Pulled these out today to strip the arms for powder coating. I've heard that people say torsion bars are no good if they have surface rust...so I'm thinking these are trashed because there's a considerable chunk of metal missing from both of them. Right?

Looks like they were rubbing on something for about 40 years. I counted 29 spines, so these are stock 914 bars. The front bushings were complete toast, and they're getting replaced, so I'm not worried about it happening again.

there have been stories of the bars breaking right at the worn edge. The edge itself creates a stress point. There are some that have ground/sanded the edge smooth and returned the bars to use.

Use at you own risk...

Grrrr....

I was really hoping these wouldn't be bad, but then when I pulled these out, I knew it wouldn't be good.

So stock is "18mm" and I don't want to go TOO stiff. What should I be looking for? 20mm? Hollow or Solid?

Ugh. Thought I was done buying stuff. ::: yeah, right :::

We had 911s & 914s come into the shop with a constant squeaking in the front suspension. The bushings collapse and the T-bars rub. The only true fix is to replace the bushings and T-bars.

If the customer was not up to that expense: We used to pull the T-bars out a few inches, turn them 180 degrees grease them and put them back in. It bought the customer some time. To my knowledge none of these T-bars we turned & greased ever broke. I did at least 10 cars maybe more.

Yes this worn section creates a stress riser but they could last a long time or break tomorrow.

I am sure there are T-bars available from some near, if you feel the need to replace them. I have T-bars but don't know if the are 911 or 914, shipping is probably not cheap.

Jim

I've got 22mm's and they are a hair stiff, but not bouncy in any way. Granted I have needle bearings instead of bushings so its smooth anyways.

Found a set of 18mm on TheSamba and picked them up. I can always go "up" later but wanted something I could trust to get going.

lets say they are bad and did break while driving.

what could be expected to happen at 65mph on the hwy?

would the car bottom out on road or would strut hold car off roadway?

jim

Car would sit down on that control arm.
Its not so low you cannot drive, but its low.

Look at the control arm, it hits the lower flange of the body....but it works and fits.

When I was really riding low, I had to bend that flange over to make sure I have the clearance....

Not the end of the world, certainly makes for an exciting few moments.

good to know for anyone that can't believe (like me) a little bit of wear could be catastrophic in the short term. probably at least should paint the exposed steel though.

I just ended up replacing them. I've gone too far on the rest of this car to pussy-out on replacing the torsion bars. I'd always have it in the back of my head.

your worn out bushings are what caused that BTW....

Rich

Cpt, exactly what I found recently. My rear bushings were worn similarly, so i replaced with Poly items sourced from the Bird.
I Polished out the worn aras and corrosion on the bars and repainted. Many years ago, had a fractured bar due to corrosion pit initiated crack, so i'm concerned about bars with any grooves or corrosion.
Here are what my OEM rear bushings looked like after removal.
Click to view attachment
A few days ago i posted similar comments on this issue.