Just installed the snowplow on my 1995 22RE IFS 4WD pickup. The plow weighs a couple of hundred pounds. I would like to put beefier torsion bars in. Does anyone have suggestions on what type and where to find some? Thanks.

I'll try to post pics of the truck.

 

i think... "sway-a-way" makes aftermarket torsions for lifted trucks, but idk if they are "beefier"

 

Yeah sounds like a job for Downey 26mm bars if ever there was one. I think Downey is out of business now but I bet there are some out there if you look hard enough.

 

I've got a pair of Downeys if you're interested.

 

there was a guy on here selling 24 and 26mm bars a few weeks back. It makes me wonder if I should upgrade my torsions after putting a TJM winch bumper on... i'll be adding a winch, lights, and hi lift jack and mount... think its worth it at all?

 

Adding heavy stuff to the front end is the one time that heavier t bars are a good idea. Here is an old thread with different sizes from different companies.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f31/...on-bars-28507/

As Dale noted, Downey is out of business now so that item would have to be found used/garage sale style (or see if we can figure out if anyone ever picked up Downey's product line)

Good luck.

 

Sway-away does offer up-rated t-bars in 25 and 27.5mm diameters.
http://www.swayaway.com/VehicleMake_4.php scroll to the bottom.
From what I've gathered, the Sway Away 25mm bar is stiffer than the Downey bar with the Downey bar basically being a stock bar but re-indexed so the control arm would create lift with Downey's control arm setup.

 

X2 the swayaways are not that expensive. I will use them when I finally get my front bumper situated. Just remember the upgraded torsions when in the summer without the plow on will ride a helluva lot stiffer and will most likely have to be turned down to level out the truck.

 

I've never heard of that one. Downey offered a 26mm bar which was substantially stiffer than stock. The taper from the splines to the length of the bar was almost nonexistent. I ran these for a couple of years and switched to the 25mm SAW bars. The Downeys were definitely stiffer than the SAWs. For solid round rods stiffness scales with diameter to the fourth power: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_%28mechanics%29

 

i'm getting some old man emus for mine, they are beifier than stock, i had trouble searchin for sway-a-ways(which are also beifier) in canada besides i already new who carried OME stuff.

 

Hmm... okay.

Guess you're right (from http://web.archive.org/web/200611042...ents/index.htm, scroll down a bit):
But I do want to point out my emphasized text... "cranked in lift."

 

Yeah, I've always had trouble with that from a physics standpoint. It only holds if torsion bars act as non-linear spring. If the stock bars and Downey bars are assumed linear (resisting torque vs. twist angle is a proportional relationship) then their statement is false. It doesn't matter the preload, Downey's springs will be stiffer. But if cranking the stock bars causes them to work in a non-linear region, i.e., exponential (stiffness increases very quickly over that region), then they could indeed become stiffer than the Downeys at that point. My thoughts are that if a steel torsion spring is loaded enough to act nonlinearly then there are other serious problems like buckling out-of-axis (think of twisting a rubber band up so far that it breaks) or just good old fashioned plastic yielding. But people crank in lift without breaking stock torsion bars, right?

 

Torsion springs are rarely if ever progressive in rate. Basic metallurgy dictates so.

Take a stiff bar and 'relax' it a bit and it will appear at first to be softer than the original and increase in rate at a proportional, or even exponential rate when compared to another softer bar as the suspension compresses.

Pre-load? That's a misnomer and deceptive marketing. Take a stock vehicle- remove the t-bar and replace it with a Downey bar- both bars will see the same amount of load regardless of adjusting the 'adjuster' on the frame. The difference between the two is that the stiffer bar will 'settle', or be able to counter the torque presented to it, resisting the force, sooner than the stock bar does, which results in the truck setting higher.

"Pre-load" is loading the bar before it sees any other load. For instance throttle return springs are pre-loaded so that they can overcome any other stress on the throttle and fully close the throttle when the pedal is released, and they will still have tension on them at that point- that is pre-load. If you wanted to pre-load the stock t-bar, you'd crank it up until the truck is lifted as high as it can be lifted due to the control arms hitting the stops, then crank some more in- that's pre-load.

 

I got a set of the Downey's left over from SAS. Been ran for 2.5 yrs. No issues will sale cheap make offer. PM if interested.

 

This is what I was calling stiffness. Torsion springs are linear in that their response to a applied moment (torque) is proportional to the angle they deflect. Apply 100 lbf-ft and you get 5 degrees, apply 200 and you get 10 degrees, so on. This is true if the material acts linearly as well which steel does. Maybe some diagrams would help in this discussion.

 

By the way I think pre-load is a real thing... it's the angle at which the back of the bar is set. To keep the truck at a certain ride height takes a certain amount of torque. The stock bar will take a greater angle of twist than a larger bar. You're just setting the zero-load point of the bar when you adjust the pre-load bolt.

 

The angle of the moment arm is also a factor. The moment arm is the upper control arm (UCA) in this case. The closer the UCA is to 90 degrees to the force acting in it the softer the ride will be. In other words, when the UCA is parallel to the pavement the t-bars will have the most leverage on them. So as the UCA swings away from 90 degrees the stiffness becomes non-linear because of the changing moment arm angle.

 

I have Old Man Emu's on my 93. Definately more load ability.

 

Does the Sway-a-way torsion bars have a lesser spring rate than say the Old Man Emu's at the same size?