The Forward Look Network
The Forward Look Network
Search | Statistics | User Listing Forums | Chat | eBay | Calendars | Albums | Skins | Language
You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )

Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page]
View previous thread :: View next thread
   Forward Look Technical Discussions -> Steering and SuspensionMessage format
 
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-09 11:52 PM (#543868)
Subject: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Hey, so this must happen to other people. My 57 DeSoto FireSweep sustained a broken driver's side torsion bar. A common problem that year, because there wasn't a rubber seal installed on the torsion bar, covering the anchor. So junk would get into the adjustable anchor and corrode the torsion bar. Mine is fractured inside the anchor. It seems simple enough to slide the anchor out, and then pull the rest of the t-bar back. But the anchor is boxed in by the exhaust and the bar is stuck. I can't even fit a cutoff wheel in there to cut the bar in the middle. The anchor is flopping around; I removed the adjuster bolt and swivel. How to I get this thing out? I have it jacked up because I can't move the car to a decent lift. Thanks for any advice.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
57chizler
Posted 2017-07-10 2:16 PM (#543897 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: RE: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 3768
200010005001001002525
Location: NorCal

You should be able to remove the retaining ring from the rear of the anchor and use the remaining part of the torsion bar to drive out the broken stub.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-10 3:07 PM (#543901 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
I would pull the whole thing out, pull the bolt and barrel nut out complete and take it apart off the car. Take pb blaster to it off the car and see whats going on for real.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-10 7:19 PM (#543914 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Good advice guys. I removed the retaining clip and adjuster bolt/barrel nut before I even got into it. But the anchor is stuck between the floorboard and the rear cross member-- with the end of the t bar in it. It has play and I can move it around, but it's like a puzzle. I cant get it out from between the floorboard, the rear cross member and the drivers side exhaust pipe. I'm actually tempted to cut an access panel into the floor, because I can't get the effer out. Does anyone know if you can remove that u shaped seat from the cross member? I think it attaches the cross member to the frame rail, so probably not. It has two bolts, but I'm not clear if the anchor seat thing is welded to the frame. Thanks again. In my history, torsion bars aren't very hard to remove. The car isn't a pile of rust. In fact the t bars still have factory paint on them. Oh, btw since it's on jack stands, I can't get a cutoff wheel in there or enough leverage on a hammer to beat the end of the bar out of the anchor. Thanks, Jon

Edited by JT Vincent 2017-07-10 7:25 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-10 10:33 PM (#543919 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
it should come out, once the big bolt and barrel nut is out of the way. It can have road rocks and asphalt wedged in there.

I had to push on my bar kinda down ward and wiggled it and the bracket and the bar came out in one shot, rotate it up and it should come out of the hole and you can push the rear torsion bar bracket and your bar forward.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-11 1:21 PM (#543953 - in reply to #543919)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Ah, I hadn't tried to pull it out towards the front of the car. The majority of the bar is going into the control arm, and is stuck, so the anchor just pushes into the bar, as it's broken inside the anchor. Perhaps with some heat and penetrating oil I can free the front end of the bar and shove all of it out that was. Good thinking, thanks.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-11 6:57 PM (#543979 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
if you look at my thread, the third post has the 6 cylinder torsion bar "bracket".

If you scroll down you will see the bigger v8 brackets sitting on the table painted.

those sit inside the transmission cross member, once you rotate it, it come out as it clears the cross member, it will all come out.


http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=65435&...
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-11 10:31 PM (#543994 - in reply to #543979)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Ok, gotcha. So I didn't realize the 6 cylinder anchors were so much shorter than the 8 cylinder ones. Sorry for how crude this is, I'm on my laptop. But this pic is your six cylinder anchor, with a messy drawing of where my bar is broken, and the relative length of the V8 anchor, like in your pic of the V8 one painted black. I can't get the front of the bar to push any further into the control arm. It moves, like maybe an inch back and forth. And the anchor flops around and if i rotate and push it so it's against the floorboard it still wont come out. The lower flanges hit the cross member. In 90 minutes of fumbling today in 90 degree heat, none of it will move any further. I am seriously going to cut a hole in the floor and pull the anchor up that way and then just stitch the hole back afterwards. I think when I welded in the new floor pans, I might have set them lower than they were supposed to be. The little things can be the most annoying. Thanks again, Mike.



(tbar anchor.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments tbar anchor.jpg (181KB - 197 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-11 10:54 PM (#543996 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
oh yeah you have no leverage and it is tight. hah do you need my torsion bar? That was one I don't need.

Can't believe Chrysler would make so many 6 cylinder parts different...
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-12 11:07 AM (#544031 - in reply to #543996)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Oh that's very nice of you. This setup uses the big V8 anchors and the beefy short wheelbase bars, like your Dodge, I would imagine. The 325 is a very heavy engine. I bought one from a club member and it should be here in a few days. Question, I see your floors were trashed, did you pull the anchor and bar out before you replaced the floor pans? They are indeed supposed to slide out, but there is like 1/4 inch of flange that wont clear the cross member, even when I put some torque on the anchor up to the floorboard.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-12 3:36 PM (#544043 - in reply to #544031)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
OK, I got the thing out. I had to cut a hole in the floorboard to get the anchor un-wedged between the cross member and the floorboard. Now how to get the sheared end of the bar out of the anchor... It's quite stuck in there. Heat, PB Blaster and a hammer, I guess. In all my years of wrenching MoPars, I've never had a t bar break, and for something so simple, it was a PITA. So, lesson for all you 57 FL owners as naive as me, use lots of grease on each end when mounting the bars, install a dust shield on the end of the bar before inserting into the anchor, with the respective letter (L or R) facing towards the back of the car, and set the adjuster bolt and barrel nut with the anchor cam as close to the floorboard as possible, then torque until there is an initial height setting-- about one inch of bolt coming up through the barrel nut. The more you know.



