Last year I noticed that me rear end was droopy, I lifted it and saw that my van had the red softer torsion bars, it has moved slightly south again, I have found some green bars in me stash, they will be used, If I replace them there will be a 50/50 chance they will be the wrong way around, anyone know if it actually makes any difference??
The bars have different number of splines at each end, later buses have 48 inner and 52 outer splines.
Interesting mine had dropped nearly 2" in 3 years I raised it at tecenders and there red it's gone down a bit again but didn't know there were x2 types !!
I have a vague recollection of an earlier thread in which people were concerned about reversing the twist on the bar. Unfortunately that's all I can remember!
I had green on mine, one snapped. Replaced from VHW which is now black. I don't have a saggy rear end like @1973daisey Don't swap them around
This is what I meant, wrong side not wrong way around I cant see any part numbers to give me a clue, the red bars are too soft I think when the van is loaded to the gunnels, I think the red ones were used in Delux Micro buses for a comfy ride which is what my van started life as. As Valveandy says, I had read somewhere if you put them in the opposite way around from the way they were in the original van they could snap.
If they go down by themselves they are probably the wrong way round, as the metal grains rearrange themselves slowly and start twisting the other way. Probably OK unless there is corrosion or surface damage to start the cracking process. But even then you should have bump stops . ..
I thought that they were marked L or R. May be someone who really knows can confirm. In my youth, it was quite common to break a 'half shaft' in the old fashioned rear axles, you had to make sure that you sourced the correct side from the scrap yard, otherwise you would be sorely disappointing in double quick time! Tony
I just called Ben Lewis of 'Evil Bens'. He confirmed that they are stamped on the ends, L or R (Links or Rechts) and colour coded with a paint dot to denote their strength. Tony
I remember breaking lots of half shafts in my youth. On old sidevalve Fords the brake drum was bolted to the half shaft, and if that broke the back wheel, drum and half the axle would come away. You couldn't even safely tow it in that state.
That's the reason you were taught to use your mirrors!! My brother in law used to drive 'overland' trips, and had this happen on an old American school bus, in South America, when the hub failed, and he had the half shaft plus double wheels appear in his wing mirror. Stopped the bus at the side of the road, removed rear axle, thumbed a lift on the back of a passing truck to the nearest town, (about 50 miles away) got the axle repaired at a bush garage,and a week later installed the axle again enabling the trip to proceed. In the mean time the 'punters' had amused themselves for a week, in the middle of no where. Tony
The torsion bars are handed they where pre stressed. These are the bars fitted and to the colours relevant to the van type numbers from the 1975 fisch.
