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Front O/S torsion bar adjustment. Update !

Putting a 17mm torsion bar at one side and keeping the 16,5mm one at the other will mess settings badly...
I just had a thought. If you are using a pipe as a lever, you may well push the bar sideways rather than apply torsion to it. Have a look at Renault's tool to overcome this, I'm sure something can be fabricated easily.

torsion bar.jpg
 
JdeW said:
At 130,000 km the R4 has just been run in. I purchased my R4 at 48.000 km and drove over 448.000 km (90.000 km average per year) and traded it in at almost 500.000 km and nothing ever was wrong with the torsion bars. Even the engine reached 170 km/h easily in those days with the right fuel, (not the terrible e10 rubish nowadays).
I assume you ordered the torsion bat at palae de lancienne from Huart Benoît that's a really good nice person from where I ordered some parts as well.
Good luck with the project.
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Amazing amount of KMS ! I really don't understand why I can't get the ride height correct ? We can still get Shell 98 super here with no ethanol crap. And my R4 loves it. Yes, I have ordered it from Huart Benoit in France. Many Thanks Kevin
 
angel said:
Putting a 17mm torsion bar at one side and keeping the 16,5mm one at the other will mess settings badly...
I just had a thought. If you are using a pipe as a lever, you may well push the bar sideways rather than apply torsion to it. Have a look at Renault's tool to overcome this, I'm sure something can be fabricated easily.

View attachment 35361
Click to expand...
Kalimera Angelos, well I double checked the diameter of my torsion bar, and it is 17mm dia ? I will try your idea out when I get the new R/H torsion bar from France. It's probably from a LHD car, so hopefully it will fix the problem. Thanks !
 
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I am still waiting for Huart Benoît in France to send me an invoice for the O/S torsion bar/anchor I bought from him, and it's been nearly 2 weeks now ? I guess it must be a slow French thing. So I decided to have yet another go at fitting my original bloody torsion bar ! And I really stressed it to its maximum position on the splines this time, and just about managed to get the bolt holes lined up on the anchor this time. Anyway I let the car down and it is still the same f*****g height like when I bought the car ! So surely it must be a weak/faulty torsion bar ????? So I am ready for the mental hospital now, we have a nice one in Cyprus !:mad:
 
I must confess I haven't read the whole of this post but I thought there was an odd number of splines each end and when I have had problems I have rotated the bar 180 degrees and try it again as one spline either end makes it too high or too low by rotating the torsion bar effectively gives you half a spline different
 
mr-reno-139 said:
I must confess I haven't read the whole of this post but I thought there was an odd number of splines each end and when I have had problems I have rotated the bar 180 degrees and try it again as one spline either end makes it too high or too low by rotating the torsion bar effectively gives you half a spline different
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Well, I have tried every spline position possible now, and I have never managed to get the O/S ride height the same as the N/S height. And I am sure the torsion bar is weak/faulty. So I am now waiting for the new torsion bar/anchor to arrive from France, and hopefully this will resolve the problem. The car had the problem when I bought it. Thanks !
 
Two more thoughts: Rear ride heights. If one side has been set considerably higher than the other, it will push the opposite front corner lower. A quick way to check this is to lift the front of the car by placing a trolley jack exactly in the middle of the tubular crossmember. The idea is to find a jak with a narrow pad, or interpose a suitable block of wood so that the car can "rock" freely sideways. With the front wheels well clear of the ground, measure the distances between the front jacking points and the ground, they should be equal within 10mm. If not, you have to check and adjust rear torsion bars, too.
Also, torsion bars are preloaded differently at manufacture for left and right side and are marked accordingly. Now that you have the bar out, clean the back edge of it (at the anchor lever end and check that you can see three punch marks as on the picture.

torsion bar markings.jpg
 
angel said:
Two more thoughts: Rear ride heights. If one side has been set considerably higher than the other, it will push the opposite front corner lower. A quick way to check this is to lift the front of the car by placing a trolley jack exactly in the middle of the tubular crossmember. The idea is to find a jak with a narrow pad, or interpose a suitable block of wood so that the car can "rock" freely sideways. With the front wheels well clear of the ground, measure the distances between the front jacking points and the ground, they should be equal within 10mm. If not, you have to check and adjust rear torsion bars, too.
Also, torsion bars are preloaded differently at manufacture for left and right side and are marked accordingly. Now that you have the bar out, clean the back edge of it (at the anchor lever end and check that you can see three punch marks as on the picture.

View attachment 35432
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Thanks, I will check that as well when I escape from the mental hospital ! :mad::(
 
Well, my O/S torsion bar/anchor finally arrived today from Huart Benoit in France. And I hope fitting this resolves my ongoing nightmare problem adjusting the ride height. It has a nice sticker on it with red and white lines, so think I will line it up with the white line first and see what the ride height is. I will have to clean it up first and paint it before fitting.
20250627_073755.jpg
 
I fitted the new O/S torsion/anchor and positioned it with the white line on the label. Then set the anchor 10mm-13mm from the floor panel like in the manual. And the anchor holes' just about lined up. So I lowered the car and drove it down our driveway and checked the ride heights.
And it's still the bloody same heights like when I bought the car !
L/H R/H (Driver side)
H1=260mm H1=260mm
H2=170mm H2=160mm (Angelos instructions showed H2=203mm and H2=207mm) so mine are a lot lower ??
I also took measurements from the centre of the wheel arches to the floor, which both back/front read 580mm (R/H driver side)
And 600mm passenger both back/front the same. So I am still confused, and wondering if the heights are different with my 1108c engine fitted ?
20250629_110657.jpg20250629_110720.jpg
 
malcolm said:
Some ride height measurements taken by other members here https://www.renault4.co.uk/tech-ride-heights.htm
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Thanks for this info Malcolm, I will print this off and check my ride heights again.
I went out for a drive this morning, then checked my ride heights again with 1/2 tank petrol and correct tyre pressures.
and both FRONT H2 (Chassis) now measure 170mm and both H1 (Hub centres) are still 260mm.
The REAR H5 (Chassis) measures 440mm on both sides. And H4 (Hub centres) are 270mm on both sides.
So maybe I am worrying too much after looking at other members GTL's on the ride height chart. And he looks quite level in the photo.
He also feels better to drive and more stable since I changed over the torsion bar, so maybe it was a weak torsion bar after all ? They mentioned it on the MOT test although passed the car.

20250630_093106.jpg
 
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Hi there, excellent, it seems you have solved the problem. Sometimes we do over think things, I've been there. One question, did you jack up the front of the car using the tubular cross member, and then check the rear heights each side? If the rear heights are different it can make you think the front is out.
 
Cornish4 said:
Hi there, excellent, it seems you have solved the problem. Sometimes we do over think things, I've been there. One question, did you jack up the front of the car using the tubular cross member, and then check the rear heights each side? If the rear heights are different it can make you think the front is out.
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Thanks for all your help. I made a special R4 strong wooden jacking beam which lines up perfectly with the jacking points both sides, and very safe. Yes, I noticed that about the rears which can catch you out. It's a learning curve with this suspension.

20250630_151715.jpg
 
No problem, I'm glad my input was of some use to you. Yes this setup is far from simple, and it can catch you out. It's often a case of trial and error. Very frustrating.
Happy motoring in your 4.
All the best Brian.
 
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