How To Re-Index Your Torsion Bars

[fenel]

8. Tap the anchors toward the rear of the truck until they come off the t-bars.

 

I am having a terrible time tapping the anchors off the t-bars. They are a bit rusty but nowhere near as bad as the one in the guide pic. Anyone else have this problem or any possible solutions to share?

 

Cheers

 

Fenel

 

95 SE

[TerranoNZ]

Thanks Aaron for the write up, just did the 88's bars (3 splines) Mofo had dropped quite a bit.

Back up to normal ride height now

Took me 2 hour as I had the use of a pit, piece of cake

[slade420]

what Rancho rs5000's go in the front with the JGC spring lift in the rear????

[RedPath88]

Stock replacements, any parts store should be able to ID them for you. No need to change them out for longer ones because you never actually change the amount of travel the front suspension has, you are simply changing the ride height

[slade420]

this might be a crazy idea, but i have a 91' dodge dakota 4x4 sport, its got the same front end set up as a pathy (IFS shocks and torsion bar). is it possible to swap it out? it would probably take some serious modding, if it is possible. i was just wondering because im guessing all the parts are longer and would create more travel.

[RedPath88]

"Anything" can be done, the question is, "Is it worth it?"

 

I would not assume that the parts are "longer" just because Dakota's are mid-sized and Pathfinders are Mini's, if the frame rails are farther apart on the Dakota, then the suspension arms are probably pretty close

 

Things you need to know first is how close it is to fitting to begin with, from there you can come up with a plan on fitting. Then you have other consideration, such as the front drive line (unless you only swap the control arm assemblies), is the shaft even on the same side between the two trucks, plan on making a new drive line if it is. What about steering? Going to have to come up with something there too. Lets not forget a rear cross member for the torsion bars and what about the brake? The brake lines will need to be rerouted/modified as well. there is a ton of little stuff that will come up during the swap.

 

Is the Dakota IFS any better than the Nissan design is? Or will you just be swapping one designs set of flaws for another...

 

Alternate ideas would be SAS (Solid Axle Swap), but given that idea is not the best for everyone, perhaps leaving it as is would be best.

[BoneZ]

My pathfinder is in a very bad need of a re index job. I have been holding off in tell I put the lift kit in this weekend, I will be installing the rough country uca. Right now my pathfinder sits almost on its bump stops in the front it looks like a low rider. I wanted some opinions on how many spines you guys think I should re index for taking out the sag and accommodating the lift.

[Precise1]

Thanks Aaron for the write up, just did the 88's bars (3 splines) Mofo had dropped quite a bit.

Back up to normal ride height now

 

Generally speaking, 1 is normal, so 2 might do it. Hard to tell

How far are the adjusters backed off right now?

Just remember, you don't want the adjustment arms lower than the bottom of the crossmember in case they get snagged on something. Do yourself a favor and take the time to lube everything nicely, including the adjustment bolt; they have been known to gall.

 

B

[beastpath]

I did three splines and that was a little too much, probably adjust it down to two when i get the chance.

 

just spray the heck out of it with pb blaster if its really rusty then leave it to sink in, spray again an hour later, then leave it again for a while. PB blaster is great for that.

[BoneZ]

Generally speaking, 1 is normal, so 2 might do it. Hard to tell

How far are the adjusters backed off right now?

Just remember, you don't want the adjustment arms lower than the bottom of the crossmember in case they get snagged on something. Do yourself a favor and take the time to lube everything nicely, including the adjustment bolt; they have been known to gall.

 

B

 

When I got under it and got ready to reindex the bars i noticed they were adjusted almost a quarter of the bolt different. I reindexed the one with the least thread left 2 splines and the one with allot of adjustment left 1 spline. This got me to a good place in ride height. really messed up alignment though, but had it at firestone for a lifetime alignment today so all good now. Only thing left Is I need longer shocks for the rear end I can max them out with the swaybar still on.

[VW_Factor]

This is great information. Thanks

 

Been lazy to even look at how to do this. I plan on getting around to doing this, come summer. Always been annoyed at the saggy front end.

[jadm4x4]

well that was easy. 3 hours. air tools make light work of this. only problem i had was one side came of at the back and the otherside came of at the front. wasnt my doing. just happened. good write up. was very helpful

[Chymos]

If the A-arms are sitting parallel to the ground, how many notches should I adjust the bars to keep the adjustment close to stock?

[95shakinPF]

Hey guys, I need to attempt this due to the passenger front sagging. I cannot see any of the pics in 88's write-up. Have these pics been deleted?

 

Thanks for any help.

[tropicana]

is it normal i cant see any pics?? i would like to understand more how to do it before i get into this!

[Simon]

Since I stole this from 88 (with permission) for CNTC, I have the pics stored elsewhere, and kept the writeup. If a mod/admin would like to edit the first post with the code from the following, it should work just fine.

