Greeting all, what’s the story with torsion bars – the broom-handle length ones that run longitudinally along the chassis rails (not sure if there is another type)?
Is it OK to just notch them up one spline to raise the chassis, assuming this is possible at one end of the bar or the other?

I understand the wheel’s wishbone/parallelogram business is not altered which is handy but is there some drawback? I imagine if the wheel has further to travel before hitting the stops, the bar will be twisted more than normal and so could snap – or is one spline’s worth (about 10°) within the limit?

I suppose shock compression/extension and driveshaft angles would have to be looked at too.

Thanks

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

I have seen it done to Nissan D22 pickups when they start to sag a bit - and they are still running okay (1 broken torsion bar out of a fairly big fleet of about 7 or so vehicles, but I don't know if that one had been adjusted). If I remember it is a pretty simple adjustment at the rear of the bar - I will check the details of degrees of adjustment tomorrow.
Gil

Hi Chris,

Yes you can increase the ride height by notching up the torsion bar, although for the sort of thing you are doing it is sensible to try to get them replaced with a heavier duty item.

One issue with increasing the height of a vehicle by notching up the torsion bar is that you end up putting the CV joint at a greater angle than it was designed for which can lead to premature wear.

For the 100 series LC the recomendation is to get an Old Man Emu tortion bar and notch it up to give you the standard 2.5" of lift, BUT you also get a diff drop kit to lower the diff by around an inch, thus reducing the angle of the driveshafts putting less strain on the CVs.

Usually by dropping the diff by an inch or so you will find that it doesn't actually affect the ground clearance because there are other bits that hang down lower ;-)

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Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.

A long time ago, as a kid growing up in Kenya, my 2 brothers and I got ourselves a Renault 4, jacked up the torsion bar suspension a bit, put chunkier tyres on and headed off north towards Somalia, east to Lamu, south to the Tanzanian border, then up to the Ugandan border then back home to Nairobi. On one particular section near Lake Hannington north of Nakuru and the Solai valley (name changed now) we got ourselves stuck on a combination of rocks and mud but we just got out and lifted/bounced the car out. I've often thought of retracing our steps - except now I have an 80 series TLC.

You can only wind them up so far before they snap and on corrugations, like any suspension they work hard but seem to be more vulnerable. We snapped one on a second trip to the Samburu up north the following year.

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pigapitcha

http://www.jljphotography.co.uk

I have the HD OME shocks and springs on my 4runner and had to crank up the standard tortion bars for the vehicle to sit level, well after 3 years of abuse in EA they finaly snapped.

I had loaded up with crud for my daughter's school boot sale and was coming out past the security gate when there was a bang like a gunshot and suddenly the truck lurched to the side! $$$$$$ hell I thought, I'm being robbed!

With my heart pounding and adrenalin surging I popped the door, dived onto the deck and rolled into the storm drain like I'd seen them do on the A-Team. Luckily I'd left my family behind as a diversion and the sound of my wife screaming covered my cursing as I scraped a dog turd off my boot.

Approaching the truck at a low crouching jog I could see that someone had stuck what looked like a spear into the guts of my truck. On closer inspection though it turned out to be a steel rod and a broken steel rod at that.

Damn! Some Maasai, seeing my zebra camou'd truck must have come up with a cunning booby trap to score some supper - anyway, I couldn't stick around - they'd obviously legged it when they heard my wife bellowing like a stuck buff - but they might come back with re-enforcements.

I nursed the truck back onto the road and down to my fave witchdoctor/mechanic: he just shook his head sadly when he saw me and started sucking his teeth and making horsey noises as he inspected the damage.


"Eish, Bwana, your torshun baas bleddy buggered men!"

"Ay, eets buggered Kabeesa! Gonna cost you plennn-teee!"


That's when my wife really started screaming...

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Enzo

Keep those torsion yarns coming - I see a book and maybe a Top Gear Special!

Must say I'm going off the idea for dz driving. New Mazda ones are only 28 quid but just realised OME makes some at £100 a pair in Au (obviously = £299 in the UK...)

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Hi Chris,

Give Chris or Trevor at TBRUK LTD - Run by Enthusiasts for Enthusiasts a call - they do suitable OME torsion bars for £175 inc VAT according to their site.

If you mention my name/ELCO (honourary member :-) you should be able to get a bit of discount on that.

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Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.