1989 Ford Bronco
- Thread starter wbsep60
- Start date
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Take the bolts out of the body side and slip it over the bar and bolt it back down.
Yo wbsep60,
Welcome!
If torsion bar is out of the Bronc, to install it, you have to remove the t/g from the Bronco. The bar goes in easily, but you have to make sure it's mounting tab isn't rusted before putting the new bar in. (See the sectional views in Tailgate Tech by former member Steve83), If it is, you can use a heavy steel strap bolted to the t/g skin to retain the bar. Then you have to align the tailgate.
Following by Steve83;
"Before unbolting the tailgate from its hinges, first relieve the torque rod by bracing it against the tailgate & removing its guide loop from the body. Forgetting to brace it before removing the bolts can cause injury or snap a bolt, especially if done with the tailgate fully down (torsion bar fully loaded). I use this large combination wrench with a piece of thin cardboard under the corner to protect the paint. Once the loop is unbolted, the wrench can be rotated to finish unloading the bar.
The infamous torsion bar bracket. It cups up, so if it's allowed to collect dirt & rain, it rusts out. Then, when the t/g is lowered, the torque on the rod breaks the bracket, and the bottom corner of the bar (with the foam tube) swings down & shatters the window.
With the R hinge fully back, the torsion bar will BARELY fit out. Raising the hinge, or raising the t/g on the lower hinge, would help. The foam sleeve has to come off the inside end before it will slide out of the hole, and there are 2 clamp brackets (430A32, available from Dennis Carpenter as 98430A30) bolted to the bottom that must be removed.
●
Here is the 1989 Ford Bronco EVTM via member mrnewland1 and recovered by my friend schwim in Google Drive @
1989 Bronco & Ford Truck Emission & Pre-Delivety Manuals @ 1989 Ford Service Manuals - Google Drive
Haynes Red Manual for 80-95 Bronco & F Series @ Hanes guide 80-96 bko f series.pdf found by member BroncMom
1989 Ford Bronco Dealer Brochure
1989 Bronco Lubricant Specifications by Ford via Gary
Al
Welcome!
If torsion bar is out of the Bronc, to install it, you have to remove the t/g from the Bronco. The bar goes in easily, but you have to make sure it's mounting tab isn't rusted before putting the new bar in. (See the sectional views in Tailgate Tech by former member Steve83), If it is, you can use a heavy steel strap bolted to the t/g skin to retain the bar. Then you have to align the tailgate.
Following by Steve83;
"Before unbolting the tailgate from its hinges, first relieve the torque rod by bracing it against the tailgate & removing its guide loop from the body. Forgetting to brace it before removing the bolts can cause injury or snap a bolt, especially if done with the tailgate fully down (torsion bar fully loaded). I use this large combination wrench with a piece of thin cardboard under the corner to protect the paint. Once the loop is unbolted, the wrench can be rotated to finish unloading the bar.
The infamous torsion bar bracket. It cups up, so if it's allowed to collect dirt & rain, it rusts out. Then, when the t/g is lowered, the torque on the rod breaks the bracket, and the bottom corner of the bar (with the foam tube) swings down & shatters the window.
With the R hinge fully back, the torsion bar will BARELY fit out. Raising the hinge, or raising the t/g on the lower hinge, would help. The foam sleeve has to come off the inside end before it will slide out of the hole, and there are 2 clamp brackets (430A32, available from Dennis Carpenter as 98430A30) bolted to the bottom that must be removed.
●
Here is the 1989 Ford Bronco EVTM via member mrnewland1 and recovered by my friend schwim in Google Drive @
1989 Bronco & Ford Truck Emission & Pre-Delivety Manuals @ 1989 Ford Service Manuals - Google Drive
Haynes Red Manual for 80-95 Bronco & F Series @ Hanes guide 80-96 bko f series.pdf found by member BroncMom
1989 Ford Bronco Dealer Brochure
1989 Bronco Lubricant Specifications by Ford via Gary
Al
Attachments
johnnyreb
Well-known member
Sounds like to time to get some stainless rod and take your time and make a replacement to replace it for good.Isn,t the 78-88 the same tailgate and won,t the parts interchange?
Ray_Bronco
Member
Looks like it's the same as my 96. Not sure in earlier comment how you can put torsion bar on by putting the bracket over bar and attach. The tailgate would be in the close position.
How I did mine was as the tailgate is attached to hinges I took a deep socket w a 12" extension bar and pushed the torsion bar in place. Then bolt in to frame. It may take two people for safety but I have done this w a friend and by myself.
May make it easier if there is nothing in the tailgate except the torsion bar
MaineBroncoBeast
Member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2016
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
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I have a 1984 Bronco. I have taken the tailgate off several times to repair it. I use a long iron pipe that I slip over the torsion bar. I have one side of the bracket ******* in but not all the way so that I can move it into place once the torsion bar is in position. I just pull the iron pipe up until the bar is in position then swing the bracket over and place the other ***** in and tighten it up. I’ve done it this way many times but be careful. It may help to have the tailgate up some.
wbsep60
New member
Yeah , that first one didn't make sense to me either . Your way sounds like the way to go . I'll give it a shot . Thanks for the direction.
wbsep60
New member
This seems to be the best way to go. Thank You
Ray_Bronco
Member
Just be careful. There is a lot of tension as you do this. You can also use a 1/2 inch pipe if you don't want to risk using a socket.