 

Reindexing torsion bars is not a mysterious task requiring a lift and professional tools, it can be done in your driveway or garage at home with hand tools and the stock jack, if necessary.

 

"Why would I need to reindex my torsion bars?" you ask?

 

Stock t-bars will sag over time. This results in a lowered front suspension ride height, especially compared to the rear. One simple solution is to crank the torsion bars up to fix this drooping problem. However. If your torsion bars are sagging to the point that they still do not give you enough ride height after adjustment, (the adjuster bolt runs out of threads after a certain point, of course) you will need to reindex the anchors on the bars to allow for more adjustment of the ride height.

 

Re indexing means to remove the anchor from the t-bar, rotate it "down" two or three splines and then reassemble. This gives the adjuster arm more of an angle downward and allows you to crank it up more than you otherwise would have been able. Basically, you will now have pre-loaded the torsion bar more. The overall spring rate of the t-bars do not go up AFAIK, they simply start compressing earlier than they used to, which results in the desired effect; lift. The choice of two or three splines is up to the owner, two will give a little less adjustment than three will so position them according to your needs. IIRC when I did mine I rotated them two splines. Three simply looked like a little too much to me at the time.

 

Note: it's also possible to remove the front anchors, reindex them and reassemble. It would work the same way. The only reason I don't want to go there is that the front anchor bolts are notorious for rusting and being very difficult to remove. Some people find it just as easy to do the fronts as the rears, some do not. This article is only covering rear anchor and adjuster removal.

 

Tools required:

 

Two 19mm box-end wrenches

One 3/8" or 1/2" drive ratchet with a 19mm regular socket

Large C-clip pliers(if you have them)

If no c-clip pliers: one or two flat-head screwdrivers with at least 8" shafts, a pick or icepick (may help), and a small hammer.

Cleaning supplies(wire wheel on a grinder or drill, WD-40, sandpaper if needed, rags, etc)

Grease (regular white lithium grease would work, I used axle bearing grease)

Anti-seize compound

White-Out, a Sharpie or mechanic's paint (typically yellow, used to mark fasteners to prevent tampering)

PB Blaster, WD-40, Liquid Wrench, KrOil or similar penetrating lubricant

 

Here are the basics:

 

This is the torsion bar rear anchor arm.

 

This is the torsion bar adjuster bolt, nuts and pilots arranged in order.

 

Here's where the crossmember is, looking from the rear of the truck to the front. (Pardon the rag on the end of the trans and lack of driveshaft.) I've circled the adjuster bolts sticking up through the crossmember.

 

 

This is what the adjuster and anchor look like inside the crossmember, fully assembled. (Pardon the rust)

 

Let's Get Started!

 

1. Jack up the front end so that the wheels are just off the ground. Support with jackstands if possible. Safety first!

 

2. Get under the middle of your Pathy where the t-bar crossmember is. At the front side of the crossmember, pull the little rubber boot off of the anchor and slide it up the t-bar and away from the anchor. Use a rag and clean everything off at the anchor end so you have a good view of what you're working on. Don't use lube yet, you need to mark something, OK? Here's what that should look like.

 

 

3. Using mechanic's paint, a Sharpie or simply good old White-Out, mark both the end of the t-bar where it enters the adjuster and the adjuster in the same place, (somewhere easy to see) so that when you remove the anchor you know where it used to be. If you take the anchor off without marking it first you'll have no idea where it used to be and you'd have to guess at where to put it back on. It wouldn't be the end of the world if you did, but it definitely helps with reinstall. I used an un-installed Sway-A-Way t-bar and a spare anchor for demonstration purposes.

 

 

4. Apply some penetrating lube to the t-bar adjuster bolt, nuts on top and the anchors that hold the aft end of the t-bars. Also apply some to the c-clips on the front of the anchors.

 

5. Using two 19mm wrenches on top, loosen the locknuts on top of the adjuster, then unscrew the top locknut about 2" up the bolt. Use the ratchet on the bolt head at the bottom of the adjuster and a 19mm wrench on the adjuster nut on top to unscrew the adjuster bolt until it sits loosely. IE, no tension on the t-bars.

 

6. At this point, I removed both nuts, the adjuster bolt and adjuster pilots(the one on top is hemispherical, the bottom one is u-shaped with raised edges on the 'u', as pictured above) from the adjuster and crossmember. I cleaned them all up and got them ready to reassemble with a bit of grease on the pilots and a little bit of anti-seize compound on the bolt threads. I'd recommend greasing the pilots simply because of possible future rust or corrosion issues and I believe it makes it a little easier to crank the adjuster up.

 

7. Now remove the c-clip that holds the anchor on the t-bar. C-clip pliers can be used if possible but I had to use two flat screwdrivers with a hammer to gently tap the c-clip out. The ice pick helps if you have the clip partially pushed out, you can use it to hold the clip out while you reposition the screwdriver(s). You may not need to use two screwdrivers at the same time so adjust according to taste, mmk? The green arrow points out the clip in this pic.

