setting up torsion bar height

Hi I have a 1996 super custom 4x4 and I'm lowering the front down as it has always been really high in the front too high.
Are these vans ment to be level (Back wheel and guard and front wheel and guard the same height ) as you see other vans about or are they ment to ride height in the front. Or can I set it how I like it which would be level to a touch up in the back as I carry tools in the back and a trailer.
Thus far today I lowered it down to almost level dropping it by thirty mm in front and that raised the back up about 8mm empty van .
my question is does anybody know how far I can go before I strike a problem .
I fully know I will need a wheel alignment when finished I went to a wheel alignment to get him to do it but he said not his thing you adjust it to where you want it and he will get the rest to suit.
So can I just drop front to where I like the look of thing and get wheel alignment and all good?????

I have a 2.4td SC rear wheel drive and my mission is to have it as low as I can, so far the torsion bars are wound off so the locker nut has about 20mm below it, I've cut down the upper and lower bump stops and fitted a gas charged volkswagen t4 model shock as its beefier, I've cut a 3/4 coil out of the rear to drop that, its still not low enough, the front is sitting on something as it won't drop anymore so need to find out why, when that is sorted I'm cutting some more out of the rear coils.
It does make the front a bit wallowy but its an old jap barge anyhow, never going to be a drift motor

mickB wrote:

I have a 2.4td SC rear wheel drive and my mission is to have it as low as I can, so far the torsion bars are wound off so the locker nut has about 20mm below it, I've cut down the upper and lower bump stops and fitted a gas charged volkswagen t4 model shock as its beefier,  I've cut a 3/4 coil out of the rear to drop that, its still not low enough, the front is sitting on something as it won't drop anymore so need to find out why, when that is sorted I'm cutting some more out of the rear coils.
It does make the front a bit wallowy but its an old jap barge anyhow, never going to be a drift motor

wow your on a different mission to me I'm trying to improve handling by leveling it out which it has and everything went fine dropped front by 40 mm and the counter was the back went up by 10mm and its driving and handling so much better now.
After my research its ok the lower front with torsion bar adjustment as long as done evenly but I.m not sure with what your trying to achieve would be legal in NZ without an engineer signing it off, we wouldn,t b able to get wof (MOT) as your doing a modification to the suspension not an adjustment.
But best of luck

Cheers buddy, a lot of folk moan over here about car legislation but we do have it easy for modifications on motors

Hi, wondering if you could help in telling how you change the torsion bar, I just want to lower the front a little to make straight to the back. It sitting up at the front because the back relaxed a little with age, but I like lower look at the back. Is it the camber cam adjustment on the lower suspension arm that you adjust that I’ve looked at on the diagrams from mega zip website?

Thanks Steve

Hey Steve, highlighted below is where the adjustment is made. Please see my reply in your other post regarding the process.

Thanks djathens, I’ve seen your instructions on other post. I’ll let post how I get on...

I would advise you to remove the weight when adjusting or the uts are awfully stiff.

Also see if you can get them balanced from side to side somehow, not sure the best way to do this without heavy scales or a DIY steel section balance but it's probably a good idea.

Jack up the front, plenty of wd for a few weeks, wire brush the torsion bolt threads then wind them off
I have the same thread left measurement both sides

Hi mickb, I’m going to do it tomorrow, been spraying with wd for about a week and wire brushed. I’ve taken measurement and it’s looking like I need to drop about 20mm. I’m hoping it’s not going to hit bump stops with only 20mm. How much did you drop yours before you had to cut down your stops. Thanks Steve

Mine arrived with the front bump stops a bit battered, I raised it a bit as the ride is pretty uncomfortable with it too low. It also depends on tyres, I have a 45 section on 18" which is a bit thin, probably 50-55 section tyres would be better if they'd fit.

The issue in the UK where I live is that each year the roads get more bumpy so you may want to allow for that. As far as I could see the only real way to properly slam the front is to have new hubs machined with a a drop in them - perhaps there are sources in Japan or a machine shop can make you a modified pair that sit the hub 35mm higher up (meaning the van sits down 35mm) so you still get some suspension.
As you sit on the front wheel the front ride comfort is more important than the rear which I never even notice.

Thanks gpw.
Mines running pretty standard 70’s on 15” rims so I’ll get some suspension from the tyres. I’m not wanting to massively lower it, just levelling front to back which is a bit lower because of age. I think this is the cheapest option, because having to leaf springs re-shaped will cost. But if this doesn’t work I’ll go with that option.

Hi southee, I think I cut them down as a matter of course.as I knew they would need doing, I've got about 20mm thread left below the lock nut, I'm running 205/50 x 16 tyres

70 tyres are lovely and soft, the original tyres perhaps.
To raise a leaf-spring rear is easier than a coil-spring as you can buy longer raising shackles to space the rear spring end further from the body,