[adrenaline503]

I had just gotten my swayaway torsion bars all set up and adjusted. On the way home I heard a bang and the whole drivers side suspension dropped to the bump stops. Turns out the mount on the lower arm stripped out. I have heard of this happening before but I can't remember where. Is there a consensus on why this occurs? My first two thoughts are either the torsion bar wasn't seated correctly which I doubt since the rear torsion bar adjustment bolt as well seated which "should" ensure everything is correct. My second guess is too much tension on the torsion bar, which I also doubt. I was using a regular length socket wrench to do the adjustments so I doubt I could have put enough tension on it to strip it. The adjustment bolt wasn't bottomed out although I had just reindexed. Oddly, the ride after reindexing was much more supple than before. Perhaps that additional softness was my bracket slowly stripping itself. FML.








So now what? Should I use the swayaways again or might there be an inherent problem? They were used but in good condition.
it looks like a new bracket is about $51.00 bucks and I MIGHT be able to find one in a junk yard. Not many Frontiers with good fronts out here. Are the longer arms "lift versions" more robust or do they use the same stock torsion bar mount?

 

[OnlyOneDR]

You did not seat the t-bar fully in the torque arm. Pretty obvious since it only stripped about half of the spline length. Get a new torque arm and seat the t-bar fully next time. I use a brass drift and a hammer to pop them in. Your t-bar is fine.

Last time I saw someone do this they dropped the nose going over some railroad tracks.

 

[adrenaline503]

I was pretty sure about it not being seated, but it appeared to be seated as deeply as the stock one was. Guess not. Do you think that tbar could be resued? I would want a matched set, so that would suck.

 

[Hertz]

Depending on how fat your wallet is you could go with a long travel kit from Total Chaos. It would get rid of torsion bars completely and require you do buy a set of coil overs. Big bucks are needed for this one though. The kit itself is around 3k and you will need another 1500 in shocks/springs. Not to mention the addition ~2500 for extras like longer shafts if youre 4x4, fiberglass, steering, etc. But then you have one very, very bad a** frontier.

2008 Total Chaos Fabrication

Nissan Parts, Nissan Truck Parts, Nissan Suspension Kits, 4x4 Parts | 4x4parts.comNissan Parts, Nissan Truck Parts, Nissan Suspension Kits, 4x4 Parts | 4x4parts.com

 

[adrenaline503]

Yea, TC would be perfect but that's just not going to happen. If I choose to lift it now it will just be one of the AC offerings.

 

[adrenaline503]

Just ordered a new mount from the dealership, should be here tomorrow.

 

[OnlyOneDR]

Just ordered a new mount from the dealership, should be here tomorrow.

Sweet. You should be back in business in no time. To your earlier question, if you look at your picture of the stripped torque arm you can see a line down further on the splines. This was about the depth that the original t-bar was seated. Very little of the splines should be sticking out of the torque arm.

 

[adrenaline503]

I got the mount today and got it installed. Back to stock height with the Sway Aways. I found out the the mount on the lower control arm MUST be loose in order to fully seat the -t-bar in both brackets. Otherwise you cant set it in deep enough. Oh well, lesson learned.

 

[AngryMallard]

You did not seat the t-bar fully in the torque arm. Pretty obvious since it only stripped about half of the spline length.

I know this thread is old but the anchor on the front (if that's where we're talking about) doesn't cover JUST the torsion bar splines, there's also a sort of key on the lower control arm that it matches to. It'd be possible to strip out the splines in the anchor up to the point that the torsion bar ends and this key starts. Also, I may be completely wrong. Just a thought. If I'm right I'd just get a new anchor and use the bars again.

 

[nutsandboldts05]

The Total Chaos kit looks nice, and I'd love to get rid of the Tbars. But, I couldn't afford everything that kit needs, and I want to do an SAS eventually anyway.

 

[AngryMallard]

IRONICALLY this same thing happened to me the other day. I was offroad and heard an explosion and the truck sagged on the driver's side. I stripped out the rear anchor though. When I get the new mount I'm going to beat on the whole assembly with a BFH before tightening the big bolt, just to make sure the whole bar is correctly seated in BOTH anchors.

I had just finished a 3" SL... guess I'm not quite done.

 

[kalan_vod]

I would love the TC kit as-well, but I have heard it is not being made anymore?

 

[OnlyOneDR]

IRONICALLY this same thing happened to me the other day. I was offroad and heard an explosion and the truck sagged on the driver's side. I stripped out the rear anchor though. When I get the new mount I'm going to beat on the whole assembly with a BFH before tightening the big bolt, just to make sure the whole bar is correctly seated in BOTH anchors.

I had just finished a 3" SL... guess I'm not quite done.

I have a few of the rear anchors laying around here if you need one PM me.