Haul A
New member
I re-attached the torsion bar to the bracket on the pillar of my 93 Bronco a few months back and I highly recommend having another person help with this process. One person inside with the necessary tools to attach the 2 screws and the other person outside pushing the lift gate up to an optimum position whereas the person inside can access the bracket and the torsion bar so he / she can attach the 2 screws. The person outside pushing the liftgate up actually takes a lot of the torque action off the torsion bar thus making it easier for the person inside to be able to work the bracket into place.
Yo,
Good stuff guys!
Just tell everyone that the internal bracket attached to driver side may be rusted to the point of snapping, thereby causing this;
"The internal torsion bar bracket most likely rusted, broke and released the bar that then snapped against the glass, breaking it, causing facial cuts" by Jer @ the old bronco.com site.
See Dustin's tg article @ Tailgate Replacement page 3
Excerpt, "...remove the bracket holding the torsion bar to the body. Take extreme care here as the bar packs a lot of force.
See Dustin's tg article @ Tailgate Replacement page 3
Excerpt, "...remove the bracket holding the torsion bar to the body. Take extreme care here as the bar packs a lot of force. I recommend trying to remove the bracket while the tailgate is as closed as possible to relieve pressure on the bar. I was foolish enough to do it with the tailgate down. Both bolts broke off allowing the bar to snap back and sent the bracket off to never-never land. I was never able to find the bracket so I had to get another one..."
recommend trying to remove the bracket while the tailgate is as closed as possible to relieve pressure on the bar. I was foolish enough to do it with the tailgate down. Both bolts broke off allowing the bar to snap back and sent the bracket off to never-never land. I was never able to find the bracket so I had to get another one..."
"My rear window quit working when I put my top back on and since the wires were pretty beat up anyway I decided to remove the tailgate and write a tech article at the same time. Anyway, I have a 90 and you know that metal rod on the passenger side? Turns out, that is spring loaded and when it came out, that was the last thing I removed, it snaped across my right hand! :banghead Now I have my hand wedged in between the rod and the side of the tailgate and I am supporting the tailgate with my knees. Luckily, my neighbor was out front and was able to help me get the tailgate on the ground. :whiteflag After 3 hours at urgent care, I broke my hand right through the knuckle on my ring finger. Just a heads up to anyone wanting to remove their tailgate.
View attachment 6055
About 10 min after on the way to urgent care.
View attachment 6056
About 2 hours after.
View attachment 6057
Small but it is there. (Can't wait for everyone to read into that comment)" by jphill
Good stuff guys!
Just tell everyone that the internal bracket attached to driver side may be rusted to the point of snapping, thereby causing this;
"The internal torsion bar bracket most likely rusted, broke and released the bar that then snapped against the glass, breaking it, causing facial cuts" by Jer @ the old bronco.com site.
See Dustin's tg article @ Tailgate Replacement page 3
Excerpt, "...remove the bracket holding the torsion bar to the body. Take extreme care here as the bar packs a lot of force.
See Dustin's tg article @ Tailgate Replacement page 3
Excerpt, "...remove the bracket holding the torsion bar to the body. Take extreme care here as the bar packs a lot of force. I recommend trying to remove the bracket while the tailgate is as closed as possible to relieve pressure on the bar. I was foolish enough to do it with the tailgate down. Both bolts broke off allowing the bar to snap back and sent the bracket off to never-never land. I was never able to find the bracket so I had to get another one..."
recommend trying to remove the bracket while the tailgate is as closed as possible to relieve pressure on the bar. I was foolish enough to do it with the tailgate down. Both bolts broke off allowing the bar to snap back and sent the bracket off to never-never land. I was never able to find the bracket so I had to get another one..."
"My rear window quit working when I put my top back on and since the wires were pretty beat up anyway I decided to remove the tailgate and write a tech article at the same time. Anyway, I have a 90 and you know that metal rod on the passenger side? Turns out, that is spring loaded and when it came out, that was the last thing I removed, it snaped across my right hand! :banghead Now I have my hand wedged in between the rod and the side of the tailgate and I am supporting the tailgate with my knees. Luckily, my neighbor was out front and was able to help me get the tailgate on the ground. :whiteflag After 3 hours at urgent care, I broke my hand right through the knuckle on my ring finger. Just a heads up to anyone wanting to remove their tailgate.
View attachment 6055
About 10 min after on the way to urgent care.
View attachment 6056
About 2 hours after.
View attachment 6057
Small but it is there. (Can't wait for everyone to read into that comment)" by jphill
Last edited:
johnnyreb
Well-known member
sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you are doing better and people will take your warning and learn from it. So it won,t happen to them. I like the way you done the interior. Very neat and looks really good. Like the way you kept the direction of the grain of the wood too.
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