Citroen/Peugeot torsion bar lowering

[keithyboy]

As much as I love my Jag, I miss having something I can take the dog out in so I'm think of another vehicle of some sort. It will also fulfil the role of project for me and my son to mess about with.

We have 2 cars already so a small van would suit. Berlingos are cheap and plentiful but I know nothing of torsion bars and the write ups I've seen online make it all a bit scary. I know they aren't really retro but the early ones are 20 years old and lowering is always approved of.

I'm happy with doing the front end but is anyone aware of anywhere in the north West that could tackle the rear?

Cheers.

[xbl]

You're as well to buy a used rear axle and do the lowering on that before you fit it. The torsion bars are almost certainly seized in and will take heat and a damn good thrashing to get out. For the front get the entire front leg from a 306 GTi6, that way you'll get the big brakes too and already be -30mm

[slater]

Not really sure what your afraid of? Pretty simple setup. As has been mentioned they do like to seize up so can be easier to just swap the whole beam if you can't get them to budge.

[rodney]

jump on youtube

[ChasR]

Jan 14, 2018 21:14:55 GMT rodney said:

jump on youtube

That's tricky advice. One bit of advice given from a known video (IIRC I think it's Darren Lobb) can have a beam prematurely failing due to damaged seals.

welshpug can advise here. He wrote a superb guide on the GTi-6 forum a few years back.

[rodney]

seals can always be replaced , ive done a few renault 5s over the years and just made sure nothing was left exposed to the elements

[ChasR]

'Tis true. I was referring to not squashing the seals too much etc.

I found the guide anyway but it's ruined thanks to Photobucket:

www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.php?id=80349

[welshpug]

that guide isn't especially applicable to a 405/berlingo/partner/xsara picasso beam as they don't use an adjustable fastener on one end of the bar, just an offset washer both ends, I havent found any documentation but essentially I think you adjust seal clearance by pushing the seal against the cup, rather than moving the arm with a seal fully pressed home.

the main issue with these is the bars seize in on the splines and you will struggle to get sufficient force applied to free them, very careful use of oxy-propane can do the trick, the castings are quite dense things so a normal gas torch barely warms them up.

the main reason to remove the bar fully from the axle is to allow more accurate height adjustment due to the differing number of splines each end, making fine adjustments possible, the inner end of the torsion bar also has a longer spline which will engage before the outer end, rotate the bar till you find the pair of splines that line up and push home without excessive force.

the other reason is that if you aren't budgeting on a beam rebuild pulling an old set of bearings off the protruding shaft can lead to them collapsing.

due to the Anti roll bar being clamped into both trailing arms across the front you either need to remove this or remove both torsion bars and set the height at the same time, you will need to drop the dampers off as well as the resting height of the arms is beyond full travel at standard ride height.

the most accurate way to set the height is with an adjustable dummy damper, I'm unsure of the exact ratio but a 205/305 is around 2.5-1, i.e a 10mm decrease in damper length at rest will give a 25mm drop.

[keithyboy]

Hmmm. Thanks for your input gents.

I'm not against the idea of rebuilding the beam but I have nowhere to keep an axle-less van whilst I do it. Lots of places do refurbished axles and will set the ride height as you wish but that sort of scuppers my low budget project idea.

[welshpug]

In my experience of most of the places that do "refurbished" axles the work is very low standard and poor attention to detail, the parts used of dubious quality.

Personally my approach would be to obtain another axle, preferably off a heavier duty 800 model as they have the larger torsion bars, sort it out off the van and just do a swap, SNR bearing kits aren't too expensive and were the OEM supplier.

[xbl]

I paid £80 for a good condition 800 axle 2 years ago and rebuilt it myself, it's not easy if they're properly seized.

[ChasR]

Do you not rate I'm Axles much welshpug ? I know the 106 Owners folks used to use them alot.

While you're here and at the verge of going off topic, are the 206 GTi axles like the 106 design (with the arm pins as part of the beam itself) or are they more of a 306 type affair?

[welshpug]

in a word Chas, no.

206 beam is nigh on identical to the 106, just being wider, one of the bearings is identical, trailing arms longer I think but in essence yes very similar.

layout of the bearings is similar to the 405/van/xsara Picasso but those beams are much heavier duty and have an externally mounted arb.

[ChasR]

I was hoping you wouldn't say that.

A friend of mine is looking at a 206 GTi 180 with a 'knock from the rear', thinking the bearing will be an easy fix..

[keithyboy]

I think for me a mk2 caddy/inca might be a better bet. Pretty sure I can find someone to weld on a couple of spring perches quite easily.