Replaced your torsion bars?

[Robert]

I think I have found the source to my clunking whenever going over bumpy roads. NHTSA's Web-Site lists a couple of TSBs pertaining to the Kevlar patch wearing off of the torsion bar adjusters causing a clunking noise in turns or going over bumps. This is the noise that I have been trying to track down for the last 6 months. I crawled under my '97 tonight and found chunks of hard rubbery material (probably the Kevlar) falling out of the left torsion bar adjuster. For those of you that have replace your torsion bar what is the best method to clamp the adjuster and let it down? I want to pick up a new adjuster Friday and put it in Saturday and am looking for any tips to make it go smoothly. Thanks.

PS: here is the text from NHTSA for those of you fighting the same clunk:

Service Bulletin Number: BC0881961004
Bulletin Sequence Number: 57
Date of Bulletin: 9610
NHTSA Item Number: SB050438
Make: FORD TRUCK
Model: EXPLORER
Year: 1997
Component: SUSPENSION:SINGLE AXLE:REAR:TORSION BAR
Summary: THUMP/CLUNK NOISE IN TURNS OR OVER BUMPS MAY BE CAUSED BY THE KEVLAR PATCH WEARING THROUGH ON THE TORSION BAR ADJUSTERS. *TT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Service Bulletin Number: 13415
Bulletin Sequence Number: 966
Date of Bulletin: 9910
NHTSA Item Number: SB609679
Make: FORD TRUCK
Model: EXPLORER
Year: 1997
Component: SUSPENSION:SINGLE AXLE:REAR:TORSION BAR
Summary: EXHIBITING A SQUEAK TYPE NOISE FROM THE REAR STABILIZER BAR WHILE DRIVING, ESPECIALLY WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS. *TT

 

[CBoug76]

Keep us informed of this, I think im having the same problem as you, but i haven't seen any rubber falling off of mine.

 

[GJarrett]

Click on "Gerald's Truck" in my sig line and go down to my article about halfway down to the section on torsion bar removal. There is a special Ford tool you can order from your dealership's parts dept (I don't know the part #); or you can use a gear puller instead.

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by CBoug76
Keep us informed of this, I think im having the same problem as you, but i haven't seen any rubber falling off of mine.

I can't say that it was falling off to the point of seeing droppings on the ground, but when I crawled under it last night with a flashlight I found several chunks squeezing out from the top of the torsion bar adjuster. I pulled a few of the chunks out to have a better look. It looks like a medium gray color, hard rubber material. The clunking I get is on roads that have very small but sudden jolts or on almost all dirt roads. When I back out of my driveway with the steering wheel cranked I get a clank as my front tires leave my driveway. I can feel the clunking right under my feet on the floorpan. Since that is about where the torsion bar adjusters are, I am pretty sure that is where it is coming from. Hopefully I'll know tomorrow. It has been driving me crazy, I've looked at all of my front end parts looking for anything loose, shocks, swaybar, ect. and cannot find anything that has any play in it.

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by GJarrett
Click on "Gerald's Truck" in my sig line and go down to my article about halfway down to the section on torsion bar removal. There is a special Ford tool you can order from your dealership's parts dept (I don't know the part #); or you can use a gear puller instead.

Gerald,

Does it look possible to use a bottle jack under the adjuster to release the tension? I haven't looked close enough yet to determine if it could be done. Once I remove the torsion bar protector, I'll have a better idea. It looks to me like once the screw is removed, the adjuster has to be lifted slightly to remove the metal piece that the screw went into. After that, the adjuster should be dropped down. How far down does it come before the tension is released (slightly below the hardware, straight up and down, or all the way around until it is pointing up again)? If the adjuster is too much or if the dealer doesn't have it tonight, I'll probably just let my extended warranty company take care of it. The printout with the part number shows the price for the adjuster is $20. I don't know if that is Ford's cost or retail. For $20 it is worth not having to leave my Explorer overnight and rent a car even if the warranty company would pick up the tab.

 

[GJarrett]

That torsion arm is under a LOT of pressure. I wouldn't want to be in the same garage if you were going to try to use a bottle jack. It would probably slip and something ballistic would zing out. I had a heckuva difficult time making the gear puller work since it wasn't designed specifically for doing this job. If that special tool only costs $20 it's a no brainer. Get the tool.

PS/ if you got the part number for the tool please post it. I'll add it to my article so the info will be complete on torsion bar removal.

