Brat rear torsion bar setup ....

[clunkerbob]

I'm new to Subies ... but is there bushings or needle bearings in the rear torsion bar tube in the back of a Brat ? I'd like to be able to grease them but I dont see anything , or any zerks . Anybody ever drill them and put a greaser on each end ?

 

I'm just looking over my ( new to me ) '82 Brat and thinking of ways to improve it for the long haul . If you ever had one apart , whats inside of the tube ?

 

 

clunkerbob

[GeneralDisorder]

Don't touch it. They never fail. It will easily outlast the body of the car. I can't rightly remember what's in there but there's no grease. It's a completely dry assembly.

 

There really isn't much movement there - only when the suspension articulates.

 

GD

[Pooparu]

I just had mine apart on my hatch to clock the torsion bars down. It's completely dry and it's built out of 2 equal length bars and come together in the middle and connect to the adjustment bolt thing. You've got nothing to mess with in the rear.

 

You could try adding some stiffer shocks or putting in some EA82 coilovers.

[clunkerbob]

Everything is working fine at the moment ....... there must be a bush at each end and I figured if I ever pulled it down I'd figure a way to lube it externally . Everything wears in time . I'll just leave it alone until it craps out .

 

Bob

[mcbrat]

actually, there's not a bushing.... after the torsion bar gets inserted into the center connector, then there is the splined plate end that gets put on. that splined section/outer plate has a short metal tube surrounding the splined piece, and the two are permanently joined by a thick piece of rubber. the outer tube piece slideds into the end of the torsion tube when the inner splined piece fitrs onto the torsion bar. the torsion tube and outer tube of the plate are joined with a bolt or 2. the rubber bushing acts as a retainer to stop the plate from coming loose from the tube, and flexes with the suspension.

 

I've only seen one failure of a torsion bar on a stock soob. '82 Brat now that I think of it... and I replaced it with a ea82 coilover set-up...

 

now, a lifted/offroad soob, I've seen 2 failures of the torsion bar itself. oddly, both '82s as well one brat, one 4wd wagon.

 

on the Brat, I replaced with coilover set-ups again, but because of some other stress I put on it wheeling, (the brat had the torsion bar clocked, which puts additional stress on the rubber coupling...) and since the torsion bar was broken/loose, the rubber fitting failed (tore apart) and the plate piece pulled off the end and my tire got a little wiggly at that point, and I actually bent the flat plate into an "S" shape...

[GeneralDisorder]

I've heard (but never seen in person) of a few torsion bar's failing to rust as well. If you suspect a rust situation then it's worth pulling it apart to inspect and possibly coating some stuff in anti-seize, etc. But as Mick noted there is nothing in there that would benefit from grease.

 

GD