I'm switching out my torsion bars. The left one slid right out after I took the bolt and adjusting lever off. The right one on the other hand won't budge. I've pulled on it at the rear by hand and with vice grips. I've removed the front valence and guard clip, but can't find a way to get the cover off to drive it out from the front. Any advice?

you can drill a small hole in the cover and use a drift to punch out the torsion bar........close up hole with silicon, weld or even a screw.....worse case, hit the torsion bar torwards the front of the car, it'll pop off the metal cover which you'll have to re-install......

Both of mine were so rusted that for me to get them out was to drill out and remove the end caps, then drive the things out with a BFH. I was hopeful that I was going to be able to do the "drill a hole and drive it our with a drift" trick, but it wasn't in the cards.

If you try the "smack it on the end and pop the cap off" as Mike suggests, be careful that you don't jack up the splines with your hammer. That is, if you feel you need to preserve the original bars.

When I removed my end caps, I had to create new ones out of freeze plugs. A bit of hassle, but worked pretty trick.

You can pop out the front cover by driving the bar from the rear. New plugs are available for about $5 from the dealer. By doing this you can spray some sort of lube to loosen it up and drive it out from the front.

QUOTE (Mueller @ Nov 27 2005, 07:01 PM)

you can drill a small hole in the cover and use a drift to punch out the torsion bar........close up hole with silicon, weld or even a screw.....worse case, hit the torsion bar torwards the front of the car, it'll pop off the metal cover which you'll have to re-install......

Thanks for the help. I drilled a 1/4 inch hole, squirted in some penetrating oil, waited a few minutes, and then drove the torsion bar out from the front. Worked like a charm. Not sure how I'm going to plug the hole yet.