Posts: 605
each function has its own button
Posts: 605
Shannon Y
www.ohiodeloreans.com
www.facebook.com/ohiodeloreans
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1st angle drive - 58,027 miles (20 years) -- original
2nd angle drive - 48,489 miles (21 years) -- original from donor
3rd angle drive - 26,572 miles (2 years 3 months) -- DMCH
4th angle drive - 21,988 miles (1 year 11 months) -- DMCH
5th angle drive - 7,137 miles (10 months 2 days) -- DMCH
6th angle drive - OVER 113,704 miles and counting (OVER 13 yr 1 month & counting) -- new Martin Gutkowski unit
over 245K miles
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,579
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
It is and always was 2-4 inches. I came up with the idea and Rob helped to validate the measurement. 6 inches would mean the torsion bar is probably too tight. I wanted to create a test so you could tell if you needed new struts or a torsion bar adjustment and you didn't have a new strut to test it with. "Back in the day" people would crank up the torsion bar to compensate for weak struts. When you finally replaced the strut the doors would fly open and bounce. That meant another torsion bar adjustment. Today we caution against torsion bar adjustments. It should never be necessary if you just replace the struts when they weaken. Of course if the bar is out of adjustment it is necessary to readjust it but NEVER over-torque a torsion bar to compensate for a weak strut. The DMA does free torsion bar adjustments for the members. We find we are doing less and less of them and most of the time they don't need a torsion bar adjustment, just new struts. Or they need other door adjustments like the striker pins or the linkage inside. When I adjust torsion bars my test is, with a new strut, if the door will open and stay all the way up when I push the door up around 70 degrees F. I never want to see the door bounce when it opens all the way. That can be a difficult adjustment when you use the door launchers (door poppers) because if you set it up when it is cold, when you get hotter, the struts get stronger and will cause the bounce. The new struts PJ Grady is selling now have a lot more dampening so you don't get so much bounce but it is still bad to overtorque the bars. Puts a lot more stress on the whole system, the doors and the body. Last point. Years ago a vendor sold struts that, when collapsed, (door closed) were too long. Put a LOT of stress on the attach points. Would eventually damage the one on the body, it is weaker than the one on the metal door. There are kits to repair that damage and no one should have those struts anymore.
David Teitelbaum
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 1,147
My VIN: 1880
Club(s): (DCO) (DCUK)
Please see the DMCNews link: http://www.dmcnews.com/Techsection/dooradjust1.html
Originally Posted by Author/source: David Teitelbaum via DML 12/9/2000
Patrick C.
VIN 1880
Shannon Y
www.ohiodeloreans.com
www.facebook.com/ohiodeloreans
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1st angle drive - 58,027 miles (20 years) -- original
2nd angle drive - 48,489 miles (21 years) -- original from donor
3rd angle drive - 26,572 miles (2 years 3 months) -- DMCH
4th angle drive - 21,988 miles (1 year 11 months) -- DMCH
5th angle drive - 7,137 miles (10 months 2 days) -- DMCH
6th angle drive - OVER 113,704 miles and counting (OVER 13 yr 1 month & counting) -- new Martin Gutkowski unit
over 245K miles
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,579
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
As you can see that was off the old mailing list and was an old #. Rob wanted to go towards the 6 but IMHO it is a little too much, I would stay closer to the 4 inch as a maximum spec. That is what we have been using for a long time.Certainly if it is anything over 6 inches you are way over-torqued. You will know it immediately when you put a new strut on. The less stress you put on the door system the better.
David Teitelbaum
Sorry to resurrect this thread but it was the most recent out of the ones I could see. I've emailed Toby at DPNW a couple of times over the past few weeks and not heard anything back, I was just trying to get some costs for shipping to the UK and some sample instructions to see if it's even something I can do myself without any help (zero experience).
Does anyone know if the launchers are still available? Does Toby still work there? Kind of confusing that I've heard nothing back. Is anyone able to share some of the instructions?
Location: Middleburg Heights, OH
Posts: 1,939
I have the kit for JUST the door launchers. No remotes, nothing but the actual mechanism to pop the doors and a few relays to trigger it. I can post pics once I find where I put it soon.
Toby's kits sometimes use existing parts that I'd prefer were redesigned entirely (the hood launcher is what I'm referring to here -- everyone asks "what's that?" when they see it), but honestly, they work. Nobody can say they can't. He's the name brand, and if Toby TABs are any indication, prices will skyrocket after they're out.