Isuzu SUV Forum banner

indy4x swayaway torsion bars

74K views 46 replies 23 participants last post by  egagnon086 
#1 ·
i will soon be installing indy4x swayaway torsion bars,i know how to adjust them.how do you change them.very little info here on changing them 8) recon
 
#2 ·
Jack up the vehicle and support the FRAME solidly.

Loosen TB tension on the 24mm bolt till it is slack. Actually remove the bolt. Helps to hose it all down with penetrating oil ahead of time.

You need to loosen the nuts that hold the TB collars on the A arms. Holding the bolts heads inside the arms is a royal PIA. I normally just unbolt the collars completely.

Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!! these collars are angled internally so that the TB angles up slightly in the rear. Install them upside down and you can break a bar. Keep them same side same. mark your old TBs where they came form as well L or R. They are NOT interchangable.

Now you can slide the bar out to the rear over the tension bolt arm. try not to scratch them. This can cause stress risers in the metal.

Now just knock the collars off with a mallet and install on the new bars.

Bars are marked L and R by stamping on the ends. This is critical. The metal in the bars is already twisted in the proper direction. Using a L bar on the R will break it. I would mount them with both marks F or R This should be stated in the instructions. Not quite a critacal as L,R.

Grease the splines.

Install the bars iby inserting back over the Tensoner arms and putting the collars back on the bolts. There should be a little rubber pad that fits in the collar between the bar and the bolt head on the A arm. Put the nuts on loosely.

Go to the rear and tap the bars forward with a rubber mallet to seat them.

Install the tension keys on the GREASED splines. I also grease the bolts, the saddles where the keys sit and the round part of the keys. I put them so that the angle of the key matches the angle of the slope on the tensioner arms for a reference.

Now go back forward and tighten the nuts on the A arm collars.

Go back to the rear and tighten the 24mm bolts. You did grease or anti-seize the threads right? Also clean and closely inspect these bolt for any possible cracks ect. The heads have broken off on some.

With the HD bars you won't need as many turns as the stock bars they are much stiffer. as soon as you get some tension check to make sure that the bar splines are fully engaged at the collars and that the keys are centered in the saddles f+r. Add some tension and set it on the ground to check the height. don't try to do a lot of tensioning with the truck on the ground. This really stresses the parts and makes it hard to do. it also puts you under the truck should a bolt or bar break and the truck WILL drop as far as the bump stops. Check the height then jack it back up and adjust then check again. Re check in a couple of days. I normally just find a nice level parking lot and do the final check there with a tape measure to the center of the wheel well lip. Make sure you check tire pressure 1st. I set the front 1/2" lower than the rear to account for loading the truck.

Moderater please sticky so we only have to do this once.
 
#3 ·
:D thanks for the great information. :D recon
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
I think black89rodeo made a post on how to do it with some pics. I know it's always useful to have instructions along with pictures. That might help.
 
#6 ·
one thing for sure am to spray all the bolts every day for the next two weeks 8) recon
 
#7 ·
Sticky'd and also grabbed the info from Brandon to throw in here:

Alot of us know how to remove/install torsion bars, but for those who don't, i'll try my best to break it down for you with the pictures i have. Only have pics of the driver side, if you can get that far, you can do the same for the other side. :lol:

I don't know about ya'll, but the first thing i do before wrenching is to turn on some tunes. Breaking Benjamin, 5FDP, Daughtry, somewhere in that neighborhood.

1. Safely jack up the vehicle and secure it with jackstands like so.

Had to extend 'em all the way up to reach my frame.

Now comes the fun part. I don't remember the size of the socket (it's a 27mm), just keep trying 'em until you get the right one. It's big, i do know that. Back this bolt all the way out until it comes out, like this.


Alot of people's "anchor" is maxed out, which means the "anchor" is parallel with the crossmember. Mine wasn't, but make sure when you go to install the new ones, the "anchor" is at/or a little more than a 45 degree angle, just enough to be able to put the bolt back through. This was my second t-bar install and both times i forgot to do that and i had to take the t-bar back out and rotate it/or reindex if you will, to get the torsion bar to grab. Food for thought.

