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How do you install torsion bar boots on the bars?

Started by WH23G3G, December 29, 2007, 10:21:02 PM

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WH23G3G

I can't get these torsion bar boots on my 73 torsion bars. I had to get the red ones from Energy Suspension because I wasn't able to find rubber ones. Does it make a difference anyway? Are the rubber ones any easier to get on the bars? The urethane has no give and I can't figure out any way to slip the little hole over the hex head. Even with the chassis grease on the hex heads of the bar as per factory instructions, I can't even get the boot close to going on. Is there a trick? Do I need rubber ones?

charger_mike75

I installed new T-bars and seals on my 68, and I ended up using K-Y jelly to get the rubber ones on.  Give that a try.

Shakey


There was no KY jelly in our house so I used lots of dish soap, the liquid kind as my wife said the dishwasher soap may be too abrasive.

Plumcrazy

Use a socket thats the same size as the end of the torsion bar.   Put the socket on a bench and with both hands around the outside of the boot slide it over the socket.

Then install the torsion bar through the crossmember, put the socket against the end of the bar and slide the boot onto the torsion bar.

It's not a midlife crisis, it's my second adolescence.

WH23G3G

Getting these boots seems totally impossible rubber or urethane. There's no way it will over this bar. My bars are factory it says 963L I think on the end. Do I pass the torsion bar through the crossmember then put the socket over the exposed hex and push on the boot? Do I need to tap with a hammer? I've got the Energey Suspension red ones and rubber ones, but I already have one side on. So I would hate to do one rubber and one red. It's so frustrating and disappointing I've been trying to get this one torsion fully installed on and off for two weeks. I mess with a little and get tired of it and then come back. Never can get the bushing on. It might not be bad when the bar is off the car, but I couldn't even do it then. I cannot see how these install quick.

ITSA426

I just did this Friday.  This is gonna make your day.

Get a rigid plastic long neck funnel (like you use to service that leaky torqueflite) and cut it off so it just barely larger than the torsion bar hex. 

I used Dow Chemical DC - 4 but parker O-lube or KY jelly would work fine.   Grease up the tapered funnel and the inside of the boot and slip it on.  I did both urethane boots, by hand, in less than a minute. 

I've wrestled these so many times before, and this worked so well, I could hardly wait to tell someone.

Charger-Bodie

simply squirt a little solvent cleaner (prepsol, wax n grease remover, etc.) on them and they will slide right on.
68 Charger R/t white with black v/t and red tailstripe. 440 4 speed ,black interior
68 383 auto with a/c and power windows. Now 440 4 speed jj1 gold black interior .
My Charger is a hybrid car, it burns gas and rubber............

Plumcrazy

Quote from: WH23G3G on February 04, 2008, 07:04:06 PM
Do I pass the torsion bar through the crossmember then put the socket over the exposed hex and push on the boot? Do I need to tap with a hammer? 

Just pass the torsion bar through the crossmember.  Hold the torsion bar with one hand, then grab the socket with the boot on it and holding the boot, slide it onto the bar.  The socket will drop onto the floor, no hammer required.

It's not a midlife crisis, it's my second adolescence.