torsion bar help

jimisouljah

jimisouljah

Active Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Location
Kannapolis
I have an 88 4runner that has been lifted in the front by a torsion bar crank. The rear is lifted with 3" downey springs. Since I have put the top back on for the winter and added a rear bumper/tire carrier I have bigtime squating in the back of the truck. I've been considering my options on leveling the truck back out (without spending a bunch of money) and hurting performance. I think my best option would be to take some of the crank off the front end. How do you adjust the torsion bars to make this happen?
 
look for the adjuster bolt somehow connected to the back of the torsion bar somewhere under the cab. loosen it a full turn and see if that helps.
 
If its anything like a Nissan, they should each fit into a splined bracket/lever. This lever is mounted in one of the cross members (kind of like frenched springs). Should be a bolt with two nuts (both ~20mm - one main like a U-bolt nut and another used as a jam nut) on both sides of the truck. Unjam the main nuts, and back them off until you're level.

Make sure you jack-up your truck and put it on stands while you're doing this. It might take a few tries to get it right, but its better than ending up dead. On the plus side, this will probably make it ride smoother. On the other hand, your tires might rub.
 
Google is your friend, first hit...
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=398514

FYI it dosn't sound like Nissans are the same at all.
In short, jack up front front and secure w/ stands so the wheels hang.
now look just inside the frame around teh front doors, nice 22mm bolt. Get a 1/2" drive ratchet and socket on it w/ a pipe on the end, and loosen it. Note - the night before doing so, find the bolt and teh threads at teh top and spray down w/ BP blaster and/or WD40. Chances are good it will not want to move easily.

The tosion bars attach to the A-arms via a bracket on one end, the other end is splined into a bracket held by that adjusting bolt. As you tighten/loosen the bolt, it changes the angle of the bracket, "twisting/untwisting" the T-bar.
There's a nut on top of the bracket that the adjusting bolt threads into. It's not supposed to spin, but it might, so look out.
... it's all in the article above.

Oh, and FWIW the Downey springs are notorious for sagging... you could also add a leaf to prop the end up, but the ride quality will suffer.
 
On the off chance you damage the bolts , I have a new set with nuts i'll let go cheap, they are not hardware store parts
 
jimisouljah said:
The 200lbs top and the 100 or so lbs of bumper and tire don't help to much either...thanks for the info
Click to expand...

?? the top really isn't that heavy, only steel in the whole thing is the wiper motor and exterior L-trim, just fiberglass and glass... I'd doubt it's more than 150 lb tops, 1 person can lift it. It was, after all, factory equipment lol. Extra bumper OTOH, that'll do it.

I think alot of the "sag" is a perceptual error too - if you closely follow the body lines of the fender wells, the fronts are actually higher than rears - thsi is more rvident if you see a 2-tone truck. It makes it look like it's saggin geven when perfectly level.

One thing you might want to do is measure the height of the frame from teh ground, right behind the front wells, and in front of rears. Then you'll know what you actually need, in inches... with soem numbers in hand, it's easier to know exactly what will balance it.
 
Blkvoodoo said:
On the off chance you damage the bolts , I have a new set with nuts i'll let go cheap, they are not hardware store parts
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, IMHO unless they move pretty smoothly, it's not a bad idea to go ahead and replace them. Even from the stealership, new bolts w/ the collar nuts on top aren't too pricy.
Mine were completely seized - 4' pipe on the end of ratchet, ended up snapping them. CAREFUL - the torsion stress will shoot them hard, mine cracked the cement.
I lubed the new ones up really well w/ lithium gease.
 
I had an '86 4runner that I was having the same trouble with. I used Old Man Emu springs after rebuilding the rear frame (write your own measurments down first). I ended up with a little more lift than anticipated. I tried to crank the bars, I ended up with a pretty mean looking mud racer (a little low in front, 35's in the rear and 235s front). I would recomend going to Toyota and at least checking to see if they have new bolts in stock before you try. I've cranked the bars on several different vehicles and the best way i've found to get them level is start on a level surface (preferably on a lift) adjust a little, bounce it, measure, and adjust again until you're happy with it.
 
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