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Torsion bar adjustment

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Torsion bar adjustment

Postby MonstaMu » Thu May 15, 2014 6:39 am

If you wind up the torsion bars without disconnecting the sway bar, does it still work? Roughly how many turns does it take? I did 3 1/2 turns on each side but it hasn't seemed to do much. I'm busy helping my brother with his Mu. I was lucky enough to find one already done. Any help appreciated.
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby geeves » Thu May 15, 2014 3:30 pm

The sway bar only makes it difficult to set both sides the same. Ive heard stories where a car looked even but the front dipped on right hand corners. Undo swaybar and the left went up the right down. Cant remember how much I turned mine but 3 turns would only be about 20mm
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby MonstaMu » Thu May 15, 2014 8:49 pm

So wind some more then. I didn't want to go too far. The vehicle leans towards the driver side. Was like that before though.
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby MrRevhead » Wed May 28, 2014 8:59 pm

Measure from the ground to the guard and then wind it up a bit, then measure again.
Do the other side. Remember as one side goes up, the other side will go down a little.
Then drive it around the block and remeasure.
It's pretty easy, I didn't even bother to jack mine up or disconnect the bar. The only way the bar could cause issues is if it was jammed in one bush somehow.
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby geeves » Thu May 29, 2014 3:31 pm

wrong
The sway bars only job is to reduce body roll. It does this by transfering weight and spring tension from one side of the car to the other. If you raise one side with the sway bar attached the other side will go up by a lesser but still significant amount as load is transfered by the sway bar. You can easily test this by driving one wheel onto a brick.
Its not dificult to remove the watts linkage on one side adjust the suspension then put it back afterwards although if you drive off road the improvement in traction leaving it off you wouldnt believe
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby MrRevhead » Thu May 29, 2014 3:47 pm

It won't lift the other side. Yes it places a force on the other arm but not enough to bother with. Remember as the body rolls it will lower one side. The bar isn't stiff enough to lift the other side. I did mine exactly how I described and had zero issues.
You need to measure and recheck as adjusting one corner alters all four corners.

But yes, if going off road, throw it away. Couldn't tell the difference on road with mine gone
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby geeves » Thu May 29, 2014 5:39 pm

You might drive a little less enthusiasticly than me. I definitely notice when I hook it back up but not that much that it matters. Ive kept up with a v8 comadoor going up the Rimitukas with it disconected but not down the other side. Im always a little slower going down.
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby MrRevhead » Sat May 31, 2014 9:35 am

The other car I drive is an MX5so the MU has always felt like a boat in comparison so maybe I didn't notice the difference.
Does the Wizard weigh much more than a MU?
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Re: Torsion bar adjustment

Postby geeves » Sat May 31, 2014 12:29 pm

just over2000kg
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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