Hello all,

Question for all of you who are more mechanically inclined then I am. I’m getting prepared for a 1.5 inch shackle lift and a t-bar crank. My question is after finding all the correct nuts/bolts for the t-bar that I will need to tighten I noticed I have a lot of oil and grime built up right at the t-bar. I don’t see anywhere else that this could have come from and was wondering if t-bars are oil filled and I might need to replace mine?

Thanks in advance (oh and be gentle with me I’m a woman and blond so what can I say)

Shelley

please explain the relavance of being a female and being blonde to the fact that you know nothing about autos?

I too am a woman, and blonde- WHO TF CARES I have platinum highlights in my hair as well, does that make me that much less capable of working on or knowing anything about cars/trucks!!?!?!?!

NOW! before you try and tell me you're not capable of using a camera because you're a girl and blonde- go outside and take a pic of the t-bar ends and post it to give us a better idea as to what you're concerned about. i've just asked a friend about this and he says that alittle grease is normal, but excessive could be an issue. go take a picture!

"..I’m a woman and blond so what can I say.."
I think you've said all that can be said. Just kidding.
T-Bars are solid metal, so the oil/grease may be from lubing the splines during manufacturing or somewhere else. Hope that helps, from a blonde, take it for what it's worth.
Good luck and be sure to leave a finger width or two between the bump stops, after doing the Crank.

This should cover ya.

http://nissanoffroad.net/how_to/torsion_bars/torsion_bars.asp

Oily grime is good, rust is bad.



As a blond woman, I too am sometimes assumed to have no automotive knowledge....

until they find out I'm a lesbian.

Thanks for the replies all. Just FYI the blond thing was joking around Whitenblue... Sorry if I offended you, but Ive seen too many flaming responses to question on these forums and was hoping I would be spared,, Mostly why Ive been an observer versus a poster.

Let's make sure you are looking at the right thing. The t-bar (torsion bar) has no movable parts, so there is not any reason for an excessive amount of grease. The torsion bar runs from the center cross member to the lower control arm.

The splined end of the torsion bar is seated into a mating collar. (Female receptical / male end... you'll figure that part out.) That is greased for ease of removal, should that ever be necessary. There was a dust boot covering the ends where they are inserted, if you pull the dust boot back I would expect there may be a small build up of "grime," as most grease is magnetic like in that it collects dust.

Hope that helps.

-Jeremy

Wow.. good turn around on that post.. I post a wedding pic and get only two replies. Maybe I should have pretended to be a blond woman.

Don't worry about whitenblue there Shelley... Post away, worse that will happen is someone reminds you to use the search feature.

-Jeremy

don't worry Jeremy.. you'll get yours someday..

and Shelley- just cuz ur a chick doesn't mean you can't do something.. it's not even worth joking about. goodluck with ur X

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c1a431z7c5f6147/mail/__sr_/c0d1.jpg?phLjawCB7dQERJZn

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c1a431z7c5f6147/mail/__sr_/ea7f.jpg?phLjawCBDRjbJDNx

http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42c1a431z7c5f6147/mail/__sr_/c606.jpg?phLjawCB5zMdIJA1

Here are some photos to show what I am talking about... It seems a little excessive especially on the passenger side... The only thing I have noticed is that I feel like I'm lower then I use to be.. Which I know means I probably need to re-index the tbars. I was hoping to try to tighten them first and see if that helped

Shelley

I wish my truck looked that clean underneath. Those look fine. Those aren't exactly the ends, but I think that the general consensus is that, some grease and grime is to be expected.

Re-indexing... yeah... I need to do that too. Keep in mind, you'll most likely need an alignment following a change like that.

-Jeremy

Definetely try drawing the arm up further into the cross member first, and see if that helps...

If not enough adjustment, then re-indexing works fine too.

The only difference between re-indexing and adjusting is that you take the adjuster anchor's end of the bar out, lower the arm a bit, and put it back in...so that you can twist it further on the way back up than before.

If not rust welded in place, its a 15 minute project.



(I can't open the above links...here's my versions on hand...)

Back of aduster area, from rear of truck:


Front of adjuster area, from front of truck:

Thanks again all... I'm going to take on this project next week after all my parts come in.. New bilstiens, shackles, and the t-bar ajustment. I will then take it in for an alignment. I have been reading everything on this board for the last few months in prep for this.. The forums have been extremly helpful. If it were nails and wood I would be more comfortable, I just decided that working on autos was not my thing.. After having had several probelms wtih mechanics (one forgot to add oil back into my 94 cheerokee and it seized the engine)I'm going to take on as much as I can do myself.. I have almost all of the tools I need and have decided that a good manual, the internet and this forum should do the trick for me.

thanks again,

Shelley

How fitting to have your first busted knuckle due to working on your X. Enjoy and I don't think you will have too tuff of a time on your project.