hey i been reading bout people cranking down the torsion bars to get a lil lift out of the vehicle? NOW my question is and i have a good idea on how to do it but not completely sure but how would i crank mine down on my 1980 2wd toyota pickup? i wouldnt mind a lil more room up front seens how i have wider tires then what came on it now. hopefully after xmas ill have the new body lift and ill be alot happier then. lol

 

Cranking the torsion bars is not a good idea, your truck will ride like a brick. You would be better off with a body lift or some lift springs.

 

yes your truck will ride rougher..not necessarily like a brick lol

and since you're 2wd...crank the crap out of em LOL!!!! no CV angles

 

well it already rides rough, im use to it, and im use to my dads truck hes got a 89 and its a stiff truck so idc bout the ride. lol im a tough boy i can handle it hahaha but how do i crank them down? and how do i know when to stop or which direction to turn them and will it interfeer with ANYTHING ELSE like throttle or steering or anything of the sort? cuz i had a used body lift on it and it ed up a bunch of things that im trying to fix now. but i do plan on getting the FULL BRAND NEW body lift kit i really liked it when it was up 3in it even rode a lil smoother. lol

 

when you crank the t-bars, you're removing droop travel. you'll hit the lower bump stop sooner. so it rides rough. you can trim that bump stop down, since you don't have CV's to worry about. the travel available to the tire is the same upper to lower limits are the same. the t-bar crank just sets the "resting" position of the tire lower in the range. so no effect to any other systems. you're not increasing the distance of any part from any other.

a good way to picture it is like a volume dial with numbers from 0 to 10. when you turn the radio on, the default setting is 5, mid way. a t-bar crank is like changing the default to 2 or 3. less room to turn the dial on one side, more room to turn the dial on the other side. but the range is still the same. driving is like turning the knob back and forth. the rough ride of a t-bar crank is how much more frequently it will turn to zero and you won't hear anything. make sense?

t-bar adj is easy. if you don't have a haynes, do a google search for a couple pics. you'll see the t-bars running front to back, coming from the upper A arm. at the back end is the adj. bolt with a locking nut that holds the adj. loosen the nut, change the adjustment, then lock the nut down. (the front end is off the ground for this) then lower, bounce to settle, and measure hubs to fenders to compare left to right.

here's a pic for ya of t-bar adjustment, right side:

 

hmmmmm why would it hit the bumpers sooner if i crank them down?? that kinda dont make since cuz arent you some how liftng the truck a lil? well sounds like it might not be worth it. i have a chilton by the way. illl look it up but thats not very good for lil things like this here n there its how to fix it all

 

i added some explanation above so reread that. you hit the lower bumps sooner because the crank moves the arms down, closer to the bump stop. you're just setting the arms at the lower end of their range of travel, which holds the truck higher. but now, when you hit a pothole, rather than the wheel dropping down, and your truck staying level, the truck will drop too, because you took away the droop travel.

here's a pic for ya:

 

hell yeah, crank em up! don't have to worry about any of that 4wd nonsense

please don't do a body lift...especially if you're an auto, it's just a head ache. if you're looking for some lift, get some used aftermarket torsions like sway-a-ways and new upper arms. then crank em like crazy. the thicker bars respond better to cranking in lift. or you could do what i did, spindles from obsessed motorsports. kinda pricey, but totally bolt on and easy to install with no other mods needed other than extended brake hoses.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-heavy-196265/

check dezertrangers.com or race-dezert.com for used parts. seriously though, BL=fail.

edit: I have about 1" of lift cranked in on stock t-bars, still rides nice and smooth.

 

i looked at your link and honeslty i got more lift out of a body lift. yes i have other things to deal with like the throttle bracket, the shifter, the gastank tube and a few other things. Im just looking to make the truck a lil bit better. no offense but i already had a body lift on it and i liked it alot, my truck is not auto its a 5speed and im not dumping a bunch of money into a 2WD. lol if i want to spend money anymore then a body lift and maybe new tires im doing it on a 4wd. I see no point in doing work like what you did to your truck at all unless your going to put larger tires on it. Which i already have done, and going to go up in size. I planned everything all out i just wanted to know bout hte torsion bars but if im only getting a inch out of it and taking out my travel capacity might as well keep it the way it is for now. ( Rhill if im going to lift it like yours im going to go all out and SAS IT! )

 

we all have to make our own mistakes

 

just crank your current torsion bars up a little if you dont like it you can go back pretty easy.

 

yeah ill try and rhill whats that suppose to mean? at least im lifting my lil 2wd to actually use it not for looks!. lol

 

? Fellas.. I cracked mine 4 full turns & there's was no difference.
How much cracking full turns are u guys doing to achieve 1.5-2" of lift only .

 

Jack your truck up. But not on the a-arms... Crank your T-Bars all the way up.. Now loosen each one a turn and let truck done. You will see a difference. Keep turning bolts to let it back down. This will make your truck ride rough as crap tho.

 

Keep in mind alignment changes doing this too. Off-road, no big deal, but highway miles could eat your tires up without getting things re-aligned.

Rich