Torsion Problem

Dylan Galvin

Active Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
Messages
255
Reaction score
215
Location
Arizona
I'm going through nearly all of the 66 Monacos front suspension AGAIN to replace the incorrect strut bushings I installed months ago. Clearly I had some problems installing the driver torsion bar back then because the cylinder around it is all bashed in, and I cant get the bar out. I've hit the thing with a chisel and I've kicked the **** out of the LCA to no avail, even with someone prying the top out. Anyone dealt with this and have suggestions?

20200322_135328.jpg


20200322_135323.jpg
 
I'm going through nearly all of the 66 Monacos front suspension AGAIN to replace the incorrect strut bushings I installed months ago. Clearly I had some problems installing the driver torsion bar back then because the cylinder around it is all bashed in, and I cant get the bar out. I've hit the thing with a chisel and I've kicked the **** out of the LCA to no avail, even with someone prying the top out. Anyone dealt with this and have suggestions?

View attachment 362685

View attachment 362686

I would probably get a Dremel tool and try to remove the metal that is folded over in the socket. Be sure the torsion bar is full forward and be sure you do not damage the c-clip seat. How did it ever get that beat up?

Dave
 
Clearly I had some problems installing the driver torsion bar back then because the cylinder around it is all bashed in

So you had a problem back then and you are stuck now?
Sounds like you should of addressed (cleaned up) the problem back then.
Do it right the first time.
Short-cuting a job will always come back too bite you in the ***.
 
I would probably get a Dremel tool and try to remove the metal that is folded over in the socket. Be sure the torsion bar is full forward and be sure you do not damage the c-clip seat. How did it ever get that beat up?

Dave
I employed my brother to smack the torsion bar back in the first time I'd ever done this, and there was a lot of smacking that happened before I figured out how to line it up properly. Probably how it's that beat up
 
I employed my brother to smack the torsion bar back in the first time I'd ever done this, and there was a lot of smacking that happened before I figured out how to line it up properly. Probably how it's that beat up

If you to smack anything like that again use a brass or hardwood drift.

Dave
 
If this bar was brutalized along its length like it is on the back end it should be replaced, you’ve got to be gentle with these things. They aren’t just a metal bar with a hex shaped knob on both ends.
 
If this bar was brutalized along its length like it is on the back end it should be replaced, you’ve got to be gentle with these things. They aren’t just a metal bar with a hex shaped knob on both ends.
Nah I never used any force along the length to get it out or in, used a pry bar at the LCA for that.
 
I don't want to beat up on you for what was done, so please don't take it that way.

The problem I see is the torsion bar never really got all the way into the hex if it was put in from the back or it was pushed too far in from the front.

If you can't get the bar out, I think the best solution would be to source a new bar for that side (or both sides) and cut the existing bar down at a point where you can hit it with a BFH and drive it out the back of the hex. Some work with a file to clean up the damage in the hex would then be in order.
 
I'm really surprised nobody has suggested a solution which might YET avail: HEAT THE SOCKET WHILE KEEPING THE TORSION BAR COLD!!

This is HOW I DO IT and just DID it AGAIN last week! My cheap generic LCA bushings lasted 2 years, the second of which really being a record of BAD getting INTOLERABLE. Anyway, just like the FIRST time, ONE of my torsion bars gave me a little difficulty w removal, so I GENTLY heated the socket with a propane torch just until I could feel the grease liquefying and running out the end. Since the end of the bar could be touched with my bare finger sans discomfort, I guess the socket probably was heated to about 160 F. The end of the bar might have been 110 F. This occurs because the torsion bar has a good 40 or so inches length which can be kept as cool as you like, this keeping ALL of the bar cool, given the thermal conductivity of the high grade spring steel it is composed of.

Dylan:

1.) make an icewater bath, WITHOUT SALT, soak a towel IN that cold bath, then WRAP that towel AROUND your torsion bar just on the front side of the socket/crossmember, allowing both ends to trail BACK INTO THE BUCKET of icewater, to wick the cold water up into the towel.

2.) HEAT THE SOCKET with a propane torch from the BOTTOM. Attend to any oil running out of the socket around the T-bar, which should start when the grease inside begins to melt. Avoid igniting this oil. It CAN flash once warmed. You likely will see smoke from some grease/oil burning as you heat the socket. Play your flame gently for a good 10 minutes or until the socket begins to glow. STOP if this occurs!

3.) Commence hammering your torsion bar removal tool, which will be made of the material mentioned below;

I PREFER OAK BLOCKS at least 2" x 3.5" x 10", V-notched and then C-CLAMPED against the torsion bar (which will be inside the V notch), in your case at least 12" in front of the X-member. BEAT ON THIS to dislodge your torsion bar. Don't screw around with cheap, soft wood. Use OAK. You can find suitable oak on forklift skids still. Its ugly, but strong and freely available. Get somebody who knows the look of oak to accompany you if you opt for scavenging, otherwise BUY some from a REPUTABLE (NOT Ho*m* DeepOH!) vendor. If you can get hickory, in at least 3" thick blocks, so much the better.

NOTE: All the Elder Moparians will tell you as I now do: if you've so much as nicked that torsion bar, replace it, lest it CATASTROPHICALLY FAIL when you're rolling.

I saw you mention that the socket was "bashed in." While I too will pry GENTLY from the LCA / K frame interface ONCE THE T-bar is LOOSE, I don't advise you to rely on such to SEAT the bar inits socket!! INSPECT the socket, once you remove the T-bar. If distorted, discard and replace. Mind you, it would take some doing to wreck that socket, but it looks like there may have BEEN "some doing...."

Finally, I LIVE IN TUCSON. If you HAVE TO, bring your ride down to me.
 
Last edited:
I've spent more hours with different files, heat and then filing, and still nothing. So, today I picked up a dremel and will grind it up tomorrow before I build a torsion removal tool. Thanks for the tips on that Gerald, and thanks as well for the offer to help. Until I finish the stroker and such this thing ain't seeing Tucson because all we've got at home is a charger and a sienna, nothing in the driveway is towing that boat.
 
Get those hardwood blocks, ice and 2 gallon bucket, towel, the torch, 10# hammer and big C-clamps. Even w/o any Xtra metal stuck in the socket, those bars are apt to stick pretty hard. A pneumatic hammer applied to the hardwood clamp MIGHT achieve the desired loosening by quantum effect. Realize that quantized hammering IS a VALID WORKING CONCEPT when dealing with suspension components on your 55 yr old ride. Just as the proverbial straw breaks the camel's back, other quantized phenomena such as hammering or lbs force applied to bushings have relevance. At first, you won't see ANY motion of the torsion bar, then, you MIGHT see some motion so slight as to dismiss it as wishful thinking, THEN....WHACK!!! out it slides! up to the clamped on hardwood blocks hitting the front of the crossmember. Even with a bit of metal between the bar and socket surface at the end, your bar does NOT appear to be that badly jammed in by your earlier heroic, though crude efforts. Attend to the magnified pic I made of your better one....

upload_2020-3-26_11-7-55.png
upload_2020-3-26_11-7-55.png


I examined this at 400% magnification, and see little DEEP damage that would hinder the bar's motion. Dremels have become popular enough, to be sure, but regardless of WHAT (within the limits of "common sense") you use to clean out the interface between the hex socket and bar, once you clear the few thousandths of an inch previously afflicted by youthful enthusiasm, the rest of that interface is being held in place by aged grease and static friction between two hard ferrous surfaces. Have you removed the front balloon seals from the bars? You SHOULD be able to clean out some of the old grease as far as you can reach in from the front around the bar with a thin screw driver or other pic, then use a penetrant/solvent such as kerosene, WD-40, LPS-1 or PB Blaster in liberal quantity. There well MAY be DIRT mixed in with the old grease, causing friction. THAT will be more apt to stop that bar from moving that what you and your brother did.

Wash things out from the front, then, after the excess penetrant has been blown or vacuumed away, fire up your torch, heat the socket mildly as aforementioned, and carefully commence hammering your hardwood block torsion bar tool.

I could probably do this job in 15 minutes if I were there, but I'm not and the IMPROBABLE merits consideration.

Best of Luck.

BY ALL MEANS KEEP THE REST OF THE BAR STRAIGHT WHEN YOU COMMENCE WORK!
 
