Front Torsion Arms

[Culmara]

So, I have embarked on my journey to renovate Busby, my 1972 lowlight which has spent the majority of it’s 50 years rumbling around the red dirt roads of the NT.

I have dropped the front axle beam and removed all components except the upper torsion arms. I am a bit nervous because of what I have read (and watched) with respect to how difficult they are to remove and I guess therefore how difficult they are to replace. 

The axle beam itself has no rust on it and although there was a thick, hard crust of dirt and grease on the beam and the torsion arms, I expect that would be normal after 50 years. The ball joint boots are in good nick and the ball joints themselves I think are OK. Passenger side are stiff but easily moved by hand whilst the drivers side are much freer but have no or very little rattle or movement in the sockets that I can detect.

So my question to the experts out there is thoughts as to whether you think it is worth the effort for me to remove the upper torsion arms to clean up and inspect the grease seals? How I’ll I know if the seals need replacing, other than obvious damage? Finally if the general feeling is that I should remove the upper arms, does anyone have tips to make the removal and reinstallation relatively pain free?

Thanks in advance. Brad.

[Wayne Murray]

In my opinion you have gone to that much trouble to get to where you are and a little bit more work to completely do a complete job. If it was me I'll would do the lot, including replacing all ball joints etc. If it's never been done before ,there is a lot of work to have to do it all again as you felt like it wasn't needed at the time. It is your decision to make and your money your spending. It's my opinion and what I would do on my Kombis
I would of removed the torsion arms on the car then remove beam, You may have to remove the upper bump stop to help with removal of torsion arm, not sure if their is a pain free method. You can also check your leave springs inside your front beam as well, do expect to find a few broken leave springs.

[KIWI]

+1
Nothing worse than putting it back together only to pull it all down again 6 months later to replace the parts you didn't do originally. 
PR

[Doob]

I did this job a couple years ago - I fully agree with Wayne - removing & installing the the upper torsion arms is much easier with the axle beam still on the vehicle. I used a short metal rod strapped to the torsion arm to provide extra leverage to work against the torsion in the torsion bar/string. I did remove the rubber stops to relax some of the torsion on the arm. When removing the torsion bars/strings be sure to note / photograph / label left and right ends so they can be reinstalled in the same configuration. [I was told I should not reverse the torsion on used torsion bars]. On removing the torsion bars/strings I discovered several broken leaves in both bars (as indicated by Wayne above). Once I had the front axle beam removed and dismantled, I took the lot to my local trusted VW mechanic for inspection - and took his advice on what needed to be replaced. Reinstalling the torsion bars into the beam channels was a pain. I found it easier to do this before mounting the axle beam onto the vehicle. I stood the beam on end and dropped the torsion bars/springs in vertically. When installing the upper torsion arms, be sure to put both arms on, to initially engage each end of the torsion bar while the torsion bar is relaxed - [i.e. before you apply torsion and fully drive home either torsion arm.] I found that if I fully installed one torsion arm, it was near impossible to get the other torsion arm to engage the other end of torsion bar.

[Culmara]

Thanks for the replies. I have bitten the bullet and taken your advice. With some ingenuity, 4ft crow bar and my favourite persuader, I have managed to remove the upper torsion arms. To be honest, not as difficult as I had imagined. Happy to say no damaged torsion bars at all. Now to clean everything and reinstall.