Torsion Bar removal, is there a secret?? Options

[ldino21]

I am trying to remove my A-Arms from my front suspension, but can't seem to get the torsion bar to pull out from the inside, is there a secret I don't know about??

Everything else is loosened up!!

[thesey914]

You have to remove the A arm first in order to gain the clearance to remove the tortion bar from the rear.

[r_towle]

I had a set of old rusty ones in my car originally.
I took off the front cover and valance..
Took a hammer and a punch and pounded it out.
Had to hit it pretty hard.
There is a little soft metal cover that you need to either pry loose, or try to save it before it gets destroyed, but it will eventually come out.
Good luck
Rich

[ldino21]

Here is where I stand, I am in the process of removing the Front A Arms, on the driver side the torsion bar slid right out, on the passenger side the torsion bar will not budge.

With the A-Arms do I need to heat it up around the bushings to take them off, or should I use my air gun and try to pound the A-Arm off.

Also are you sure the A Arm will come off with the torsion bar still inside??

[Jeroen]

First remove the adjuster bolt at the rear of the a-arm (the bolt that adjusts the ride height) and the adjuster cap
There's another bolt at the rear of the a-arm that mounts it to the crossmember. Remove that too
At the front of the A-arm, there's a cover plate. There's an access hole for an allen bolt. Remove the cover
Now remove the 2 bolts that hold the front of the a-arm to the chassis and you can slide the a-arm out of the crossmember

No need to heat up the bushings or anything like that...

HTH

cheers,

Jeroen

[ldino21]

I did all the things you said on the drivers side A-Arm and it is really tight around the rear bushing, I tried a lorge screwdriver to pry it out, but it won't come out, thats why I though a few taps with the air gun might work.

On the passenger side the Torsion bar will not slide out and the same thing, it is really tight around that rear bushing.

[Eric_Shea]

It sounds like you're attempting this with the suspension on the car. Because of the binding issues with both the drivers a-arm and the passengers torsion bar, I'd recommend just pulling the entire suspension off. You're only a couple of bolts away. If it's already off then you need to do the following:

To get the a-arm off the crossmember it sounds like you'll need to use brut force. If you're already going to replace the bushings then use a MAP torch and anywhere from a 2-8lb. sledge. Use a block of wood against the crossmember and pound it back. Your rear outer bushing cover is rusted in the pocket in the crossmember.

To get the passengers side torsion bar out I'd recommend going the other way. This means you'll be using the same block of wood and 2-8lb sledge and driving it out the front of the a-arm. This does no harm but watch the metal cover that Rich mentioned, you'll want to keep that around for when you put everything back together. Again, your torsion bar is probably rusted in the tube.

Be prepared... you'll probably need new torsion bars (rust). Double check inside the a-arm tubes as well. If they're not too bad, spray a rust stop chemical in them (and then neutralize it). Once your suspension's off it's probably only $20-30 to get it sandblasted. Another $20 for a can of POR15... Enjoy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[Eric_Shea]

After re-reading... if you have a blunt tool to use in the air-hammer then try that before taking everything off. Again, the rear bushing sleeve is what's binding, it's rusted in the crossmember. But again... you'll only be leaving the crossmember in place. With the amount of rust (guessing) that you'd have binding the a-arm I think I'd take it all off and clean it up. Rust never sleeps (heard that somewhere...)