- Take the rear fenders and shocks off. this makes things really easy.
- Unbolt the spring plate cover, where the plate meets the torsion bar. Slide it about half-way out over that funky tube that sticks out of it.
- Mark the alignment with a metal chisel and unbolt the diagonal arm from the spring plate. Consider putting some extra bolts here too.
- Remove the rubber bump stop on the diagonal arm and jack up the arm as high as it will go and put a jack stand under it. This keeps it out of the way enough.
- Get a nice floor jack and CHAIN it to the shock tower. i like chain with hooks that lock on to the links.
- Jack up the spring plate so you can insert a wedge like device (screw driver, crow bar) between the lower bump stop and the spring plate.
- Work the spring plate off the stop while lowering the jack. This is DANGEROUS!! Keep your body parts away from the plate while doing this. It is under alot of tension and it can break bones easily. Be careful! Scribe the angle that it sits at now on the shock tower.
- Now the fun part. Try to pull the spring plate away while leaving the torsion bar in it's inner splines. This is hard with an i.r.s. car because you can't see what you are doing. If the spring plate and the torsion bar come out as one piece, don't despare.
- So, either way, pull the spring plate away enough to clear the splines and turn it so the plate points more downward. Use the mark you scribed as a reference. Try to *feel* how the splines engage. When you get the feel, move the plate two splines downward.
- Yet another fun part. With the jack still chained up, lift the spring plate up so that it clears the lower bumpstop. Use a *really* big hammer to persuade the spring plate back over the stop.
- With the plate over the stop, push/hammer the spring plate cover back into it's original position and bolt it into place. I found that this is fairly difficult, the holes in the cover didn't like to line up with holes that the bolts go into. Be liberal with the liquid wrench so things go as smoothly as possible. With the cover bolted up, lower the jack and take the chain off the shock tower.
- Now bolt the diagonal arm back to the spring plate, reinstall the shock and fender, put the wheel back on and do the other side.
This takes about 3 to 4 hours to do the whole thing if you are familar with everything. I just helped a friend do this to his baja bug project and i did it too my baja too, even though it had already been done, it sagged too much when it was loaded up with gear. Now it sits in the bump stops all the time, the extra stiffness is perfect.
- UPDATE -
There are single spring plate irs cars and dual spring plate irs cars. The singles are much eaiser to lift but the duals are stronger. Mine is a dual and the one i just helped with is a dual. To make the dual eaiser, before you jack the spring plate back up after turning it a spline, bolt on the spring plate cover. This can be accomplished by knocking off the rear lower spacer thing on the cover. With the spacer removed the cover will bolt on even though that bolt hole is still blocked by the spring plate. once the cover is bolted on then jack up the spring plate as usual to get it back in position.
Turning the plate one spline is eaiser because you are dealing with less torsion than if turning two splines. One spline will make it ride in the bump stops and the ride won't be too stiff. Go two splines if you really need to abuse it. (jumping!)
Set the rear toe by hammering the diagonal arm as far forward as it will go, the bolt holes are slotted so you can make adjustments. It will handle best like this.