 

[Jeff Sauser]

The Trailmaster install book for the 1998 Ranger lift quotes the FOMOCO part for the torsion Bar Tool as T95T-5310-AR. They also say it is available from Stempf Automotive (Part #7816) at 1-800-328-4460.

 

[Jefe]

Robert, do you have your torsion bars cranked up all 2"? I found that after I did 1.75" of lift I got a very rough, noisy ride. I discovered that my down travel in the front had been reduced to 7/8" (after a friend told me I was lifting front tires doing just about anything off-road). On every bump I was maxing out the shock. I dropped my front end down 1/2" and it rides much better.

 

[Robert]

UPDATE!

Jefe,

It's hard to say how much I have them up now. Since I have had them up and down about three times now, I can't remember exactly what they started at. They are not all of the way up though. The bolts have about 3-4 threads left. With my longer shackles (and sagging springs) the front measures about 1/2" higher than the rear from the center of my wheel molding though the center of my wheel to ground. If I remember correctly I believe that with my stock tires and before I touched the torsion bars for the first time I think I measured about 31 3/4" from molding to ground. Now with my slight lift and taller tires I am at 35" in the front and 34 1/2" in the rear.

Gerald,

No the part that was $20 was the torsion bar adjuster (actually $23.12). Alldata mentions the special Ford tool, but doesn't list its part number or price. I imagined that if it came from Ford it wouldn't be cheap so I was looking for a more economical solution. Once I removed the torsion bar screw, there wasn't that much tension left on the bar. I used a gear puller to push up slightly on the bar and pulled the metal piece out that the screw goes into. Then I backed off the puller. It only came down about 2" before all of the tension was relieved from the bar. I didn't have to pull the bar out at all. Once the tension was released I pushed the bar in a bit and then pulled the adjuster off the back. It went very easily.

For everyone else,

The torsion adjusters were the source of my clanking! I will post pictures tonight of what I found. Basically, the kevlar patch was completely worn off in the middle of the adjuster causing a metal to metal clank with the frame on all bumps. Once I removed the torsion bar protectors (4 easy 13mm bolts) I could see the kevlar getting squeezed out all around the top of the adjuster. It is very easy to replace using a gear puller similar to one pictured in the Haynes manual. Total time was less than two hours and not one skinned knuckle

 

[Robert]

OK, here are the pictures:

Here is a picture of the driver's side torsion bar adjuster once the shield was removed. If it wern't so blurry the kevlar patch could easily be seen squeezing out.

Here is a picture of the new adjuster along side the old one. Look at the old one and you can see the kevlar isn't covering the surface anymore resulting in metal to metal between it and the frame.

The next picture is the gear puller I used to remove the tension on the torsion bars. It made the job very easy!

Once I got the driver's side replaced I took it for a ride. The noise occurance was about half what it used to be and I couldn't feel the clanks under my feet anymore but could still hear a clank. It was back to another Ford dealer to buy another torsion bar adjuster for the passenger side. The next picture is what I found on the passenger side.

It looked just as bad as the driver's side. I have about 67K on my '97 and have had the clank for probably the last 10K-15K miles. I can now say all traces of the clank are completely gone! The torsion bar adjusters part number is F57Z-5B328-A (at least on my '97) and they cost $23.12+tax apiece. They took just less than 2 hours to replace and was an easy one person job. Not bad to get rid of the clanking

 

[felsmann]

Fosils!

These pictures look like some findings from the Middle East or something!! LOL

 

[Jeff S]

Torsion Bar Adjusters

How hard is it to replace the torsion bar adjusters? I am experiencing this same clunking noise and have been unable to find any other cause. I'm convinced that this is the problem and want to try and replace them myself. Most of my mechanical experience is with routine maintenance like fluids, filters, belts, etc. Should I just bring it to the dealer or is it easy enough for an amateur to tackle?

 

[Robert]

I did it myself in about 2 hours for both. With the gear puller I used in my picture it made the job very easy. The torsion bar adjusters have an extra dimple in it for the pulley to go into. Clamp the two clamps around the metal supports on each side of the adjuster. Tighten up the pulley a little then remove the adjuster screw. Once the screw is out, slowly release the aduster by backing off the pulley. Once the end of the adjuster is hanging down about an inch or two the tension will be released and you can slide the adjuster off the end of the torsion bar. I used white-out to make sure I put the new one on in the same orientation as the old one. I would rank it as one of the easier things to do as long as you don't try and take shortcuts with releasing the tension on the torsion bar and is much less messy than changing your oil. Also, before you remove the adjuster screw, count how many revolutions you have to turn it to remove it so that when you put it back in, you get the height back to the same height. Replacing both adjusters totally elimintated all of my front end clunking and the banging I was feeling under my feet.

