dsmyth

My 85 widebody has a new front end... on the workbench. New Turbo tie rods,shocks, sway bar bushings,brakes rebuilt , elephant racing bushings installed, set to go

Question one...... is at what angle do I install my torsion bars into the a arms at ?Should the end of the a arm be touching the floor or parallel to the ground ?They are stock torsion bars for the widebody but no manuals seem to answer this question. I kept track of the number of threads on the adjustment bolt but this would only be relative to the starting tension of the torsion bar,right??? My ride height was good before I took every thing apart and do expect to get it realigned but would like to drive it there.

Question two..... Does anyone have the ride height specs for the widebody??

Question three....Whats the deal with the oil in the front shocks. Some say there is no oil in the strut others say to drain and refill. Whats the true story.

Thanks for all your help Doug

theiceman

I can only answer question 3 as I did mine on the car...

The original if it is Boge is a hydraulic strut insert. When is changed mine I pit in Bilstein inserts ( this is a self contained gas insert. ). Pump out the oil or it will be all over the place when you put the new insert in.

84_Carrera

It's my understanding the oil acts as a thermal transfer conduit, taking heat away from the insert.

ron mcatee

Don't remove the oil, just make sure you install the new insert very slowly and allow the oil to work itself around the shock. If the insert is bigger in diameter than the one you take out, you may have to remove some oil, but not all of it. Conversely, if the insert is smaller, you may have to add a little oil. As stated, the oil acts as a heat sink to keep the shock insert cool.

84_Carrera

But dude, mine sounded so much sexier than "heat sink". I worked on that for a couple of minutes... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Good luck with the other 2 items.

theiceman

Sorry guys just don't agree with that one ( the heatsink story ) ... this heat sink story personally i think is internet hyperbola. Just my opinion of course and don't mean to flame anyone . If you drop a Bilstein insert into a boge strut without removing the oil your going to have a big freakin mess.

J. Brinkley

+1
and
I set the arms 17" from the center of the bearing to the fender lip and go from there. ymmv

dsmyth

I will try that measurement to start , It sounds like a crapshoot as far as trying to set it up without starting from scratch. At least its all clean and most of the parts are new. I will have to reset the ride height in the front. Is there a relationship to the rear height that must be kept?? I did like the height before the front work. Does the factory widebody have any different specs for ride height?
I will watch out for flying oil from the shocks. Thanks Doug