and raise the car as it has been set very wrong by the previous owner :(
Both ends have been saturated in WD40 outside and inside and on the link block.
Is it possible that the bars have been forced in on the wrong splines ?
Is it common for them to be this stuck to the point that it snaps stainless fixings?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
trouble is stainless fixings aren't the best choice, you really should be using high tensile bolts if they are stuck fast... Sometimes they just wont budge. I once had to remove the rear beam and get some heat and a lump hammer on it to get them to budge!
Thankyou for the reply, i hope it doesnt come to the point where i have to do that :(
I best try and get hold of some high tensile M10 bolts and nuts then.
I suppose that i would have no chance with a slide hammer if i cant shift them this way?
Is this something i could pay a garage to do or would they turn me away?
scott 5gtt
12-04-2011, 22:07
I had the same problem mate so i made my own slide hammer out of some steel tube with a larger tube over the top and a stopper at the end with a vr6 bottom end bolt welded to it as that was the highest rmtenstile bolt i had lying around. Torsion bars came out 2nd clout mind the slide hammer was massive haha
I had the same problem mate so i made my own slide hammer out of some steel tube with a larger tube over the top and a stopper at the end with a vr6 bottom end bolt welded to it as that was the highest rmtenstile bolt i had lying around. Torsion bars came out 2nd clout mind the slide hammer was massive haha
:agree: Only way if stuck smack them both out one side
youngscottie
12-04-2011, 22:12
scratch the slide hammer
get a decent mild steel punch and hammer the bars straight through from one side
works a treat
I had the same problem mate so i made my own slide hammer out of some steel tube with a larger tube over the top and a stopper at the end with a vr6 bottom end bolt welded to it as that was the highest rmtenstile bolt i had lying around. Torsion bars came out 2nd clout mind the slide hammer was massive haha
Thankyou for the reply and advice mate :agree: I will definately look into it :)
:agree: Only way if stuck smack them both out one side
They can both come out one side ?!
scratch the slide hammer
get a decent mild steel punch and hammer the bars straight through from one side
works a treat
When you say 'mild steel punch', could you possibly link me to one thats for sale so that i can see what one looks like please ? :D
yep , i had this probelm and i hammered them both through one side using a sledge hammer and a metal bar, obviously be very carefull if you use a sledge as its pretty easy to miss and wipe your rear quarter out in one blow.. but yea you can knock them bout out one side.
They can both come out one side ?!
:agree: yeah had to do it on my neighbours 5 last year as his were rusted solid big feck of ht bolt through a spare socket piece smaller than the end of the torsion bar and smacked the **** out of it with a sledge hammer to get it out, was quite funny at the time as we did it pissed :laugh:, we did catch the rear quarter were it joins the outer sill a few times:eek: but hs car was a ****ter anyway
yep , i had this probelm and i hammered them both through one side using a sledge hammer and a metal bar, obviously be very carefull if you use a sledge as its pretty easy to miss and wipe your rear quarter out in one blow.. but yea you can knock them bout out one side.
Bloody hell i just had that side of the car painted lol.
So just smack a long metal bar all the way through to the other side and bang them both out ?
This is seriously useful advice :agree: Thankyou for your help :)
:agree: yeah had to do it on my neighbours 5 last year as his were rusted solid big feck of ht bolt through a spare socket piece smaller than the end of the torsion bar and smacked the **** out of it to get it out, was quite funny at the time as we did it pissed :laugh:, we did catch the rear quarter were it joins the outer sill a few times:eek: but hs car was a ****ter anyway
Would it be stable enough on axle stands to beat the **** out of, mine is on stands as shown in the guide listed above. Or is that a stupid question ? :D
:D Couple different ways to do it, just what i was looking for.
People on here always restore my faith in humanity. Thankyou :agree:
Would it be stable enough on axle stands to beat the **** out of, mine is on stands as shown in the guide listed above. Or is that a stupid question ? :D
:D Couple different ways to do it, just what i was looking for.
People on here always restore my faith in humanity. Thankyou :agree:
It may move a tad, we did it on a slope aswell almost came of stands a few times, basically one of us stood on one side of the car pushing it with :beer: in other hand whilst the other smacked the bars
It may move a tad, we did it on a slope aswell almost came of stands a few times, basically one of us stood on one side of the car pushing it with :beer: in other hand whilst the other smacked the bars
:agree:
get some beers down you an smash them bars out shaner!!!!! :D
I think you will get them out with some high tensile bolts, mine were solid to the point i sheered the threads of one bolt and snapped another trying to do it and bent a load of washers.
We used a slide hammer on my 16v clio that made the job so easy.
Just keep at it, once they shift a little they do come out, i coated mine in copper grease and they sail out now.
I wondered about knocking them through, they have a cover over the insides of them but i suppose it could be done.
