Torsion bar or door adjustment?

[rjd2]

Hi folks. I had some sagging doors, the gas springs were 1.5-2 years old but I figured maybe I got a bad set. I bought a new set, and the problem persists. I know what a nice firm door opening feels like, and this is not that. The passenger door will sag 6-8? if I gently push it downward from fully open. Is there another calibration I could do to the torsion bar or door? Thanks.

[dn010]

You need to take the door struts out and see how far the door stays open under torsion only. It should be open around 4 inches. If it closes which it probably will in your case, the torsion bars need to be adjusted.

[WHO1DMC]

If you still have the door lock silinoids you can switch them out for actuators. Dumping the weight can help. Most need to detorque the torsion bars after its done. I did.







Dave B.

[David T]

The struts are very temperature dependent. They will work better in warm/hot weather and not so good when cold. Unless you have door actuators the best test is to open the doors all the way. If they STAY all the way open then you are OK. I do not adjust the torsion bars so tightly that the doors will swing all the way open by themselves. You can also do what I call the "Hang Test". Remove the strut and the door should hang open 4 to 6 inches. Be careful doing this test, the doors are very heavy. The struts sold by the vendors are not all the same. Some are stronger than others, some are dampened better, and some are supposed to be temperature compensating. BTW, just because you had the struts for 1.5-2 years doesn't meant that is how old they are. You don't know how long they were sitting on the vendor's shelf. Struts don't go bad from use, the gas pressure leaks out over time. Generally if the torsion bars were properly adjusted and now the doors are sagging, you DO NOT adjust the torsion bars. Once properly set, that does not change, it is the strut that has changed and must be replaced.

[dn010]

....Just see post #2 and let us know what you get before we get into essay writing.

[Timeless]

....Just see post #2 and let us know what you get before we get into essay writing.
Jesus! That guy just cannot stop! :boxface:

[David T]

Just who do you think created the "Hang Test"? What doesn't stop are your comments on my comments.

[Michael]

Personally, I think torsion bars weaken after 40+ years. Not sure if that's a valid point as I do not know, but what I do know is my hang test is null and void...my doors will not hang at all but almost shut completely. However, with new struts installed, they will bounce at full open with my door launchers. To summarize, according to the hang test, I need to increase the torsion, but according to my struts, they are too tight. I think after 40 years, they just aren't the same anymore.

My solution was simple but maybe not traditional, and certainly not guru approved. I have two sets of struts. A strong pair and a weaker pair. The weaker pair is for summer temps, (which work perfectly) and the stronger pair is for winter which also works perfectly for what little driving I do in the winter. In fact, I just changed them out last week.

[FABombjoy]

Same here. 4-6 inches of "hang" without a strut lead gave me doors that rocketed skyward and bounced. Not a fan, turned the preload back down.

I'd rather help the door a little at the end of travel rather than watch it bounce off the mechanical limits.

[David T]

The torsion bars are very special. Between the metallurgy and the heat treatment (cryogenic) they are made to handle the forces without exceeding the elastic limit. What that means is they can do many cycles of bending and not weaken and fail. As you see, not all struts are created equal. Some are stronger than others. Different vendors sell different struts and then they change suppliers who make them differently. Sometimes, instead of adjusting the torsion bars all you have to do is switch the struts side-to-side. The Hang test is valid. Overtorquing the torsion bars can damage the roof. Struts that are too powerful can rip the ball studs out of the body. A while back one of our vendors had struts that were too long when they were compressed. It caused havoc with the ball studs and many cars had to be repaired. Struts typically last about 5-6 years before they get too weak to hold the doors all the way open. Be sure to install them "upside down" so the seal is always wetted. Put a drop of oil on each hinge and the ball stud anchors once a year. Discussions about the whole door system is one of the oldest and largest topics on all of the forums. A long time ago someone did a comparison test among all of the vendor's struts at that time. Some were similar and some were from different suppliers. They all varied in their power. Just changing the guides on the door latches from metal to plastic can reduce the weight of the doors a lot, going from the OEM solenoids to modern actuators can reduce the weight even further. If you have to slam the door shut to make it lock tells you the door is way out of adjustment. Most Delorean clubs offer torsion bar adjustments. People confuse torsion bar adjustments with "door adjustments". Two different things. It can take a whole day to fix and properly adjust a door that is way out of whack. A torsion bar adjustment can take less than 10 minutes or it cannot be done quickly because the anchor bracket can't be removed or the bolts holding it are stripped. For anyone interested in more on this topic you should do a search. In an old Delorean World there was a whole article about how the torsion bars were made. They were made by Grumman they way they made them for a fighter jet, very special!

