Re:
I wonder if WHERE the bar is damaged would have an effect on how much
it is weakened or how much more it would be likely to fail? >I.E. in
the middle or near the ends?
I've never had one fail either, but I have considered using the
blue wrench a couple times trying to remove one.
Bill Huff
A reasonable question, but the torsional stress in a torsion bar or a coil spring is the same everywhere it is unsecured and having the same section. This makes the effect of a hacksawed notch just as damaging at any place on the torsion bar with the same section. The stress concentration at a sharp notch like that can cause local stresses in excess of 5X—using up the designer’s safety factor and severely limiting the number of cycles to failure. My recommendation is to immediately replace the damaged bar!
Rich Barber
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