torsion bar help

my torsion bar broke in half the other day. i never even knew this could happen, lol. i hit a pothole pulling out of the driveway and heard something pop.

has anyone ever changed these? i got under there and theres no tension at all on the driver side. im assuming i can just get a long punch and sledge and drive it out from the front of the truck. problem is how does it come out from the part that goes inside the crossmember? i was thinking if i just replace both of them i could unbolt the crossmember and drive the whole assembly off including the crossmember then worry about how to get them apart when they are out. these are pressed together or do they just slide together?

also if anyone has some i need them still. maybe on a truck thats being parted out. im going to look around a bit more. found em at a junkyard for 75.00 or new from the dealer for 115.00 plus tax. but its a special order and 5 days. also some on e-bay for 35.00 but its 48.00 to ship em by ups!

I have never heard of one braking in half. my 97 f150 has been through hell with over 2 tons of firewood in the bed..it had to be a defective part. but anyway the torsion bars or not really press fit they are just tight tolerance so they dont rattle and wear out the holes. and rust plays its part too. when i removed mine to change the clutch i had to get the keys in the back crossmeber cherry red with the torch.and then beat the hell out of the crossmeber. Remember the side that is not broke there is still tension on. u can carefully use a 2 jaw puller to do this just be careful

you need to take the tension off thr torsion bar by loosening the bolt on the back end. if you try and take it off without doing this you can get hurt. where the hell are the moderators. if you break one you need to replace both of them. once the tension is off, you can remove them much easier. get yourself a haynes or chilton manual and read it. toivo

I would replace them both.
Raise the front till the tires just clear the ground and put it on stands. Take the bolts out on the crossmember area on the torsion keys. Take the crossmember bolts out, Then pb, pb, pb, pb, pb, heat too. They are almost gauranteed to take lots of motivation. I just had to take mine out so I could get the transfer case out to put a shift fork in it. Transfer case stuff was no big deal, but the torsion bars were a major pain in the butt. By the way they are usually stuck far worse in the control arms, like the other end thats broke.
If you have the stuff, not hard at all, if you don't, get a couple quotes and hold them to it, no matter what stuck parts they run in too.

It may be a little late for this post - but a good 2 jaw puller is about all that's needed to take the tension off. Make sure the end of the bolt part of the puller goes in the dimple in the key. I had to replace one on a '98 F 250 and it wasn't too bad. Be sure when you put the new one back in to grease both ends and the inside of the key and control arm. That will make it a lot easier to slide together.
Hope this helps