passenger side torsion bar seized?

31st May 2008, 16:52

title says it all, had car lowered today, but the pasenger side torsion bar is seized, how can i unseize it?

31st May 2008, 16:56

Use lots of lube mate and if it aint pulling out then smack it out from opposite side, always works, me and my mate done it on his 97 plate flat arch and were pretty seized but we managed to whack them out from opposite side easy enough with lots of lube and patience.

Make sure you use some white grease on the splines of the torsion bars when you put them back in too, this will stop them seizing up if you need to adjust the height again and make them slide back in alot better.

31st May 2008, 16:59

so use WD 40? it was a garage that did it, he done the frone fine, drivers side torsion bar is ok but passenger is seized, i gotta take it bak there next saturday so wanna try and unseize it before then?

31st May 2008, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazza88

so use WD 40? it was a garage that did it, he done the frone fine, drivers side torsion bar is ok but passenger is seized, i gotta take it bak there next saturday so wanna try and unseize it before then?

Yeah lots and lots mate, then more, then more ,then more mate, you easily go through a whole can if there seized, spray it, let it soak, spray it and so on.

Give it a whack using something that isnt going to damage the splines though, i used 3 rachet extension bars with a 13mm socket on the end which sits lovely on the torsion bar, not too big to damage the splines or too small to effect the hole in the torsion bar for your torx bolt.

Used this method a few times mate and has always worked if there seized.

31st May 2008, 17:08

i will get some wd then, looks bit stupid at mo wiv just front done. i supose its up to the bloke at garrage to sort it out but if i just keep spraying WD40 on it couple times a day will this unseize it a bit? i dont really wanna start beating it myself lol, if u kno wat i mean

31st May 2008, 21:35

so if i keep spraying WD40 on it a few days before i take it to the garage again will this unseize it?

31st May 2008, 21:37

i am getting mine done mnonday whats the chance of it being totaly siezed alltoghter i have done the front looks a mess!

31st May 2008, 22:08

so if i keep spraying WD40 on it a few days before i take it to the garage again will this unseize it?

1st June 2008, 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazza88

so if i keep spraying WD40 on it a few days before i take it to the garage again will this unseize it?

You'll probably have to try and remove it yourself first mate to check it, the wd will probably dry out by the time you get it to the garage, aint a hard job to do mate, have a search on how to remove them, ive done a few now and only taking me roughly 3 hours max on seized torsion bars to lower both sides.

I would tell you how exactly how to do it mate but i said it so many times before so do a quick search and you'll find what you need.

Hope all goes well

1st June 2008, 15:18

smash the f++k out of it

1st June 2008, 20:22

suprising as it seems a quick search would have provided you with 1001 threads on how to unseise your torsion bars

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenet15

these guides are good:

http://www.badgermotorsport.co.uk/lowering.htm

http://www.suzukituning.com/PSA/Suspension/Lowering.htm

and here is some info from me:

firstly take the shocks off so that the suspension arms dont have any pull on them apart from there own weight, then do measurements (measure from behind the hub to the bottom of the car & note measurments)

Then undo the ARB plate bolts so u can rotate the ARB out the way, next u need to remove all the torx bolts and offcenetered washers from both ends of both torsion bars

now get some WD40 and cokacola and plater it around the ends of the torsion bars and splines this will help eat into the rust and help free it off

then you can either try slide hammering the torsion bar out if its still seised in you can try the bolt and socket method as shown in the pic below (make sure that the bolt has at least 10-15mm in the torsion bar before pulling out or u will rip the threads)

socket and bolt method

if its still not budging then you can get a mate to hit the other side of the torsion bar with a 7lb lump hammer and a bar with you slide hammer or socket and bolt the other side, the pressure of both forces against the torsion bar normally frees it up

lump hammer and bar:

if its still not budging then u can use a blow torch to heat the ends around the torsion bar up as the metal expands it normally healts to break the seal of the rust and help free it up

also sometimes if u put a jack under the arm ur trying to remove the torsion bar from and jsut tkae it up a few mm it helps take a little weight off the torsion bar which can help it have less stress to come out. u can keep applying WD40/coke mixture throughout the different stages to try help it and just have to keep trying, they will give way eventually

once done and out measure and use a jack to hold the arm at the new height u want and then pop the torsion bar back in, and fit everything back on, do some for both sides, job done

here is also a animated pic i made showing torsion bars