--torsion bar crack-propagation factors--

i believe i have figured-out the reason they break, when removed after being in service many years...


 torsion bar expansion/contraction dynamics, and crack propagation/probability correlations--

     i was meditating about torsion bars, and how they work the other day, to solve the puzzle pertaining to torsion bar replacement, and why they break all the time, after being removed from a used vehicle, and then re-installed in a different one...failing shortly after re-installation...

the skinny--

   here are my thoughts...i suggest, that a torsion bar works similar to a beach-towel, when being twisted, the towel becomes thinner in the middle, when the twist is increased, and thicker, when twisting pressure is released...also of note, the towel gets longer as well( when the twisting pressure is applied)...so, i suggest, that a torsion bar cycles between being thicker, and thinner, in it's center, as well as cycling between being longer, and shorter, while in service...if we know this, the concept of the issues "in-play", when fully unloading a torsion bar, can be studied...i feel the trouble lies in the fact that after a long period of sustained operation, in a certain "range of travel", the torsion bar becomes "case hardened" within this range...when pressure is released too quickly( as i feel is the case upon the removal of a used one), the center of the torsion bar becomes too thick, too fast, and a crack propagates( in the center of the bar?? ), as the bar is fully unloaded...

  the solution--

   i believe that by loosening the adjusting nut on the torsion bar, once( a few turns), every few days, until fully unloaded, the bar will not crack, and a used one is then able to be exchanged between vehicles...also, the practice of installing a "hose-clamp", or many of them, tightly, at the center of the torsion bar, might prevent the center of the bar from expanding too much( or the entire bar from shortening too much ), keeping the torsion bar being exchanged, from cracking, while being removed...this cracking issue would explain why they work for awhile, but fail, or they function, but only if tightened a small amount( giving poor ride height, and quality)--

note--

   i have not tried the "hose-clamps-in-the-center of the torsion-bar removal procedure" yet, but, i will keep everyone posted about it's effectiveness, when i deploy the maneuver...

best wishes, john kruschke--