Quote:
Originally Posted by Les Fellows
So can you unbolt the rear of the front shell from it's torsion arms and lift it up?
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Yes, I believe that you can, and I admit I don't see any other way to do what you need to do. The front shell must be raised all the way to do it.
You would raise the shell all the way, then support its rear edge using some crosswise support under both sides to keep it level. Once fully supported, undo the four bolts on each side, the ones that hold the ends of the torsion bars in the bottom of the lift arms. Now lift both sides of the shell straight up, probably using bottle jacks under both sides of the cross-support member. As you raise the shell, the ends of the lift arms should come off the ends of the torsion bars. They may be sticky, reluctant to slip out, even with the bolts removed. If so, the solution is to raise the shell a bit, then take a rubber mallet and belt the inside curve of the torsion bar downward, to help it come out.
Here is where it gets tricky.
Since the entire front shell has been lifted all the way, there
should be no tension remaining in the torsion bars, and their ends
should point straight up. The key word here is SHOULD. If there is any tension at all left in the torsion bars, it will be hard to pull the lift arms off their ends. More important, once you get the lift arms off, the ends of the torsion bars will spring a bit away from the straight-up position. When you go to re-assemble things, you will need to force the ends of the torsion bars back to the straight-up position, so that the lift arms can drop back onto them. Before you start, give some thought to how you would do this.
I haven't done this. I know that a few of our members have, and I expect others to chime in. One tip we have heard is to mark the initial position of the torsion bar where it slides into the lift arm. When you re-assemble, this will be your starting position.
Bill