Capt. Red Beard

I just picked up an 86 truck with a lift (6in I think). 33s on it. The ride on road is incredibly stiff rough. Lots of vibration, bumping around, etc.

What's the best way to soften the ride? Or is it better to keep it super stiff for off road use?

yota1016

That would all depend on what what kind of offroading u want to do...soft for crawling and stiffer for baja type stuff.
Is it leaf all the way around? If so just remove a leaf... If its Torsion in the front loosen it.... Or just do a whole new suspension go long travel! Lol

Capt. Red Beard

Well for offroading I'd like a healthy mix. Eventually I'd like the long travel ifs, but still have the ability to crawl.

At the moment though I would prefer it to just be soother over all as I have a 1200mi trip from ca to co in a few days.

It's just leafs in the back. I put up a bunch of pics of it on my profile today if you wanna take a look. How do you loosen the torsion in the front?

moroza

Well, on my '86 2WD, the torsion bars extended back from the lower arms to a crossmember. Each bar attached to a part called an "anchor arm", which pivots if adjusted; the torsion bar is its axis of rotation. The pivoting end is attached by a big bolt with doubled-up nuts. Simply loosen the bottom nut, and keep loosening the top one until the front arms are at the height and stiffness you want them.

One of the first jobs I had to do on this truck, as one of the anchor arms had "splayed out" and the anchor arm and torsion bar weren't being held at proper ride height.

Capt. Red Beard

Fantastic. I'll give that a go tomorrow. Thanks!