Setting preload/rear torsion springs by Lee.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Well said Steve! Whacking the snot out of the ends of the spring plates to drive them in place is not always the way to go; remember that St. Finesse is the patron saint of mechanical things. Besides you can dent/damage the end covers that stop right at the splines even if you put a piece of wood over then end to take up some of the shock when whacking it in place.

The adding of a lubricant such as oil to both ends of the torsion bar needs to be done. Using the bolts on the spring plate covers to pull the whole unit together is not that good of an idea until you are sure that everything is seated in their place correctly.

Lee

[fusername]

I jsut did my bus torsion bar, was the NICEST expereince ever. the thign that made it a lot easier was to start the bolts into the spring plate BEFORE loaing it at all, adn to have new bushings that actually fit. the last time I did it the bushings were so wrong that they held the capoff slightly, so the stockbolts could not be started till it was over the stop, and allowed it to shift so teh bolt holes did not line up.

also if you are using stock rubber bushings, remember to use Talc, not grease. My car smells lovely now. If you use grease ,the bushings will look like they have 40k miles on em in 24 hours, ask me how I nkow....

[TimS]

...the thign that made it a lot easier was to start the bolts into the spring plate BEFORE loaing it at all, adn to have new bushings that actually fit...

With my 2x3's, my preload is such that I cannot get the bolts on until it's tensioned. I do the 4x4 piece of wood and BFH until I can get the bolts to catch.

A die grinder with wire brush works well for polishing the inside of the housing. I think this helps with squeaks a bit, too.

[fusername]

I have ALWAYS needed to tension it prior to starting the bolts as well. however this went on so easy I am begginig to suspect ALL of those issues were due to poor fitting bushings. My last brand new set were poorly radiused and did not fiit deeply on both the spring plate and the cover, os there must have been a half ins stack up of extra thickness, which whent away when torqued down, but not something you could manhandle into place. and we all know how nice used bushings hold thier shape.

[TimS]

Not trying to argue about bushing fitment. If i remember correct, my preload was such that the springplate cover would contact the springplate when it was off the stops (springplate was covering bolt hole), so even with well fitting bushings you could not start the bolts before tensioning. Edit- but i have a double springplate.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[fusername]

oh, no clue on double s pring plates, and I could only start 3 bolts now that you mention it.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The write up was done using double spring plates, I don’t think there is much if any difference between the two styles. Stock bushings seem to be harder to work with as they can move more than the harder urethane bushing; add to that unless they have already been replaced most of them are distorted by now… my stock ones sure were.

The fitment of my urethane bushing into the torsion housing and onto the spring plate was very good. Remember, I was going from a stock preload, something like 21°, to setting the preload to 26°/28° I even went up to 30°. The amount of preload from 28° to 30° is a whole lot of stored energy and you can feel it in the ride. Going from 26° to 28° of preload while not a whole lot is still something that you can feel. The more preload the more you have to fight the torsion bars to get the covers in place.

Most of the rail guys I talk to, if they still are using torsion bars, seem to have gone to 26mm bars if that helps anyone.

Lee