[Maritime-elf]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. But is there a way to tell if my Torsion bar broke or just needs adjusted? I havent driven the car in about 9 months, I was overseas, anyway, I came back to discover the passenger door doesn't open. Driver side still pops open but the passenger side is heavy and hard to open. I assume it could be a bad strut? and I can try replacing one first, but if I pull the handle nothing happens. If I lift the door the whole way it does not stay open. Any insight would be helpful.

[82DMC12]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. But is there a way to tell if my Torsion bar broke or just needs adjusted? I havent driven the car in about 9 months, I was overseas, anyway, I came back to discover the passenger door doesn't open. Driver side still pops open but the passenger side is heavy and hard to open. I assume it could be a bad strut? and I can try replacing one first, but if I pull the handle nothing happens. If I lift the door the whole way it does not stay open. Any insight would be helpful.

If the door strut is completely shot, then yeah the door will be pretty heavy. It's even heavier if the torsion bar is broken though. Most people would need both hands and a fair amount of strength to lift a door open with no strut OR torsion bar installed ( I have both out right now).

Get a friend to hold the door open and try swapping struts from side to side. Also as you lift the door up and down you should see the torsion bar twisting. If it's broken inside the roof box, it's just going to rotate and drag in the hole.

[David T]

Get the door all the way open and just look at the torsion bar. If it broke it will be obvious, they break right where it passes the rear hinge. If it didn't break a quick test is to just switch the struts side-to-side. The good one from the driver's side should hold the passenger door open (assuming the torsion bar is not broken of course).

[Maritime-elf]

I think it might be the Torsion bar. There is play in the bar. I can move it forward and aft about 1/2 a centimeter. I have a spare set of struts and I will make a replacement to see the result but I am pretty sure, I shouldnt be able to move the bar forward and aft.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I think it might be the Torsion bar. There is play in the bar. I can move it forward and aft about 1/2 a centimeter. I have a spare set of struts and I will make a replacement to see the result but I am pretty sure, I shouldnt be able to move the bar forward and aft.

If you don't see the bar broken, then it must be one of the end plates released.

[Maritime-elf]

If you don't see the bar broken, then it must be one of the end plates released.


Thank you for the glimmer of hope I will remove the sunshade and check.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You need to take the door struts out and see how far the door stays open under torsion only. It should be open around 4 inches. If it closes which it probably will in your case, the torsion bars need to be adjusted.

Is this 4 inches just a value that owners have found that works. Or is the amount documented in DMC information.

[Patrick C]

There is some small amount of play in the torsion bar (i.e. you can pull it towards you enough to put a zip tie around it so it doesn't rub on the hinge...a good preventative bit of maintenance.)

Have you tried swapping the left and right struts just to rule out that a strut blew out on you?

[AugustneverEnds]

Is your roofbox bolted down? If not there's a good chance the bar has broken and you really want to secure it before the driver's side goes.(Ask me how I know)

[dn010]

Is this 4 inches just a value that owners have found that works. Or is the amount documented in DMC information.

I believe it was Rob Grady who suggested 2-6" a long time ago. I would start on the lower end around 2" and keep going if you need to, to see what works for your car since they all seem to vary. If you have a good, powerful strut or if you modified anything in the door, like getting rid of the solenoids for actuators, you may need less "hang" distance. I tried actuators and I would have wanted to go down a spline or two if I kept them. Sadly, they did not work for me so I went back to solenoids and left the adjustment alone.