 

 

8. Tap the anchors toward the rear of the truck until they come off the t-bars. At this point I completely removed the adjusters by finagling them out of the crossmember (which is a bitch also) and cleaned the splines out because they REALLY needed it. If your adjusters come right off and can be put back on with no problem, go for it. Rotate the adjuster arm downward by two or three splines, so that the adjuster arm points down more than it used to. That would be clockwise on the driver's side(left) t-bar and counter-clockwise on the passenger side(right). Slide the anchor back onto the t-bar and verify the number of splines you moved it just to make sure. This is what the match-marks look like after rotating two splines.

 

 

9. Reinstall the c-clip.

 

10. Reinstall the adjuster bolt, pilots and the large nut. Screw the lock nut on but don't tighten it down to the large nut yet.

 

11. Hold the large nut with a 19mm wrench and tighten the adjuster bolt until it starts to tension the t-bar. Try to tighten both t-bar adjusters the same amount initially. Then tighten the t-bar adjuster bolt one turn at a time, counting the turns, until the anchor is mostly sucked up into the crossmember. Tighten each adjuster an equal amount.

 

12. Lower the jack and front end to check suspension height. If it's not high enough yet, crank the adjuster bolt up another two turns at a time until you get it to where you want it. Adjust t-bars side-to-side as needed to achieve levelness.

 

13. Take a short drive to let the t-bars settle down a little bit. Adjust t-bars as needed to level and set ride height.

 

14. Get a front-end alignment or eyeball engineer one.

 

15. Go wheeling!

[tropicana]

Thanks you its easy to understand now that i can see it that was very helpful, raining outside today maybe doing this tomorow

[silverton]

I may have missed it. But is there any particular way to install brand new bars? or does it not matter?

[ahardb0dy]

3 more points to this procedure:

 

1. The torsion bars are left and right and should be labeled/stamped on the end they should not be re-installed on the opposite sides

 

2. Make sure the thicker adjusting nut goes on first the smaller nut is just like a lock nut to prevent the larger nut from loosening, I know its pictured like this above but the previous owner of my 94 PF had them reversed and a tranny shop that worked on the tranny in my 87 only had the smaller nut on!! needless to say one day coming home the nut stripped out and the whole side of the front end fell!! So pay attention to what you are doing for your own safety !!!

 

3. I like to coat the splines with grease, it may not assist the bars function but will make removing them later on easier.

 

 

installing new bars is the same procedure as adjusting, just replace your old bars with the new ones paying attention to the left and right stamp on the end of the bar.

Edited June 6, 2010 by ahardb0dy

[silverton]

I did notice the bars are marked L and R on one end. When installing new bars, does it not matter how they go in and just stick them in any ole way, but then when they need to be re-indexed is when they should be marked?

 

I know my truck has both nuts, as when I got it I had to crank them to the max cause it looked like this:

 

[Manifesto]

"Tap the anchors toward the rear of the truck until they come off the t-bars." ....

 

yea... right -_- I was blasting on those suckers with a 5lb. sledge and they weren't coming out

didn't have much luck with the 3 ft pry bar either

I'll try again in a day or two after the penetrating lube has soaked in

[Dowser]

I strongly recommend some anti seize compound on the splines when installing them cause that is exactly what happens if you don't. When I had to do mine it wasn't pretty. First I blew thru the T-bar with a Torch in the middle leaving it in 2 pieces. I then had to heat the LCA side doing my best to not burn the bushing close by in an attempt to expand it enough to get the T-bar out. I used a BIG set of Vice Grips tightened so freaking tight that it took 2 of us to lock in place. then I used Mechanics wire around it to that it wouldnt pop open on its own. Then Used the Sledge on the Vice Grips after heating the LCA with a very trusting friend holding the handle part of the vice grips with a flat hand to avoid them flying up in the process. SLOWLY we made progress. Just remember to Lube those slpines with a tone of anti Seize and to put your Dust boots on before you get started.

[ahardb0dy]

yes the left and right bars need to be installed in the left and right spot even when they are new

 

when I re-indexed mine I had a hard time removing the bar from the front socket, I used a hammer (rubber I think) to hit the bar as I pulled on it towards the rear, a couple wacks and it finally released

[bigbadboss101]

The driver side of my 93 has about 2 inches less wheel gap than the passenger side. The shop believes the torsion bar is weak. How do I tell if it can be reindexed vs replaced? At 4x4 parts they sell them in pairs. Do people always to both together? The shop I believe priced out one for me. Hopefully they got the correct side.

[tmoore4512]

When I bought my pathfinder it had one factory and one aftermarket with a new boot...

 

I am eventually either going to do a SAS or replace the bars. My steering geometry is out of whack, and the alignment guy swears it wont last long...I dunno...

 

IMO I would replace them as a pair...