I should be getting my 04 K2500HD CC SB LLY this weekend. I want to raise the front end to be level with the back. Should I get the Leveling Kit or turn the torsion bars. I have heard that turning the torsion bars will cause my other front end components to wear out quicker. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Edited by: craSSh

I dont see how it will cause anymore wear. If you think you are gonna keep the torsion bars cranked up at the same spot for a long time, just get an alignment and you should be all set. I have mine cranked up a bit in the summer, but when I plow, I crank them almost all the way.

emerick115, have you ever checked how close your bump stops are to touching ? I only turned my adjusters four turns and gained about 3/4 inch. When I looked at the bump stops, they looked like they were almost touching. Is that normal ? It looks like they would start to get smash down if I went any more.

I should be getting my 04 K2500HD CC SB LLY this weekend. I want to raise the front end to be level with the back. Should I get the Leveling Kit or turn the torsion bars. I have heard that turning the torsion bars will cause my other front end components to wear out quicker. Any advice is greatly appreciated.


If you level the front end by "tweeking" the torsion bars, you will need to have the front end re-alligned. Raising/lowering the tension on the torsion bars does affect front end suspension geometry.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif

Here we go again...


*sigh*

Get this guys. As I did with my '92 Z71, I went to crank the t-bars and found something really interesting. My left front measured a full one and one-quarter of an inch LOWER than the right side. So, at this point I adjusted the left side only to match the right. Took it out around to let the suspention settle and then remeasure afterwards. The truck felt like it was leaning to the right. Remeasured and good to go but the thought of the whole body and fenders being cattywompus came so I measured a left and right location on the frame rails and all was well. So, I still have a slight nose low attitude and will go with that for now. Just a note on alignments. I raised my '92 nearly two inches and had perfect wear on two sets of tires without an alignment. Still experienced the typical side effects associated with this tweaking. I did also have longer Rancho 5000s on that one. Now at this point I'm not sure which shock I'll go with.


Just a story to pass on....


MarcEdited by: motocopter

tweaking your torsion bars too far can have a bad effect on your CV joints, they tend to make funny noises and could vibrate, not to mention the additional stress on the CV's. When I went to GM training in 87 just before the GMT400's came out they stressed upon us NOT to crank the bars, but who listens to them, I didn't

The C/K's CV's were very sensitive to cranking. With all the talk about the newer styles and how you guys are cranking them without damage, I'd say they changed something to prevent damage to them.

i had 160k on my zr2 and it was cranked for about 130k and never had a single problem with the cv's but the idler arm bushing was starting to loosen up

The C/K's CV's were very sensitive to cranking. With all the talk about the newer styles and how you guys are cranking them without damage, I'd say they changed something to prevent damage to them.




I had a 97 1/2 ton Z71 with 11 inches of lift. Torsion bars cranked to get close to 3 inches and I put 220,000 miles of pure hell on it and only one factory CV Joint went bad. (It was not caused by wear, I run over a steel T post and it went through the CV boot. I drove it for another 13,000 before getting around to fixing it.) Now the after market one was another story. It lasted less then 8,000 miles cranked up.


Where do you get your information? Now if you would have said prior to 92 I would believe you. But they were changed mid way through the 92 model year. After that, they were much improved.Edited by: hdmax

I should be getting my 04 K2500HD CC SB LLY this weekend. I want to raise the front end to be level with the back. Should I get the Leveling Kit or turn the torsion bars. I have heard that turning the torsion bars will cause my other front end components to wear out quicker. Any advice is greatly appreciated.


The keys will only allow you to raise the front end more then cranking the torsion bars. I have the green keys only because I could get only about 1" by cranking the adjuster. At 18 miles on the truck I did the adjustment, At 11,300 I added the green keys. I am now approching 60,000 miles. I will let you know when I have a front end related problem.


Keep the front end aligned and the tires balanced, and the proper amount of air in the tires. You should be fine for a very long time. By the way; I am at approximately 2.5 inches of lift on the front end for the last 48,000 miles and no sign of wear.

Where do you get your information? Now if you would have said prior to 92 I would believe you. But they were changed mid way through the 92 model year. After that, they were much improved.

That reply of yours came off a little crooked, no? I don't think it warranted a reply such as yours.

Where I get my information from, since your so interested, is PERSONAL experience with a truck from THAT era.

However, I stand corrected, I was unaware of the '92MY changes you speak of, but it makes sense. The '88 - '91's were notorious for wear and was all the "talk" back then.