Has anyone replaced the torsion bars on these trucks. How easy are they to do? Any tips to save time and make the job easier? Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

I have not. Do you have the manual? http://web.archive.org/web/201204242...29torsionb.pdf

 

Yes I’ve looked in the service manual but it is not very detailed

 

Just realized this is for a pickup not 4runner. Someone can comment if they are the same, the below steps were for a 1993 4runner 3VZE

MEASURE

Measure ride height on the ground and then at full droop that difference is your down-travel. Get as close as you can to matching this when installing the new tbars

To remove:
Soak your nuts in penetrant (ha) and try to get it into the tbar end into the UCA
With the car on JACKSTANDS and the front end NOT under weight with the tires removed
Remove the rear adjustement bolts/nuts that will remove all energy in the bar
it should now come loose out of the rear mount, it's going to take some finagling to get the front out but it should pull out (depending where you live this could be more or less difficult mine were fairly rust free so I got lucky)
Since you're not reusing the old tbars you don't have to matchmark the old bars. but look at the UCA and find the matchmark spline (wider) and mark it with a paintpen
do the same on both ends of the tbars so you can get them back in easier.
I was able to to put the rear piece on, align it inside (IE towards the center of the truck not in the rear mount yet) the rear mount and it slid up into the front and into the rear mount.
Then it's just torquing them down and getting the ride height set.

This is off the top of my head so I might have missed some minor things but you'll want grease on hand to put on the rod ends so they don't rust in.

Get an alignment

 

its pretty easy, the front suspension is the same from the pickup to the 4runner. you either have a lock nut and adjuster or just an adjuster, ive seen both. back the nut off, the rear end pops out easy enough. the front pulls straight back out. some things to note before going it are hitting those adjusters with some PB blaster or whatever you like, and you can get new dust boots from the dealer. the hardest part, in my opinion, is getting them back in because they are keyed. one spline is larger than the others, and will only fit in one way. they should have a mark on them from the factory but they wear off. I replaced both in about 1.5 hours, and that was at a crawl and drinking beers between sides. getting your height set back right afterwards will take the longest. count your turns when installing to match height side per side, drop it off the stands and drive it a while then recheck height. new bars will settle over time. if your planning to change ride height youll need an alignment.

 

I dont know if this matters but I stripped a '92 and I did retrieve the torsion springs. As I recall i heated my nuts up to remove otherwise could have required some big effort possibly.

 

they can get pretty froze up, but it makes a big difference if its sitting on the ground or up on jacks.

 

Do not attempt this with the front tires on the ground, it's under tremendous load.

If you shear the adjustment bolt you have a chance of pinching body parts between the spring arm and chassis while simultaneously trying to dodge the projectile that is the bottom side of the bolt.

 

Thanks for all the advice folks! Seemed like a fairly straight forward job but I wanted to get others opinions first. Once again thanks!

 

Another quick question on the topic with the torsion bars off the upper control arm should move freely right? I have a 2 inch ball joint spaced and I want to swap it out for a 3 inch so I don’t have to crank the torsion bars back up as high. Just wondering if that is going to make things way easier with the torsion bars out or not. Thanks.

 

that's one hell of a BJS. yes, provided that the UCA is not attached to the BJ, having the bars pulled out of the control arm will allow it to move up and down freely.

 

Just reiterating this because I have read at least 1 thread in the past 2 months where someone tried to do this with it under load and ended up in the hospital with a busted open hand.

I was able to get my nuts loose with just a weeks worth of a squirt of PB every morning. That and a nice impact make the job significantly easier.

 

yeah some guy posted recently about trying to do it under load and got his hand pinched between the body and his wrench. not sure why people think its a good idea to run a single barrier to energy off with their hand ha.

 

There's a good chance you'll twist off at least one of the adjustment bolts in the process of getting the original tbars out. For safety purposes, do the following:
0) Soak all bolts with penetrating oil for several days before starting this.
1) As said several times, raise the front end off the ground to fully droop the wheels and reduce the tension as much as possible. Note that this does not relieve all of the tension; there is still enough energy left in the bar to seriously injure you.
2) Put a box end wrench on the nut on top in such a way as to jam against the frame so you don't have to hold it. You do NOT want your hand up there while you are wrenching on the bolt head from the bottom.
3) Put a small steel plate above the top end of the bolt to avoid the bolt end going through the floor pan if it twists off. Otherwise it will punch a hole in the floor, trust me!
4) Now get a long breaker bar and socket and try to back the bolt head out from the bottom. Wear safety glasses and gloves, keep all body parts well away from the bolt and adjustment arm, and be prepared for a heck of a bang if the bolt twists off.