stinkycheese
27th January 2009, 19:57
ive just read this on the GMC website;
"For those who do not know what torsion bars are, they are sprung steel bars with splines on both ends, one end fits in the radius arm which goes up and down with wheel travel and other end is fixed in the rear cross member. As the wheel goes up and down due to bumps the bar twists against the spring tension.
The problems that this lack of stiffer torsion bars create is that like a lot of front wheel drive cars and especially French cars, the rear suspension is set too high and too soft as standard. When you lower and stiffen the front this unbalanced situation is made worse. Sadly, many suppliers of these kits and supported by articles in motor magazines say the answer is to lower the rear suspension to make the car level again by just turning the torsion bars around on their splines. This is definitely not a solution but merely way of getting around a problem. Not many people understand the reason why it is not a proper fix.
The reason it is not a fix is that to make the cars sit lower you have to take tension off the bar, which exactly the opposite of what is necessary. Yes, it will lower the suspension to get it looking good and level with the front but that's all. If you put on some lowered uprated front springs you will make the handling worse unless you can fit uprated rear torsion bars. If you are more concerned with appearance then this modification is OK but if improved handling is required it is definitely not.
The only solution is to fit uprated torsion bars on the rear."
up until now i thought that lowering the standard torsion bar was fine, GMC seem to think otherwise, are they saying this to flog some aftermarket ones? :S
"For those who do not know what torsion bars are, they are sprung steel bars with splines on both ends, one end fits in the radius arm which goes up and down with wheel travel and other end is fixed in the rear cross member. As the wheel goes up and down due to bumps the bar twists against the spring tension.
The problems that this lack of stiffer torsion bars create is that like a lot of front wheel drive cars and especially French cars, the rear suspension is set too high and too soft as standard. When you lower and stiffen the front this unbalanced situation is made worse. Sadly, many suppliers of these kits and supported by articles in motor magazines say the answer is to lower the rear suspension to make the car level again by just turning the torsion bars around on their splines. This is definitely not a solution but merely way of getting around a problem. Not many people understand the reason why it is not a proper fix.
The reason it is not a fix is that to make the cars sit lower you have to take tension off the bar, which exactly the opposite of what is necessary. Yes, it will lower the suspension to get it looking good and level with the front but that's all. If you put on some lowered uprated front springs you will make the handling worse unless you can fit uprated rear torsion bars. If you are more concerned with appearance then this modification is OK but if improved handling is required it is definitely not.
The only solution is to fit uprated torsion bars on the rear."
up until now i thought that lowering the standard torsion bar was fine, GMC seem to think otherwise, are they saying this to flog some aftermarket ones? :S