Front Wheel Sag

[goser]

Driving home on the highway my truck felt like it was swaying back and forth, so I thought I'd check the shocks using the bumper-push method. It did seem to have more residual bounce than it should so I went around to try to determine which ones were bad. In the process, I discovered the front end is drooping on one side. From what I understand, a bad shock would not cause this, but rather the torsion bar must be out of adjustment. Would it stand to reason that both the torsion bar and shock are a problem? Also, never having adjusted torsion bars, is it just a matter of raising the front of the vehicle and adjusting the bolt on the little lever arm? Do I need the torsion unloding tool Chilton's mentions? Finally, at the moment both bolts are about the same...about 1" extended beyond the nut. Is there a reason one torsion bar would suddenly cause a droop? Thanks!

[MT-2500]

What year and How many miles on it?
You may have a weak torsion bar or one getting ready to break.
You can adjust it but remove load before adjusting it and tighten to bring it up to even height with the other one.
If it takes a lot of adjustment I would replace both sides.
Remove shocks and check bounce on both sides.
Also a weak rear spring can throw more of a load on front.
Check front and rear road height.
If one is weaker than other one I would replace both.
Good Luck

[goser]

Thanks so much for the advice MT.

I jacked up the front and put two turns into the torsion bar bolt, dropping it and checking it each 1/2 turn. It was much easier to do than I thought it would be, which is good because when I went to check the rear ride height afterwards I found a broken spring on that side...hence the original problem. I guess I should learn to look more carefully before I leap. So I'm off to research how to replace the broken leaf spring...

One further question MT, when I remove the shocks and check bounce either side, what am I looking for?

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by goser

Thanks so much for the advice MT.

I jacked up the front and put two turns into the torsion bar bolt, dropping it and checking it each 1/2 turn. It was much easier to do than I thought it would be, which is good because when I went to check the rear ride height afterwards I found a broken spring on that side...hence the original problem. I guess I should learn to look more carefully before I leap. So I'm off to research how to replace the broken leaf spring...

One further question MT, when I remove the shocks and check bounce either side, what am I looking for?

You are welcome and thanks for posting back what youfound and how it went.
On checking front end bounce look for.
Even bounce or stiffness on both sides.
But best to fix the rear spring first.