Get those hardwood blocks, ice and 2 gallon bucket, towel, the torch, 10# hammer and big C-clamps. Even w/o any Xtra metal stuck in the socket, those bars are apt to stick pretty hard. A pneumatic hammer applied to the hardwood clamp MIGHT achieve the desired loosening by quantum effect. Realize that quantized hammering IS a VALID WORKING CONCEPT when dealing with suspension components on your 55 yr old ride. Just as the proverbial straw breaks the camel's back, other quantized phenomena such as hammering or lbs force applied to bushings have relevance. At first, you won't see ANY motion of the torsion bar, then, you MIGHT see some motion so slight as to dismiss it as wishful thinking, THEN....WHACK!!! out it slides! up to the clamped on hardwood blocks hitting the front of the crossmember. Even with a bit of metal between the bar and socket surface at the end, your bar does NOT appear to be that badly jammed in by your earlier heroic, though crude efforts. Attend to the magnified pic I made of your better one....

View attachment 363543View attachment 363543

I examined this at 400% magnification, and see little DEEP damage that would hinder the bar's motion. Dremels have become popular enough, to be sure, but regardless of WHAT (within the limits of "common sense") you use to clean out the interface between the hex socket and bar, once you clear the few thousandths of an inch previously afflicted by youthful enthusiasm, the rest of that interface is being held in place by aged grease and static friction between two hard ferrous surfaces. Have you removed the front balloon seals from the bars? You SHOULD be able to clean out some of the old grease as far as you can reach in from the front around the bar with a thin screw driver or other pic, then use a penetrant/solvent such as kerosene, WD-40, LPS-1 or PB Blaster in liberal quantity. There well MAY be DIRT mixed in with the old grease, causing friction. THAT will be more apt to stop that bar from moving that what you and your brother did.

Wash things out from the front, then, after the excess penetrant has been blown or vacuumed away, fire up your torch, heat the socket mildly as aforementioned, and carefully commence hammering your hardwood block torsion bar tool.

I could probably do this job in 15 minutes if I were there, but I'm not and the IMPROBABLE merits consideration.

Best of Luck.

BY ALL MEANS KEEP THE REST OF THE BAR STRAIGHT WHEN YOU COMMENCE WORK!
Going to head out and get the materials for the torsion removal tool very soon, because you're correct, even after I've shaved away the socket today its still stuck.
 
Sigh! I tried to save you some time. No more filing or otherwise screwing with that SURFACE! The problem is as I described it inside. Good that you now KNOW for CERTAIN though. Learning is often that way. Tell me, have you LOOSENED THE FRONT OF THE BAR ENTIRELY? It looks as though you have from previous text, but this issue is important so let's be sure. If that front hex remains in the LCA, you'll be working against double trouble. I HAVE in the past, but it doesn't pay if it can be avoided. Remove the LCA pivot nut if the front remains in the LCA. I'll take a fresh pic of my torsion bar blocks tomorrow and post it, though if you read my thread from Jan., 2018, you should see one there.
 
Last edited:
Sigh! I tried to save you some time. No more filing or otherwise screwing with that SURFACE! The problem is as I described it inside. Good that you now KNOW for CERTAIN though. Learning is often that way. Tell me, have you LOOSENED THE FRONT OF THE BAR ENTIRELY? It looks as though you have from previous text, but this issue is important so let's be sure. If that front hex remains in the LCA, you'll be working against double trouble. I HAVE in the past, but it doesn't pay if it can be avoided. Remove the LCA pivot nut if the front remains in the LCA. I'll take a fresh pic of my torsion bar blocks tomorrow and post it, though if you read my thread from Jan., 2018, you should see one there.
Yeah that nut is gone
 
Boom! I ended up just ordering a tool bc I dont have a table saw for wood and it would have been any cheaper to make one. Heated that socket up for 5-10 mins and the torsion bar gave way on the second smack of the tool (with a sledgehammer). Thanks yall

20200408_171545.jpg
 
++good!! If the torsion bar tool wound up less expensive than obtaining oak blocks, then you made a sound decision. I KNOW that lack of proper wood working tools would make fashioning my "cheap" solution prohibitively expensive, but am gratified to see that my understanding of the laws of metallic expansion were applicable! A propane torch is a MUST have in your C-body tool kit.

Job well done son. Carry on.
 
Back
Top