[Macart]

Hi Yall,
I'm brand new to this site and what a Godsend to find a place like this, who knew??? a site dedicated to Astros and Safaris!!! In any event, I'm fairly mechanically minded and do most all my own maintenance, however, I recently aquired a 96 SAFARI awd and noticed the left front has a fair sag in it. I have never worked with Torsion Bars but from the research I've been doing, the AWD front ends are notorious for problems. Does anyone know why it may sag like that (about 2 inches lower than the passenger side) Can torsion bars lose their strength? Can I get the height back with an adjustment? Any help would be most useful.

Thanks guys/Gals

GCM

 

[gtkane]

Torsion bars usually break...and that dumps one corner into the weeds. You could try an adjustment, but they usually don't need tweaking.

Check everything else first-like the control arm bushings, hubs and even the tire sizes.

Another thing to check is the body mount bushings. They could be wiped out on one side, or even the frame may be rusted out.

 

[Greasyknuckles]

You might have a broken torsion bar. If You do, go to overlandvans.com, they have the best deal on an upgrade. Or your local junkyard for the same style bars. When and if you have to replace the torsion bars, lift your front end and take off the tires to relief all pressure on the adjuster arms. It will make it alot easier to install the new adjuster arms. You may also have to rent a balljoint compresser clamp to install the adjuster arms. Your local autozone might have this available.I've done this once so maybe a regular large c-clamp will work, I hope this info helps, just so you know, I've done this upgrade with overlandvans parts.