I'm interested in your experience V.
The Survey So Far Says:
Silverbullet: :thumbup:
Buffy::thumbup:
Vendetta: :_wrench:
Me: :?:
Wish you guys were closer so I could take a test drive. :yesgray:
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I'm interested in your experience V.
The Survey So Far Says:
Silverbullet: :thumbup:
Buffy::thumbup:
Vendetta: :_wrench:
Me: :?:
Wish you guys were closer so I could take a test drive. :yesgray:
'Rado my man, unless my rig explodes when I turn the key (not entirely unheard of in NY), then my feedback is going to be nothing but raving.
That's 'cause right now, my rig is an absolutely terrifying experience to drive. 14-year old shocks, maxed out torsion bars, and fresh OME 913s in the rear make for an irresponsibly jarring ride. Slight bumps feel like IEDs. Gentle bends risk being full-on "Tokyo Drifts." It's ridiculous.
So as long as she rolls out from the garage "driveable," then I'll be thoroughly satisfied.
But don't despair. I'll be over it about an hour later, and able to give you a more objective insight as to the results. I've had my VX since 2000, and still recall the test drive - route, speeds, and all. Even the CD I was listening to. Needless to say I'll be repeating that to a T while comparing the current handling with what it was then.
I can't hardly wait!
-V
I can relate to the "IED" potholes. My ride was terrible last year when I had all suspension lift and maxed out the torsion bars. All is good now with the body lift but the grass is always greener... :D
OK, so...
Ordered Monday, arrived today. As in just now.
Oh. My. God. These are some ridiculously beefy bars. The weight on them is so deceiving. I went to pick up the box and it was like, nah, I'll stay right here where I am thank you. Got them inside, took them out to make sure they didn't accidentally send me Thor's hammer instead.
Shocks are supposed to arrive Friday, so Saturday should be the day!
Can't wait.
-V
yeah, they are some seriously beefy bars, just got mine installed with ball joint flip and spacers in the front, with the ome 919 springs and rancho 9000xl shocks. gave me a full three inch lift in the back and matched with a three inch in the front. drives amazing now. still playing with the adjustments on the shocks though.
and having just finished my lift like two days ago. a word of advice. take a hose to the underside of your vx before you crawl under it and start trying to remove things. i knocked so much dirt in my face it wasn't funny.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vendetta
I have ordered the 1.5" (1" really) spring spacers to accompany my 912's in the rear because the 2" spacers I have were too much with the 912's and just the 912's is not enough for the 35" tires.
My question is: how do you replace the torsion bars? Has anyone done a write up? And please more feedback on the HD torsion bars, opinions? Will it be worth it with the 35's up front? I have hit the inner fender with the 35's when turning to go up a driveway over 20mph.
Oh and has anyone else got the adjustable lower links yet? They are my favorite lift related purchase because they completely eliminated post lift driveline vibrations, and move the rear tire backwards in the wheel well so there is no concern rubbing in the rear even with 35's :-)
They are pretty easy to replace.
Jack up the vehicle by the frame, until the front wheel is off the ground.
'Unscrew' the 27mm torsion bar adjustment bolt all the way and remove. Don't sweat the number of turns, it will be different with the new stiffer torsion bars anyway.
At this point, you want to pull the torsion bar from the front mount of the torsion bar on the control arm. You may have difficulty due to interference from the crossmember at the rear end; if so, loosen the 17mm bolts holding the front mount of the torsion bar on the control arm (might take a breaker bar for this, they are pretty tight in my experience), this will allow you to move the rear end of the torsion bar high enough to clear the crossmember. The front mount is not fastened to the bar, the splined end of the bar just slides into the splined mount.
Pull the adjustment arm off of the old torsion bar, again it is not fastened to the bar but just slides off.
Install is pretty much the reverse of the above process. A few notes:
The new torsion bars should be marked L and R, so pay attention. Check with the maker as to which end goes forward, I forget.
Grease the splined ends of the new torsion bar before install. Doesn't hurt to grease the bearing surface of the half-moon nut also.
'Clock' the adjustment arms up enough to give you enough swing for cranking up to your desired ride height.
True except one part, we do have bolts at the forward end of the torsion bar. I only have one bolt on one side, it broke when I did the SFIFS install.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigSwede
What is it, like a set screw?Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
Nope. The front of the torsion bar bolts to the lower A arm mount. Not sure on the technical jargon there, but here is a pic:Quote:
Originally Posted by BigSwede
Inside the "thingy", bolted to the "lower control whatzit", are where splines live...:_wrench:Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
At least that's what I got out of it, using my "Big Swede decoder ring"...:yesgray:
Damn, I have been calling the "thingy" the wrong word for the last 4 years!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldub
Ah, OK well that configuration is actually what I was trying to describe, pics are much better than words for this...Larry is on the right track - both ends of the torsion bar are splined, and the end of the torsion bar slides into that female splined fitting that is bolted to the control arm. Make sense?Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
the whole job takes about an hour total...
:-)
Got my HD torsion bars in the mail last week I should install them tomorrow. Fri night I installed the 1.5" spacers, installed new mounting bracket for rear bumpstops, added length to the lower links, and installed newly rebuilt and LENGTHENED driveshaft. The lengthened driveshaft allows me to lengthen the lower links to avoid all driveline vibrations on the highway without fear of the driveshaft spline coming out when rear suspension is extended.
