penitentially stupid question

[firemoth]

How much load does a shock absorber take? I'm part way through replacing an axle due to collapsed suspension, I can't see anything wrong, when I move rear right wheel up and down (car on stands) the torsion bars move as they should. If the sock absorber had failed, would the car sit on its arse?

[firemoth]

Forget that. Took it off both cars, the one with the good axle is still stiff, and I can now hear something is wrong with the duff one. Still can't see anything wrong

[Piggy]

Shocker wont make the car collapse, it doesnt hold any load.

Sounds like stripped TB threads or TB broken

[swampy]

On a torsion bar beam the shock absorber is just that, it dampens the spring force from the torsion bar to make it less crashy