Recently acquired a '94 fixer-upper. Thankfully mostly mechanical with virtually no rust. A lot of sap and pine needles from sitting under a pine tree for two years!
I have extensive off-road experience, but all solid axle stuff. First time IFS with torsion bars. Looks to have a 6in lift (unknown manufacturer). My question is this... the front cross bar (shown in the second pic (not my truck)) gives me about 9.5 in. of ground clearance . A arms sit flat. I have seen a couple videos of people tightening their torsion bars for additional lift. Just curious why someone would not do this over a "regular" lift to get more front end clearance? Or simply to add to a modest lift? I'm assuming aftermarket torsion bars would be a must, but what are the pro's and con's of torsion bar lifts?
Thanks! - GW

 

Wow....so there's a lot of lift info within this site. Wouldn't recommend cranking the bars for more lift. That's just going to kill your ride. Even with a bracket style lift you're not going to gain any extra articulation.

 

When I got mine(used) the prior owner had cranked the torsion bars, adding 1.5-2" of lift. The ride was horrible. It's also very hard on the upper ball joints.

Btw, looks like there's an oil leak/seep at the front, flinging oil. It's getting on you radiator hoses. I'd clean that and track it down.

 

Don't crank the T-Bars up for lift. It's not what they're for. They're to support the front of the truck, not set it's height. The most I ever tweaked mine, on my Hilux, was to raise the drivers side a little bit. I used it for my work truck, just over an hour drive each way, at highway speed. Since I had put on a little weight (ahem), the truck didn't sit level when I was in it alone, and it drove me nuts. I tightened the driver's side a little, so it sat level with my fat tail in it alone. Made the driver's side a little stiff, but it's not bad.That was 30+ years ago, and it's stilll that way.

Just my anecdotal info on T-Bars.

That oil leak looks to me like it's coming from the front crankshaft seal, mounted in the oil pump. It's really easy to change. I think I'm on my fourth or fifth seal, replaced them all without need for a press or anything. Just remember, you pull the oil pump to get to it, you need to replace it's seal, too. The hard part is breaking loose the crankshaft main bolt to remove the harmonic balancer. Tightening it it pretty hard too. High torque value on it, but just put it in gear, like 4th, chock the tires, and you're good to go.
The oil pump's seal is a thin, rubber ring that goes around the pump, in a small channel on the oil pump. it's kind of an odd shape. I've found the best way to get it to stay in it's little channel when putting the pump back on the crankshaft is to put a small dab of a heavy grease in places around the channel. It'll hold the seal in the channel long enough you won't pinch it when placing it, which is easy to do, honestly. Same trick works great for the valve cover seal, too.
Finally, make sure you don't loose the key that holds the harmonic balancer in the right place, and check the harmonic balancer for separation of the two halves. The rubber gets brittle, and can break. If it does, new balancer time.

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

Put a breaker bar against the frame and bump the starter to get the crank bolt busted loose. You might have to have someone hold it on place for you.

 

Thanks for the torsion bar info. As I said, the picture was not my truck. This is...

And the fluid on the floor is water from the a/c system.

 

That's the way I've always done it. Works great for me. I've always pulled the center wire off the distributor before I do it, though. Makes absolutely certain the truck can't start with the breaker bar in place.
Pat☺