July 24, 200421 yr Well today was a good news/bad news day for the Brat. The good news is I made the trip to PhatBrat's to pick up the High Topper, now she's already to get sealed up for winter :D Then... On the way home I decided to stop and play around on some fire service roads. We were having a great time, it was the first I've had the chance to shift it into 4wd in a while. Then, CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK I hit the brakes and throw it into FWD and Neutral thinking I lost a U-Joint. I crawl underneath and see the front of my rear diff pointing towards the ground . The bracket that is welded to the torsion bar has rusted/broken loose. I swear a little, trying to figure out the next step and decide that the best bet is to use some cargo straps to tie the rear diff up in place and limp it home. So I guess I need to get that tab rewelded to the torsion bar? Any other ideas? I took some pictures, I'll stick them up later.
July 24, 200421 yr 2 Brats at Harrys in Hazelton. The Grey one seemed to be somewhat in tact down below (aside from some floor pan rot). I'd try to at least yank out the new torsion bar. In fact if you're not in a hurry I'll go up next Saturday as I'd like a new front hub for when mine finally craps out. Make sure you take a real long breaker bar!!!! I do have a driveshaft if yours took a crap. As for the high top congrats. Now you are a member of the Brat with a Hat club. Zap bathroom cleaner works wonders on the shell. I just shined mine up yesterday after the rain. Wanna get up at 4:30am and head to Windchester with me to do some autoxing????
July 24, 200421 yr Author Next week sounds good, I can drive it a little with the strap till then... Luckily I wasn't going that fast, so the driveshaft is still intact. For tomorrow, I am stuck installing some flooring for my sister or I'd head down with you.
July 25, 200421 yr Author Any other thoughts? Or is replacement of the torsion bar the best way to go??
July 25, 200421 yr it's a good idea to do that that way you can repair it while being off the vehicle and if you want to be sure that is won't fall off you could put more wels on it to make sure it's going to stay there on the tube just be careful not to warp it
July 26, 200421 yr Author Well here are the pics. First is the tab that is broken, at the time of the photo the diff was being held up in position by a cargo strap, but when I first got out to look at it, the nose of the diff and the rear U-joint were just about on the ground The second pic shows how I got it off of the fire roads and driven home.
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