Weird, I ordered mine last night, and this morning, I see your post! Coincidence.
Just got done with the install. Super easy. But I don't see how you could do this without removing the two 17mm bolts that hold the torsion bar on the front lower a arm. Easy once everything was loose. Took a 5lb hammer to break the splines from the two attachments.
One weird thing though: I took my time and cleaned all threads super well and greased everything, and now I do not have to lift the VX off the ground to turn torsion bolt and adjust height. Granted it was not super easy but I did not need a breaker bar (my socket is pretty hearty though). I was just turning and adjusting with the VX on the ground and it was raising and lower the VX accordingly down to the 1/4" for every half turn. Once you take everything off and see how it works you will never forget that tighten the bolt will force the lower a arm down. Can't wait to road test.
From ground to top of wheel well I am now:
40" REAR
39-1/4" FRONT
Interested to see how they do with the 35s...Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleBeast
Well from the first day of driving I am very impressed and very happy with the outcome. I feel like these should be standard on any lifted VX.
2 main things I have noticed so far:
1) front nose dive while braking is MUCH better now! I did not realize how badly the front end was compressing during braking until the first time I hit the brakes with the new HD bars installed, VX felt so much more stable and in control.
2) front ride quality now matches rear ride quality much better. I overall think this is a very good thing. It was very odd to get a softer bump on the front and then a hard smash on the rear when rolling over something jarring, but now it just feels more natural. These HD torsion bars definitely match the OME springs much better!
I definitely notice the front end dive during braking
I should probably stop hesitating and buy the HD torsion bars. At this rate, they'll be sold out again by the time I decide to buy them. :slap:
Yeah after driving with them a couple days now, I really think they should be standard if you are in the 33-36" tire range.
Installed mine today with help from a friend since I had my shoulder surgery 2 weeks ago. It took us 3 hours, but we had some rust issues and the SFIFS kit makes it way more difficult for assembly. I set it up with the front about an inch lower than the rear. CVs are completely level (I installed diff drop a few years ago). Seems stiffer, but I haven't had it out and about yet. I will say that the change in height verse the adjustment nut is much more. I am also SFIFS, so I can't compare to the factory adjustment, but about 1/2 turn on the nut gets me close 3/8" in ride height change. I also noticed that I significantly bent the passenger rear lower link at some point. Like a lot....guess I will have to order the adjustable lowers from indy when tax return comes:( The tabs on the perches are also bent, will have to hammer them out to get the old links off. I will probably add some 1/4" plate the perches to protect them more. I also noticed that she got a good whack on the transfer case skid plate at some point, good thing I added those. Amazing how much you notice while laying under the truck for a few hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
I wonder if the HD torsion bars will limit IFS flex because the stiffer bars won't allow the suspension to compress as much. I'm also curious how the HD torsion bars affect SFIFS... seems like the stiffer suspension would actually transfer the torsion load easier.
That is a fair question and I would guess that the rate of change will be much faster, not sure if they are so much stiffer that they will limit compression or not. I do have shaved bump stops. Next I will remove the rear sway bar and install retainers for the springs. My springs have been installed upside down for 4 years, so I may have to flip them over to put any kind of retainer in there. We shall see. We have URE run in April, although I never pull the pin on any of those trails, maybe I can do some comparisons.
FWIW...:_thinking
The approximate change in spring rate sounds significant to me.
A full turn on the adjustment nut with stock bars = about 1/4" of lift VS
1/2 turn with the HD bars = about 3/8", which should be about 3/4" at a full turn...:_wrench:
By way of the limited comparative info, that sounds like close to 3 times the torsional resistance.
When linked to an equally resistant "spring", by way of the SFIFS...:_confused
That would seem to make it more stable as well. I dunno. There is a...gulp...Jeep dealership here in my area that has a club and they have ramps they use for owners to test flex and whatnot. It may be worth a trip for me just to make them look silly as well as gather some tangible empirical data.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldub
In relation to the change in height vs the turns on the adjuster. The adjusting bolt is a 1.25.inch bolt. Thr stock one was 22 or 24 mm iirc. I don't know if we can really compare the two as far as rate of change.
Real "super flexy" suspension :D...
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...53167817_n.jpg
That'd depend on pitch (TPI)Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin
Also true, but the way it adjusts is completely different than the factory setup. The adjusting bolt on the SFIFS is a direct connection meaning it is perpendicular to the torsion bar coupling. There are no angles involved so I think the actual distance the torsion bar is moved per thread is higher than with the OEM setup. It is also a gigantic PITA since it is adjusted with a wrench vice a socket. 1/16-1/8" of a turn at a time. A 2" body lift would help a lot:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldub
I didn't do any comparisons with the OEM bars. I know that my passenger side bar was way "looser" than the driver's side. Seemed odd to me and I cannot fathom why, but it was what it was.
Okay, so I have very little time on the HD torsion bars to date, but my initial opinion of them is very good. The Vx nose dive is greatly attenuated and they seem to alleviate my bump steer issues. Truck is driving more akin to the way things were before the lift and before the steel front bumper. Will report back once I've got more time on them.
Excellent! Did you do the install?Quote:
Originally Posted by vxcp
Where are the pics and info on this steel bumper eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by vxcp
No, had a mechanic help with that. Don't have a press and didn't want to get stuck halfway through the swap.Quote:
Originally Posted by eternal21
I've been meaning to write something on that... Will get a post up. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by bartmanS4