torsion bars wore out?

[lukeapre]

Also yea I did have my bars cranked up about half way to allow for 285's, which were my last set of tires prior to the lift. I bought this thing as stock as it could be with 99K miles on it. At that time it had 245's. I put the bars down as low as they could go and it was dampened, but still jarring. However, I didn't care for all the lean it allowed, so back the bars went up some. The bars cranked about half way was a good feel. Not a smooth ride, but a good feel, I've always liked the stiff truck control most of the time. Maybe having them cranked half way screwed my arms up? Cant think of anything else. I should mention by "half way cranked", I mean half of the bolt was exposed out of the torsion bar nut.

 

[454cid]

There was a local-ish guy here that got hit with a torsion bar when he had the truck up on a lift. It wasn't the bar that broke, but the very rusted rear mount. He woke up on the ground. I think he had a video on it, that I watched on FB.... it was a couple of years ago.

My torsion bars don't fit precisely in the control arms either.

 

[lukeapre]

Another thing I’m not clear on. I hear of guys going to softer torsion bars theoretically to achieve a softer ride. Is that how it works given I have to crank my bars up a little (even with my 4” lift) in order for my aftermarket wheels to clear everything(315 70 r17). If I’m cranking my keys at any rate looking for a certain ride height, it would require me to torque the ‘softer’ bars even more just stressing them out. Right? Or, yes, it would require me to crank them more to hold my preferred ride height, but lighter bars would still feel for a softer ride? So unless a guys not torquing the bars at all, or very little, is there any point exploring lighter duty bars? Anyone have any experience with that super specific situation? Hahaha.

 

[scottbaker]

I have the same burb as you. My torsion bars fit snuggly in place with no play. If you're looking to replace to a new set I would look at LMC catalog. They've got a great selection for your exact burb. I know they have the torsion bars in and they're around $350 a piece.

 

[GMC_YA_L8R]

I know this isn't apples to apples but it's similar. Here's a picture of the driver's side torsion bar at the very front of the lower control arm on my 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD. This truck has never been lifted, lowered, cranked, or any other suspension modifications whatsoever.

I rebuilt the front end at 175k miles and everything was OEM. The original suspension was not "worn out" by any means but it was time to replace. It wasn't driven for years with worn out parts like some trucks are. I purchased the truck with 150k miles and a dozen pages of service records. My torsion bars definitely have some daylight showing through. The truck drives straight as an arrow, no walking, no slop in anything, and I completely stripped those lower control arms, cleaned them, inspected, and rebuilt them. No signs of abnormal wear anywhere.

 

[lukeapre]

I have the same burb as you. My torsion bars fit snuggly in place with no play. If you're looking to replace to a new set I would look at LMC catalog. They've got a great selection for your exact burb. I know they have the torsion bars in and they're around $350 a piece.

Thanks for letting me know. I didn’t have a vehicle to really compare it to. So interestingly enough I happened to inspect a friends 07 duramax. It looked very similar to mine and lone behold his bars were cranked for years. I think this a symptom of being worn over time having the bars cranked. I did not know this was a thing. Really hate to replace both, but I think that’s what I’ll end up doing. Mostly bc it’s difficult to tell which is worn, and I assume both are somewhat rounded out. I like working on this thing, just don’t like spending money. For now I’m going to make some kind of ss shim remedy for the bar to make some more contact.

 

[lukeapre]

I know this isn't apples to apples but it's similar. Here's a picture of the driver's side torsion bar at the very front of the lower control arm on my 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD. This truck has never been lifted, lowered, cranked, or any other suspension modifications whatsoever.

I rebuilt the front end at 175k miles and everything was OEM. The original suspension was not "worn out" by any means but it was time to replace. It wasn't driven for years with worn out parts like some trucks are. I purchased the truck with 150k miles and a dozen pages of service records. My torsion bars definitely have some daylight showing through. The truck drives straight as an arrow, no walking, no slop in anything, and I completely stripped those lower control arms, cleaned them, inspected, and rebuilt them. No signs of abnormal wear anywhere.

This is what I would think a bars fit should look like even after cleaning. Thanks for the pic.

 

[FourEightZero]

I had to use my plumber roommate's roto-hammer to pop my bars loose. "Snug" is an understatement.

Rebuilt the LCAs and put some anti-seize in the hex holes.

I'm running 315 70r17s as well. Had to shave a little bumper/wheel well along with keeping a good crank on the bars. PO already had a small block lift in the back.