i want to crank 2 turns up on my torsion then go in for an alignment. i did not see a 'how to' in the do-it-yourself section.

can anyone give a heads up on how to do this? or better yet... any pics?

thanks.

I know there are threads that tell you how to do it... But here you go: Jack up the front end so the tires are off the ground. You don't really have to do that if you don't want, but it relieves some of the pressure off the bolts. Slide under with a breaker bar or ratchet and an 18 mm socket. At the back of the torsion bars is a cam with a bolt in it. Turn it up the desired amount of turns. 5 or so is about an inch on most trucks. Don't lay directly underneath the bolt, they have a lot of force on them and on occasion they will strip the threads and pop out. This would be bad if your face was there.

thanks.

would be bad if your face was there.
sounds bad.

5 'turns' = 5 full 360 degree revs of the bolt?

Yeah, 5 full 360 turns.

thanks.


sounds bad.

5 'turns' = 5 full 360 degree revs of the bolt?
Yup full 360 degree turns. I think that I went about 7 and that is close to level. I have not had mine aligned yet, but going to this week. On my 01 I had them about all the way and the alignment was not off by much.

My bolts were not both threaded in the same amount from the factory. I justed used a floor jack to lift truck and cranked. Then dropped the jack and measured the distance from wheel to fender and passenger side was lower. Took a couple of times but got it real close now. Might want to measure to make sure that you are even.

later

well... here's what happened...

i measured each side. the left side was 1/4" shorter. so i decided to do 2 turns on right, and 3 turns on left. i jacked the weight off, marked a reference point on the head of the bolt, and they turned easy. lowered it, measured it, nothing changed.

then, i noticed the strange octo or deca nut on the top of the bolt. it was turning with the bolt when i turn it. so, looking down from in the wheel well, i put a reference mark on the end of the bolt and the octo/deca nut. i held the nut with pliers, and turned the bolts. 2 right, 3 left. i lowered it, and measured it... and nothing really changed.

if 5 turns is about an inch, then the change should have been noticeable. what do you think is going on?

I don't think you're adjusting the correct bolt, Monkey. The torsion crossmember is just under the front doors of the truck, right at the end of the trans/transfer case. See those two bolts sticking down? Those are the two you adjust. Mine are not adjusted in very far because I'm using the green keys.

Maybe this will help.

http://homepage.mac.com/darketernal/TBT.html

William

DOH. :banghead:

thanks for clueing me in. my first hint should have been that an 18mm didn't fit...

now i *really* need an alignment. thankfully i marked them.

preciate it.

Mine are not adjusted in very far because I'm using the green keys.
I was just wondering what exactly Green Keys are and what do they do? Is that a better way to get the extra height?

sievz

I took my truck (with 285's) to the local tire shop (Les Schwab) and they would NOT crank them up. They told me it was not necessary and it would do more damage because the truck would not be level, etc. Why are they so afraid to do it and is it really necesary? The tires rub on a full lock turn at slow speeds.

MSiev7 Get a comfy chair, some snack and beverage of your choice and do a search for green keys, lots of info....

I was just wondering what exactly Green Keys are and what do they do? Is that a better way to get the extra height?

sievz
check out this link from a post just above...

http://www.offroad-tech.com/tech/tb401/

very good lesson.

At a MINUMUM jack up the front of your truck to take most of the pressure off the bars. The correct way to do it is to use a torsion bar unloading tool or some have made do with other toolss like ball joint press and big c clamps ect. Also number of turns means nothing. Measure your front end hight from a place easy to duplicate. Unload the bars and crank 3 or so turns. Reload the suspention and bounce on the front end a bit to get everything settled and measure again. Do the same process and crank some more till its at a hight you want. IMO you shouldnt go more than 1.5-2" over factory hight.

Good article TheMonkey.

Also number of turns means nothing.
I agree with everything you said except this. I was just trying to show him a starting point for turns vs height. I have cranked at least 4 trucks and been around at least 4 more that 5-6 turns came out to 1-1/14 inches, so I figure that is a good frame of reference to relate how much to crank for desired lift.

I noticed that when I got my truck lifted they used the factory torsion keys..They did cranck them up alil bit. If I wanted to get them replaced would the green keys be the correct keys to get? I have a 12" kit on my truck.

The green keys just allow more turning of the torsion bar with less cranks of the bolt. If you are happy with the hight or have thread left to adjust the bolts then you dont need keys

nar, I dont think we actually dissaggree, I just didnt explain myself well. Number of turns is ussually pretty consistent among like trucks and ussually x turns will generally raise a truck about x" from the factory hight, x number of turns is ussualy a deccent basline to start your cranking by but measuremnt is the key IMO. Thank make sense?

Yeah. What we have always done is measure it, lift it up and crank 5 or so turns, let it down, bounce it, and measure, and adjust as needed... Well except my one dumbass buddy that just took the air wrench and ran them up until they stopped. He later shattered his torsion bars jumping it... It was a 1/2 ton truck though.

Well..I wanted to get an extra inch or two when I got my 38' tires.....

Should be able to do that with the stockers depending on how much of a crank the installers did when they did the lift. I would try to keep your CV's and such failry parallel to the ground. Big angle=tear stuff up compounding with big tires.

i figured we were on the same page nar:cool: