Normally it takes about three tries to get it right. That's why everybody hates doing it.

 

I found that by turning the inside one spline ccw and the outside one spline cw, that would change the car height by about 1/4 inch. So, if you did that five times, the car height would change by 1 and 1/4 inch.

 

That is the part that still seems fuzzy to me...
So, rotating the torsion bar around (free from either end) would produce the same effect... In that case, how can you ever be sure that both torsion bars are ever equal if the bars have been removed and installed again?

I spent about an hour trying to find a good way to measure the index of the bars. I wanted to make sure they were equal... It turned out that they were within 1/8" of each other, but I had no real way to be SURE...

Is there any good way to measure the angles to ensure both bars are indexed the same?

Both of my bars had been off and installed again in a random orientation. (I am pretty sure they are going the same way, but just the spline orientation is presumably different).

 

There is a wright up somewhere on this.
If you do a search you'll find a procedure. The inner spline and outer spline are different. You have to move both inner and outer in relation to each other
to change the ride height in small increments. If you move just the outer or inner it will change the ride height a whole lot. It's really designed quite well.

That being said after having done this once and then having a new 30mm bar brake I replaced the torsions with a full coilover setup.

 

Go to http://www.clarks-garage.com/ and do a site search for Marc Belanger. he has a wonderfull write up on the indexing procedures.

after reading about all the work you have been doing and re doing, boy am I glad that I went to coil overs. Cheers

 

The process is easy... I used this procedure: https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/147541-how-to-spring-plate-bushing-replacement-part-1-a.html
I have no problems with getting to the T-bars.

My question still is: if the T-bars have been taken out and installed in a different orientation, how do you know where you are starting from? How can you make sure both bars have the same orientation inside the tube?

Also, when I remove the end cap, either the T-bar stays in the inside, or the T-bar comes with the end cap. So I don't have control over what end comes out... Any tips to keep the bar where I want it?

 

Remember the scribe mark above the spring plate? That should be your baseline. I made my scribe mark after removing the T-bar preload (removing the lower spring plate cover bolt), infact, I made one scribe mark avbove the spring plate, and one scribe mark below the spring plate.

Centering the spring plate between scribe marks is your original "baseline" setting. That way, you can play around with different inner and outer spline settings, and if you want, then you can always return to your original baseline setting.

here is a good description of the geometry involved...
http://www.oz951.com/public/docs/Torsionbarsetup.doc

 

Thanks Trucho...
That is a nice write up indeed... I still prefer the "one side at at time" process, but that explains the geometry like you said.

The "scribe" mark doesn't seem precise enough to make sure the bars are exact. A scribe mark will not be good enough to measure within 0.833 degrees. I guess that is what the eccentric bolt is for...

It just seems like there should be a better way to measure...

 

Well I got it to the right height (close to anyway)... Third time is a charm!

The car sits at about 25.75 from ground to top of cutout. (I know that is not the best measurement, but it is accurate enough for me). I think that is with the eccentric fully lowered. So it may be a bit on the high side, but I'm not going to reindex them again!

I am good at reindexing though! I can do it in 2 hours flat with a helper! Not bad I think!

 

Well... All was good and well until I drove it. It then dropped about 1". So, today I adjusted the eccentric bolts to the top of their travel, and it is back to where it was. It better not sink any more!

Is this common to sink 1"... I would imagine the suspension to settle a bit, but 1" seems like a lot.

 

No, that is unusual.