Re-indexing torsion bars for front lift

[delicat]

It's been explained before but some extra details and pictures won't hurt.

Yesterday afternoon a bunch of us met up with the Tardisdeli at their work shop (Thanks Jay!) and started little projects. One of them was the install of my rear shackles and another one was the re-indexing of Fishslapper front torsion bars. I don't want to get in all the details 'cause it's been explained before and it's sunny outside so I'd rather be driving!

But just a few extra details to help someone looking into this project.
Firstly, completely lift the front end so both wheels are off the ground.

On the driver's side things are pretty cool;

How-to:
-Remove the two nuts on the adjuster's bolt using a 17 wrench or extension tool. (the bottom of the picture is towards the front of the truck)

Driver's side torsion bar.jpg (67.28 KiB) Viewed 12205 times

-Remove the rubber cap at the end of the torsion bar.
-Use liquid paper to mark the original setting.

Mark original setting.jpg (68.33 KiB) Viewed 12206 times

-Pull the adjuster out of the torsion bar and turn it so that the adjuster's arm is lower. Two spline seems about right. Don't worry, if you do it right you'll barely have enough thread on the bolt to put the nuts...
-Crank those nut about 3/4 of the way up (or more, why not!).
-Replace the rubber cap and you're done on this side.

Passenger's side, pain in the neck!
-Do the same as driver's side but...
-See this bracket that holds that black line? It's in the way for your job so...

Trouble brackrt.jpg (84.17 KiB) Viewed 12199 times

-Got to pry it out of the way. Here's the easy way to do it:

Pry it out of the way.jpg (108.17 KiB) Viewed 12204 times

Way out of the way.jpg (95.72 KiB) Viewed 12193 times

-Now you have room to pull the adjuster out of the torsion bar.

Room to move torsion bar passenger side.jpg (111.4 KiB) Viewed 12202 times

-Keep on wrenching!
-Once you're all done and happy, drop her down.
-Measure the hight of both front wheel to make sure they're equal.
-ENJOY! (gotta love those dirty and skin missing fingers! )

[Delicaman]

Silly question but isn't it easier to turn the adjustment nuts? Is there something I'm missing? OR, is it easier to re-index?

Cheers all..

[jessef]

Re-indexing and tightening the nut/torsion bar gives the same identical end result.

The sole reason to re-index is so that there is enough room for ample torsion bar nut turns/adjustments.

If you crank the nut all the way to the top, it will net a touch harsher ride than if you turn it a few splines and give the nut a few turns. You will end up with the same height but it's better to have the torsion bar as close to 90 degrees as possible.

[Delicaman]

Ahhh. Makes sense.. Thanks guys....
So when is the next Deli meat...? (Pardon the pun). I'm over in the Comox Valley, Cumberland to be specific. I think we have a bout 10 Delicas in Cumberland and soon, a new Delica Dealership; Comox Valley Delica Auto Imports Ltd... There will be even more then... Cheers all...

[Blackberry]

Has anyone, upon recieving their Deli noticed the torsion bars adjusted differently on each side?

When I got mine the van seemed to sit lower on the right (drivers side) than the left. I thought maybe due to its' past life having a majority driver-only when operating, causing the right torsion bar to lose its' strength as compared to the left. However when I went to adjust them I noticed the left side torsion bar had been cranked up considerably tighter than the right side...casuing the imbalance. Seemed odd. The only semi-plausible explanation I could think of was that driving on the left side of the road in Japan maybe they lifted the left side of the van to try to level the ride, in compensation for the down-slope built into the road to facilitate drainage...? Curious if anyone else has seen this.

[Golf Cart]

Blackberry

Yours must have previously been the Nagasaki Sumo Team bus

Mine is a tad different as well - a little more torque on the right side

[bionic]

..mine was off as well....almost a full spline. Corrected it when I did the lift, but still off @15 degrees left from right.

[robinimpey]

Just re-indexed my torsion bars and adjusted them to factory specs as I'm getting new tires and an alignment this week and have a couple of observations.

1. My van had also had the torsion bar on the passenger side tightened up more than the driver's side. It would seem that maybe this is something that is done at the factory as a couple of people have noted the same. Anybody know more about this? Maybe I should be cranking up my driver's side torsion bar more before I go for an alignment?

2. delicat-Thanks for the pics, those were helpful. Here's a note to add to your how to. When I went to do the passenger side torsion bar instead of prying the bracket out of the way that holds the "black line" i just pried my torsion bar towards the middle of the van and slid the adjuster off the end of the torsion bar, no problem.

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Just did mine. Mine was also quite a bit tighter on the passenger side. Did the factory expect passengers to be heavier than drivers?

Also wanted to mention that on mine: '91 high roof l300 exceed, there was no line, nor bracket in the way on the passenger side. Was as straightforward as the drivers side.

I cranked them slightly less than the looser one was before moving it over two splines. And still gained 2.5 inches of lift. Woah! Now it looks like all those other Delicas that I was so envious of. Just didn't realize why they looked so much 'Cooler'

Funny what returning it to it's normal planarity will do for ya!