Anatomy of a broken Torsion Bar

[ritztoys]

I thought I'd share pictures of the broken pieces of my Driver's Torsion Bar. It appears that there might have been some surface problem that ultimately led to it's failure.

(it cleared the hinge too, notice the rust!)

20200902_110309.jpg 20200902_110027.jpg

What's interesting for me I installed this over 25 years ago and made sure it would not rub on anything, once fully bolted in position.

[Rich]

Interesting.

There's some kind of surface irregularity at or near the fracture, as you say.

Was this bar NOS when you installed it 25yrs ago or did it come off of a donor car? It might have been compromised.

[ritztoys]

@ Rich This was NOS back in the day.....don't remember who I purchased this from. My 'D' records are buried in the garage somewhere.

[captainneo]

when putting these in, how many notches do you end up turning? roughly?

[ritztoys]

@ captainneo With the new bar coming in on Friday, I'll be starting over on "pre" torquing the new bar. The method is to pre torque the Torsion Bar so it holds open

the door approx. 4-6" from full close, without the gas cylinder assist.(it is completely removed during the re-assemble of the Torsion bar)

Since I do this by myself, I usually use a long "cheater bar" connected to the hex socket , which sets on my shoulder while installing the bolts into the

locking/mounting plate for the splines.

[Elvis]

That's 2-4 inches too much AFAIK

[ritztoys]

@ Elvis Thanks, I'll use your measurement suggestion when I'm setting my Torsion Bar. I'll check it against my passenger door.(still original Bar)

[cdrusn]

Since you are doing the drivers door then you must be getting your new bar from DMOCO. I installed one of their bars a year ago and within two months it snapped. They
would not honor the warranty because I installed it myself. They explicitly list professional installation required and they should also say it voids warranty if not done. They wouldn't even give me some credit for another one. Since as far as I know they are the only vendors I paid full price for a second one. They do not manufacture the torsion
bar. It is made by a supplier to them who also supplies Delorean Go. Good luck!

[ritztoys]

@ cdrusn I sent you a PM, can you maybe explain what these folks mean "professionally installed" ?

[pk2678]

2/3rd of the fracture surface looks silver. 1/3rd looks black. Is that the rust that you mentioned? If it is rust or dirt, it must have been there for quite a while.

Peter