Possible to overstress steering torsion bar?

[VeeFource]

Is it possible to overstress the torsion bar in a car with electric power steering by steering the car with the engine off? Sometimes it's easier to move a car on our drive by letting it roll and this also saves on cold start engine wear (I'm aware of the limited brake vacuum etc so no worries there). Some people recode their steering too for a greater weight (such as with VCDS etc) which would also potentially be causing increased fatigue on the torsion bar?

For those that don't know, the torsion bar is the bit in your steering designed to flex so the car can sense how much effort is being delivered by the driver. But as with anything designed to easily flex, it's likely to have a lower yield and fatigue life than the rest of the system components.

Had a Google on it but couldn't find anything meaningful.

[Decky_Q]

I'm not an expert but I'd hazard an educated guess that the two types of damage you're thinking of would be fatigue fracture and permanent plastic deformation. Neither are likely to occur imo the forces just aren't high enough.

[VeeFource]

Decky_Q said:

I'm not an expert but I'd hazard an educated guess that the two types of damage you're thinking of would be fatigue fracture and permanent plastic deformation. Neither are likely to occur imo the forces just aren't high enough.

You're probably right, especially as it would cause a very dangerous total steering failure unless I'm mistaken?

[GreenV8S]

VeeFource said:

Is it possible to overstress the torsion bar in a car with electric power steering by steering the car with the engine off?

No. It would be extremely dangerous if that was the case.