Once you have the back undone, the t-bar should be able to wiggle some, you are half way done with the removal. There are 2 nuts that hold the plate on the bar, take 'em off(forgot the size, i know, i know, im worthless) and pull back hard on the bar and it should pop out. If it doesn't, you may need some more *** behind it. :lol: It's going to take some twisting and turning to navigate the bar out of the crossmembers and such.


Side by side. The new ones may be a little bit thicker, i couldn't really tell, but they are definitely heavier.

Like i said, once you make it this far you should start to see how everything works which will make reinstalling a breeze. The last thing i'll add is make sure you grease both ends of the splines, and also grease inside the lower control arm. I used some valvoline suspension grease, works good.

When you are done it will look something like this.

The other side....

...and the poser shot
 
  • Like
Reactions: roadsterdoc
#8 ·
:D wow thanks for the detailed pictures and info.making it a sticky is cool too.now i know what to expect when i change mine. 8) recon
 
#11 ·
holger said:
The Bolt head size is 1 1/16 " - at least, this socket size works perfectly.
Since it's a Japanese car it's probably 27mm for the rest of the world ;) but either socket should work.

Joel :D
 
#12 ·
i am finishing up my rear suspension after work today on my 95 pup,i took every thing a part yesterday,the center pins for my add a leaf kit to big,i will pick right size up at the spring shop today.so today i will finish rear add a leaf and indy shackles and shocks.i will post up date on my torsion bar installation wensday.i hope every thing goes well.i been spraying every thing down for a week now. 8) recon
 
#15 ·
#16 ·
i pulled my sway-a-way torsion bars out of the box this morning,i cant read the engravings they are not clear,on the engraving ends one bar is painted light blue and the other is light red.which bar goes on passenger side and which side on drivers,does the engraved end go in the lower control arm socket end or the adjusting socket end.it looks look the torsion bar that is painted blue has an L on it.there are no instructions.
8) recon
 
#17 ·
Very good description and pics. Did you go with ball joint spacers, too? I just did the Indy4x TB's on my 89 Trooper, and not sure if I need to do the ball joint spacers. In your opinion, would you also install Indy4x ball joint spacers?
 
#18 ·
tufftrooper said:
Very good description and pics. Did you go with ball joint spacers, too? I just did the Indy4x TB's on my 89 Trooper, and not sure if I need to do the ball joint spacers. In your opinion, would you also install Indy4x ball joint spacers?
i removed my bj spacers on my 95 trooper,way to much postive camber
at 3 inches,just bj flip on it.i did bj flip and bj spacer at 2.5 inch lift on my 95 pup.so it depends on the vehical.my 95 troop has wider stance longer control arms. 8) recon
 
#20 ·
recon said:
tufftrooper said:
Very good description and pics. Did you go with ball joint spacers, too? I just did the Indy4x TB's on my 89 Trooper, and not sure if I need to do the ball joint spacers. In your opinion, would you also install Indy4x ball joint spacers?
i removed my bj spacers on my 95 trooper,way to much postive camber
at 3 inches,just bj flip on it.i did bj flip and bj spacer at 2.5 inch lift on my 95 pup.so it depends on the vehical.my 95 troop has wider stance longer control arms. 8) recon
That's weird, my alignment shop had no trouble getting camber in spec with the spacers in place...I have the same suspension as you.
 
#21 ·
mine had a lot of camber shims,i had way to much camber with bj spacers,very little shim adjustment when i removed spacers,but i needed the bj spacers in my pup,very little adjustment in shims needed there also 8) recon
 
#22 ·
Is a BJ Spacer required for 2" lift on the short IFS arms (like my 92 pickup)? I was planning to just flip the ball joint.
 
#24 ·
#25 ·
:D i finally am changing out my torsion bars after having them over 2 years now lol.
but i am doing a 1.5 inch diff drop and aussie installation at the same time lol. 8) recon
 
#26 ·
Ok, I'm going to ask what may be a really, really dumb question here, but why would you need to replace the torsion bars in the first place?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top