Scott,
Originally, we did plan to more or less move the front section out on the
GMC wheels with the jacks only providing stabilization. It actually worked
out the other way around though. The rigid shocks and wheels kept the
a-arms and front brakes from dragging on the ground while we moved it out
on the jacks. The wheels also did hit the ground occasionally to help
support the section since the floor jacks were positioned in the center of
the section. Therefore, without the added support, the section would have
been likely to tip quite a bit and mess up paint/etc. If we had the GMC
body up higher, we would have been able to use the regular shocks to do
this, but since we wanted to keep the body as low to the ground as
possible, it would not have been high enough to clear with the original
shocks. I assume you will be putting your whole frame under as one piece,
so this would not be a problem for you. Your GMC body is high enough to
clear everything (I assume that is how it came out), so having the torsion
bars/shocks/etc in would allow you to put it back under the same way it
came out without trouble.
If you came up with a gizmo, I don't think our method for the torsion bars
will impress you as much as your method does
. IIRC, we used a bottle
jack to push up on the pivot arm and then just backed out the adjuster bolt
(after we had measured how much was sticking out with a dial caliper).
Putting it in was a similar reversed procedure. We also did not put the
lower ball joint or the shock back in until we had the torsion bar in
because that gained a little more lower a-arm travel which seemed to make
it a little easier. It was still quite awkward because the pivot arm was
still at a pretty big angle to start jacking on it. It worked out ok
though. We did a lot of the bolt adjustments (back to the measurements
made with the caliper) with all the weight on the bolt which some members
have said is likely to cause the bolt to strip. We had no problems, but it
is something to consider as a possibility. The way we removed/installed
the torsion bars is definitely not the safest way, so anyone reading this
should use it at their own risk if they decide to try it.
Zak
>Hi Zak!
>Thanks for the reply.
>Ok! From what I understand you put those rigid shocks(square tube) on so
the
>front control arms would not flop around because you did not have the torsion
>bars attached. Correct? Also you only put the wheel rims on the front for
>protection of the oil pan, etc., if the front section fell off the wheel
jack,
>correct? Or did you actually use the wheel rims as a way to roll the engine
>frame around?
>
>Now, the other question on my mind is-- did you make your own tool to
compress
>the pivot arm on the torsion bars? I made my own using the attachment
>brackets from the engine stand, some 1/2x 6" gr.8 bolts and another 1/2x3"
nut
>and bolt but was not to impressed with my gizmo. Any suggestions?
>
>Scott Adohen
>
Originally, we did plan to more or less move the front section out on the
GMC wheels with the jacks only providing stabilization. It actually worked
out the other way around though. The rigid shocks and wheels kept the
a-arms and front brakes from dragging on the ground while we moved it out
on the jacks. The wheels also did hit the ground occasionally to help
support the section since the floor jacks were positioned in the center of
the section. Therefore, without the added support, the section would have
been likely to tip quite a bit and mess up paint/etc. If we had the GMC
body up higher, we would have been able to use the regular shocks to do
this, but since we wanted to keep the body as low to the ground as
possible, it would not have been high enough to clear with the original
shocks. I assume you will be putting your whole frame under as one piece,
so this would not be a problem for you. Your GMC body is high enough to
clear everything (I assume that is how it came out), so having the torsion
bars/shocks/etc in would allow you to put it back under the same way it
came out without trouble.
If you came up with a gizmo, I don't think our method for the torsion bars
will impress you as much as your method does
. IIRC, we used a bottlejack to push up on the pivot arm and then just backed out the adjuster bolt
(after we had measured how much was sticking out with a dial caliper).
Putting it in was a similar reversed procedure. We also did not put the
lower ball joint or the shock back in until we had the torsion bar in
because that gained a little more lower a-arm travel which seemed to make
it a little easier. It was still quite awkward because the pivot arm was
still at a pretty big angle to start jacking on it. It worked out ok
though. We did a lot of the bolt adjustments (back to the measurements
made with the caliper) with all the weight on the bolt which some members
have said is likely to cause the bolt to strip. We had no problems, but it
is something to consider as a possibility. The way we removed/installed
the torsion bars is definitely not the safest way, so anyone reading this
should use it at their own risk if they decide to try it.
Zak
>Hi Zak!
>Thanks for the reply.
>Ok! From what I understand you put those rigid shocks(square tube) on so
the
>front control arms would not flop around because you did not have the torsion
>bars attached. Correct? Also you only put the wheel rims on the front for
>protection of the oil pan, etc., if the front section fell off the wheel
jack,
>correct? Or did you actually use the wheel rims as a way to roll the engine
>frame around?
>
>Now, the other question on my mind is-- did you make your own tool to
compress
>the pivot arm on the torsion bars? I made my own using the attachment
>brackets from the engine stand, some 1/2x 6" gr.8 bolts and another 1/2x3"
nut
>and bolt but was not to impressed with my gizmo. Any suggestions?
>
>Scott Adohen
>