(broken.JPG)



(anchor.JPG)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments broken.JPG (31KB - 188 downloads)
Attachments anchor.JPG (42KB - 194 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-12 5:48 PM (#544052 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
mine came out fairly easily. I think I had to make my torsion bar go forward in the support, I had a serious fight to get it to go out the back side.
Mine both slid back with and I leveraged the bar to remove the support with it. My floors were in place. and they simple rotated and came out.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-12 11:05 PM (#544070 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
I'm banging on the 5 inch piece of the torsion bar stuck in the anchor with a socket slipped into the anchor, and a sledge hammer. It's stuck. I'm taking the anchor to my machine shop to see if they can press it out. otherwise, I gotta cough up $200 for a new set of anchors. Usually I give advice on this site. I appreciate your advice Mike. I guess this problem is uncommon. I just want to drive my car, man!!!!
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mstrug
Posted 2017-07-13 11:35 AM (#544106 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert 5K+

Posts: 6487
50001000100100100100252525
Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth)
soak it in evaporust or the other brand Metal rescue or marvel mystry oil or mouse milk.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
57chizler
Posted 2017-07-13 12:40 PM (#544108 - in reply to #544070)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 3768
200010005001001002525
Location: NorCal
JT Vincent - 2017-07-12 8:05 PM

I'm banging on the 5 inch piece of the torsion bar stuck in the anchor with a socket slipped into the anchor, and a sledge hammer. It's stuck.


Got an air hammer? Sometimes lots of blows are more effective than big brute ones.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-13 3:58 PM (#544113 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
I found a machine shop about a mile from my house. Nice guys. He pushed it out for me for the price of a six pack. The end of the bar was nasty. It took 8 tons in the press to push out. I could never have done it without the shop. So, this topic is, as I said is fairly uncommon. I hope this post helps some poor slob who has such a problem. And again, grease and dust shields on those new or reinstalled bars. For FL cars without dust shields, they can be made fairly simply with a thick rubber wrap and zip ties at the back end of them bar and forward end of the anchor. That's what MoPar did when this problem was identified.

Edited by JT Vincent 2017-07-13 7:50 PM




(busted.JPG)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments busted.JPG (45KB - 219 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-13 8:13 PM (#544119 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
Where you driving the car? I see rust on the end, I don't understand how it cracked there, I assume rust weakens the surface? Just underneath near the back of the bar. Can you see rust when the crack started on the bar?
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-13 11:16 PM (#544127 - in reply to #544119)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Yes, I was test driving the car after the car had been sitting and I'd bled the brakes. Later, I would discover upon removing the drums, that the wheel cylinders, although fairly new, were leaking. I put the brakes under some stress, the left wheel locked up because the shoes were wet with brake fluid, and the nosedive broke the bar, and the barrel adjuster nut. The outside of the broken off end of the bar doesn't show a lot of pitting or anything. Barely surface rust. Maybe one little pit along the surface. The 325 is probably heavier than a 440. It sounded like a gun went off. Now, new shoes, new cylinders, new torsion bar, new adjuster bolt and barrel nut, dust/water seal (not included in the original design), and cleaned up anchor. I've heard stories of this happening, but the fact the bar was so stuck in the anchor and that I couldn't get the anchor blades to clear the floorboard for removal made it a weird situation. I am tempted to replace the passenger's side bar, but I think I'll wait until next winter. A dumb repair took me a week. For a simple repair, it was annoying and confusing. The part of the bar that is held into the anchor my the hex fitting is only 1.5-2 inches long and took 8 tons of pressure to extricate. Very strange.

Edited by JT Vincent 2017-07-13 11:19 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
mikes2nd
Posted 2017-07-13 11:40 PM (#544128 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember


Expert 5K+

Posts: 5006
5000
your anchor looks like a dark rusted pit of hell in the hole and the shock of the brakes locking up had to be a lot of stress.

I don't buy a 325 poly at 640 lbs when the 325 hemi is 610?

I have a 392 Hemi going into my 57 Dodge but I took an easy 100 lbs off it so I should be 640 which should be doable. (Intake, starter, alternator, water pump, exhaust manifolds)

I will probably take more off with aftermarket radiator/fan, if I need to I can go lightweight battery.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
JT Vincent
Posted 2017-07-14 5:07 PM (#544150 - in reply to #543868)
Subject: Re: Torsion bar anchor stuck in crossmember



Expert

Posts: 1493
1000100100100100252525
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Get brave (and lucky) and use heavy duty torsion bars. My anchor was fine. It was just full of dirt and grease. Putting everything back together was much easier, and for now the problem is fixed. Until the right side snaps. As for engine weight? I have no idea. I was joking. The 325 is heavy, that's all I meant. The 354 poly is one of the heaviest engines, I think. Oh btw, i made some grease/dust seals out of some off the counter plumbing supplies. They cost $4.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page]
Jump to forum :
Search this forum
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread

* * * This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated * * *


(Delete all cookies set by this site)