Good luck
phil
:agree: yeah had to do it on my neighbours 5 last year as his were rusted solid big feck of ht bolt through a spare socket piece smaller than the end of the torsion bar and smacked the **** out of it with a sledge hammer to get it out, was quite funny at the time as we did it pissed :laugh:, we did catch the rear quarter were it joins the outer sill a few times:eek: but hs car was a ****ter anyway
Fecking hell james, im glad im up here in newcastle, if some local members had done that to mine i would have been ****ting myself, " ahh get out the way this will get the bestards out" :scared: :laugh:
Fecking hell james, im glad im up here in newcastle, if some local members had done that to mine i would have been ****ting myself, " ahh get out the way this will get the bestards out" :scared: :laugh:
:laugh: Yours is a very nice 5 matey wouldn't have done it that way, my neighbiours was a **** box sill was falling off anyway, bodywork was various shades of red, orange, pink:laugh:
my own 5 is very easy to move them out have them nicely copper greased up and they slide in and out nicely without any problems
Another thing, WD40 isn't penetrating fluid so get some of that and spray it.
Another thing, WD40 isn't penetrating fluid so get some of that and spray it.
:agree:
I think you will get them out with some high tensile bolts, mine were solid to the point i sheered the threads of one bolt and snapped another trying to do it and bent a load of washers.
We used a slide hammer on my 16v clio that made the job so easy.
Just keep at it, once they shift a little they do come out, i coated mine in copper grease and they sail out now.
I wondered about knocking them through, they have a cover over the insides of them but i suppose it could be done.
Good luck
phil
Thankyou for the inspiration, i will certainly keep at it :-)
Another thing, WD40 isn't penetrating fluid so get some of that and spray it.
Thankyou for that :-) , could you possibly recommend a decent penetrating fluid for the job ?
Purple_rob
13-04-2011, 20:40
Just to add my two pence in here :). I found taht a slide hammer worked for me. I actually made it myself which consisted of a bolt welded on a shaft with a dumbell weight to slide (obviously a stopper attached). I could put as bit weight on it as necessary :).
Good luck with it!
Thankyou for that :-) , could you possibly recommend a decent penetrating fluid for the job ?
plusgas...:)
Tony Walker
13-04-2011, 21:45
When using the puller on the bars hit the arms/axle mounts while winding pressure with the tool, they'll allmost certainly move.
Purple_rob
13-04-2011, 21:49
When using the puller on the bars hit the arms/axle mounts while winding pressure with the tool, they'll allmost certainly move.
:agree:
Just to add my two pence in here :). I found taht a slide hammer worked for me. I actually made it myself which consisted of a bolt welded on a shaft with a dumbell weight to slide (obviously a stopper attached). I could put as bit weight on it as necessary :).
Good luck with it!
Thankyou :-)
When using the puller on the bars hit the arms/axle mounts while winding pressure with the tool, they'll allmost certainly move.
Nice, that sounds like a plan to me, i am a little worried that i may beat it off its axle stands lol, i'll stick a trolley jack under the beam :-)
Thanks for heads up as well J5, plusgas it is :-)
I didnt think i was gonna get this many replies at all ! I assume people can tell that i am struggling. RTOC love :-)
Tony Walker
13-04-2011, 22:41
lol you should only need to tap it with the pressure on, but if you really wanna knock it off its stands take a pic for me :agree: lol
The Baron
15-04-2011, 17:26
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
Good luck with this. We attempted it on Saturday as our car was far too low. It ended up being a bit of a nightmare. We had to take the whole rear back axle off to get access to our torsion bars (due to bodykit). The torsion bars did not have end caps so all the road crud had messed them up. Then to our horror we then found out someone had welded the end so it was not possible to get one of the torsion bars out. We also did not get the other torsion bar out due to too much road crud.
The only other option was to apply it with heat, but as we didn't have access to that we gave up and bought a whole new rear axle. £40 from a CGB Motorsport. A bit of a gamble but it looked higher than ours and it had cleaner torsion ends and caps.
New axle is now on car, but we're still waiting for new shocks before we know what we've got.
Halfords sell a Penetrant spray made by 3in1 we've used that a lot on our car recently and it appears to have done the job on most things.
Got the same issue here no cap on one side :cry:
Its solid when trying with the bolt,nut and spacer trick.
Next up is slide hammer if no joy then new rear axle :( all i want to do if lift it 1 spline :crap:
New poster! (less than 10 posts)
Good luck with this. We attempted it on Saturday as our car was far too low. It ended up being a bit of a nightmare. We had to take the whole rear back axle off to get access to our torsion bars (due to bodykit). The torsion bars did not have end caps so all the road crud had messed them up. Then to our horror we then found out someone had welded the end so it was not possible to get one of the torsion bars out. We also did not get the other torsion bar out due to too much road crud.
The only other option was to apply it with heat, but as we didn't have access to that we gave up and bought a whole new rear axle. £40 from a CGB Motorsport. A bit of a gamble but it looked higher than ours and it had cleaner torsion ends and caps.
New axle is now on car, but we're still waiting for new shocks before we know what we've got.
Halfords sell a Penetrant spray made by 3in1 we've used that a lot on our car recently and it appears to have done the job on most things.
You can drop the car without the struts on it will be the correct height, or very close.
phil
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