I had an Idea to gain an inch or two of height in the front end of my 1st gen. runner. This was to tighten the torsion bars just a little bit. Have any of you done this, or are the yotas (stock) torsion bars to week to handle this?

Any opinions on this?

 

I had it done on my 92, it made is look like the tail dragged even more. And, the ride stiffened up quite a bit.

 

Yes, tons of folk's do this all the time.
On my home page on page III of my mods are links to two articles on how to adjust your T bars.

I had my stock ones cranked up to compensate for the added lift from the Downey coils in the aft section.

But as soon as I put the new bumper and winch on, the stock T bars were a little weak feeling.
So I switched to SAW 25mm T bars.
I'd only recommend them if you plan on adding weight up front from a bumper.

Here's a pic on level ground with the T bars cranked up.
http://www.pnw4runners.net/pics&vids..._2002/bos3.jpg

You don't want to go over 14" from the top of your wheel lip to the bottom of your fender seam as seen by Chris's picture on the link if you have the ADD hubs still.

If you switch to manual hubs, you can get away with about 15" before your CV joints are at a bad angle.
Mine sit pretty good right now at this height.