I did still have a clunk when going over bumps but it was coming from the rear. I had to have both rear axle bearings replaced. At first it was just the passenger side, but after replacing it, the rear end clunking was still there. The shop also found the driver's side bearing bad as well. I would have never suspected that the driver's side bearing was bad since I could hardly move the wheel up and down however once it was replaced my Explorer now rides as quiet as it did when it was new.

My recomendation would be to replace the adjusters since it is something you can do yourself. If your old ones look as bad as mine did go ahead and put the new ones in. If you still have a clunk, investigate the rear axle bearings.

 

[cantspell]

OK, I"ve search and done some research, and I"m pretty sure this is the cause of a great portion of my front end clunk. Is this procedure in the Haynes? I've done the TT, and even (after hours) taken out a piece of a broken torsion adjusting bolts, so i know the area very well, but i don't see ANY padding of any sort actully, and I'm not really sure how to release the tension to check...

 

[cantspell]

OK, I"ve search and done some research, and I"m pretty sure this is the cause of a great portion of my front end clunk. Is this procedure in the Haynes? I've done the TT, and even (after hours) taken out a piece of a broken torsion adjusting bolts, so i know the area very well, but i don't see ANY padding of any sort actully, and I'm not really sure how to release the tension to check...

 

[Robert]

The kevlar patch is on top of the torsion bar adjuster. The adjuster is the pork chop looking piece at the back end of your torsion bar. The patch is glued to the top of the adjuster and is sandwhiched between the adjuster and the socket in the frame that it rotates in. Unless you see it getting squeezed out like mine was, the only way to inspect it is by removing the adjuster. To remove the adjuster you need to use a heavy duty 2-jaw puller that clamps around the metal frame on each side of the adjuster. You screw the puller bolt into the extra socket on the bottom of the adjuster until the adjuster is off the adjuster bolt. Remove the bolt and then slowly back the adjuster back down until the tension is releaved. Do this with the vehilce on jackstands, with the tire just off the ground.

 

[ExplorGM]

Broken Torsion Bolt...

Kinda funny that this post popped up again now. I just broke another torsion adjusting bolt on the way to work two days ago! Had it cranked up about 3/4 of the way. Fortunately I had a spare left over from the parts I bought after the Florence/Coke Ovens trip! It was a brand new bolt with zero off road use on it when it broke...

FYI- I use a floor jack to lift the adjuster when removing the unit.

 

[Robert]

Rick, are you using the stock ford bolts? I thought the one you broke at the Coke Ovens was a longer bolt. If not, then they probably aren't the correct hardness. If they are the Ford bolts, then it probably has to do with your tires (are you still running the 33s?). Other people are running the 33s though and so far you are the only one I can remember breaking the bolt. Maybe it's just because you have broken two of them now. Mine have about an 1/8" before they are screwed all the way in and have been screwed in and out several times (still original). If you are running 33s though, your tires are a bit heavier than mine though. Maybe your shocks are real stiff? Didn't you also change to the 'B' torsion bars? Mine has 'D' bars. Maybe the combination of the stiffer bars, hard shocks and heavy tires are taking its toll?

 

[ExplorGM]

Factory Bolts

Robert,
You are probably right about the combination of bigger tires and upgraded torsion bars being a factor. I ran the factory bolts cranked most of the way up for over three years without any problems using 30-32 inch tires previously.
The shocks are Rancho RSXs. They have been in for about 30K+miles. I broke a rear shock last year too... They lost some of their effectiveness after only a year so they are probably not a factor.
The bolt that broke on the run was a factory bolt too. The one I replaced it with was that nifty super high tech, space age, longer, chrome socket bolt...

I'm driving between 30-300 miles a day now so I've put the 285-75R16 Dunlops back on and dropped the height down a little. Can't have a bolt breaking out in the middle of the desert! I'll save the MTRs for off road trips for now.
Rick

 

[Hoppy]

FYI- I use a floor jack to lift the adjuster when removing the unit.

ExplorerGM,

You say you use a floor jack to lift the adjuster. Can I do this on my 97 ex to releive the TB tension and to put it back up? What do you put the jack on? The Adjuster bar?

Hoppy