- Mopar torsion bar removal
- Idler arm replacement
- Cheap strut removal
- Turn signal cams
- Ball joint removal
Mopar torsion bar removal
There are a lot of good tips out there for removing torsion bars (e.g., Chris Heiny's page) however, none of them worked for me. I tried building a tool out of wood as described in the link above, but that quickly exploded as I beat the ever-lovin' crap out of it. More accurately, I built 6 tools with no success. I tried the brute force method using vice-grips on the bar with even less success. The only thing that accomplished was gouging razor sharp ridges into the bar - destroying the bar and my hand the next time I grabbed it. Next I tried using a pipe wrench winched up to the ceiling of the garage. That gave me the grip I needed but the bar still wouldn't budge.
Finally, in desperation, I tried removing the lower control arm. This is held in place by one bolt on the front of the pivot shaft, and at this point, the torsion bar. Removing the bolt will allow the LCA to move back and forth along the length of the car. Theoretically, you should just be able to pop the torsion bar out the back of the rear retainer at this point. This was not the case for me. Despite the fact that I thought I had meticulously cleaned everything, it was still wedged in there pretty tight. It took some twisting and banging to get it out of the retainer. Once it was out of the back, the torsion bar popped out of the LCA pretty easy.
Things to remember:
- Clean, clean, clean! Torsion bar is a tight fit. Even the smallest amount of dirt creates a high-tolerance fit making it nearly impossible to get the bar out.
- Remove the retaining clip. That bar goes no where with the clip still in place.
Idler arm replacement
This may seem obvious to most of you, but it certainly wasn't for me. Not all idler arms are created equal. Even direct replacements. The one I pulled out of my Challenger was one of them and it threw me for a loop trying to figure out what was wrong with my replacement. Here's what I found out.
The idler arm installed in my car was a replacement part that they stopped manufacturing about 15 years ago. When I get a picture of it, I'll place it here. As you can see, it consists of a couple of "caps" with some sort of plastic insert. This insert fits around a center bushing which spins freely inside the end of the idler arm that connects to the K-member. These two caps rest on top of a couple of hard plastic bushings. When I got my new idler arm, it didn't look anything like this piece, and the center bushing wouldn't turn at all. I thought it was the wrong piece. However, after a phone call to Performance Suspension Components, the guy recognized what I was talking about when I described the old idler arm and assured me that even though the new one didn't look anything like the old one, it was a direct replacement.
So no... you're not losing your mind.
Cheap strut removal tool
I put a set of lowering springs on my PT Cruiser (a project which was frighteningly easy once I got the right tool) and for the life of me, couldn't get the strut out of the top mount. To remove the strut required turning a large 15/16" outside nut while holding onto the smaller 13mm stud (why they are mixed metric and standard I'll never know). It sounds easy enough, except that the outside nut is sunk inside the top mount so I couldn't get a wrench on it.
After failing at trying to get the special tool from Chrysler to do this, I bought a generic strut tool from Lisle tools. This was approximately what I needed - a hollowed out 15/16" socket with an insert that fit around the top of the strut. Unfortunately, the shoulder of the socket was way too shallow and while it would work while the strut was in the car, as soon as I released the weight off of it, the strut sunk into the housing and I could no longer fit the socket on the nut. So, being the cheap bastard that I am, I made my own tool. I just went to Re-Tool (which sells used tools) and bought a 1/2" drive 15/16" socket with a hex base on it. I was then able to stick a 1/4" drive 13mm socket inside the 15/16" socket, attach an extension to the socket-inside-a-socket, and then put the bigger socket over the nut and the smaller socket over the stud. Because the large socket had a hex base on it, I could turn it with an adjustable wrench while holding the stud still with a 1/4" ratchet.
It took me less than 2 hours to replace all four springs once I got the struts apart.
Back to TopEverything you ever wanted to know about turn signal cam replacement, but was afraid to ask.
After last night, I consider myself intimately familiar with the inner workings of the turn signal operation in my Challenger. Here's what I learned...
First, unless your turn indicators are not working at all, it's probably not necessary to replace the switch. My problem was that the indicators worked, but would not "stick" when I turned them on. The cause is a broken turn signal cam. The turn signal cam is a piece of plastic which is bolted to the turn signal lever. On each end of the cam, there is a springy plastic "snap" that clicks with the base of the switch and holds the signal lever in place until you make your turn. This plastic loses its elasticity after 30 years and breaks off, preventing the lever from staying in place when you turn your indicator on. Fortunately, that same company that makes all those bizarre and miscellaneous parts that you see in the auto parts store (Motormite® HELP!® products) - you know, the little cardboard carded parts of fasteners, clips, etc. - manufactures a replacement cam kit. The specific part number for the Challenger is 49301. Read through the directions on the replacement kit. Yours is a type 2 cam.
Follow the directions for steering wheel and broken cam removal. However, be very careful when removing the broken cam. Right underneath the cam, there is a small metal strip on the right side of the switch base. Mine popped out when I pulled off the broken cam, and it took me ten minutes to figure out what the heck it was for.
Cut the wires to the cam on the front side of the broken cam, right next to the terminals. Leave enough wire so you can remember which side the white wire goes to and which side the red one goes to. These wires snake down through a slit in the base of the switch and once you pull them out of there, you actually have a fair amount of wire to work with. Prepare the wires as suggested in the directions and crimp them to the new cam.
On the back of the cam you'll see a pair of contact wires. These wires are what actually make the indicator work. It will likely be necessary to trim off the longer of these pairs of contacts to get the new cam to work. As shipped, my cam had one contact wire too long, and it was shorting across both contacts, preventing the turn signals from working. If you get the cam installed and you have no indicator lights at all (but the emergency blinker still works), this is likely what the problem is. To verify this, use an ohmmeter to check for current at the cam terminals on the front of the cam. If you have current to the two contacts, but no indicator lights, you have a short in the cam contacts. You should have no current on the terminals when the cam is in the center position, but current at both extremes. Test this before you put everything back together.
Now for the little metal strip. This strip is actually a spring that enhances the "snap" of the turn signal. It sits in the base of the switch on the right side like a knife blade cutting into the base. It's a pretty tight fit, and there's a little plastic channel that it should slide right into. Unfortunately, in my installation, the base of the switch was worn out to the point that the spring prevented the cam from sticking at either extreme. With the spring installed, the turn signals worked, but would "pop" out of position when the indicators were activated. I ended up removing it altogether. The signal lever is a little sloppier, but it works fine.
Finally, note that when you put the indicator lever back in, that it has a ridge that fits into a slot at the back of the switch assembly inside the column. Also, the bolt that holds the cam and the indicator lever in place is a very mild steel and will strip very easily. It should thread by hand so don't force it.
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