I read that you have to raise the front of your truck to raise your t-bars. do you have to raise it to lwer them. im doing it trying to increase ride quality and to even out my rear sag a little. any one done this? how much does it improve ride? how many turns to drop from 1/2 to 1" thanks buuuudies

 

Do you really wanna drop it down that far just to even out the truck? Get new springs or at least a spacer. It's not a lexus so you arn't gonna improve the ride that much by lowering it

 

You should lift it up when adjusting the torsion bars, so you can let the wheels move freely.

I would just get come coil spacers, if you adjust your t-bars you will need an alignment. And if you havnt touched your steering in a few years chances are you will need to replace a few things to get aligned.

 

I can lower mine fine without jacking up the front but my adjustment bolt threads are rust free and greased up. To go down 1/2" I'd start with about 1 full turn. You may need to drive down the street a block to get the suspension to settle down to the new height.

 

Actually, you don't really raise torsion bars, you rotate them. By doing so, you rotate the upper control arm downwards thus lifting the truck.

You will see a decrease in ride quality as you raise the truck via the torsion bars and an increase as you bring it to stock height. It has to do with the angle of the upper control arm in relation to the ground. When the arm is more horizontal, there is more twisting force on the t-bar and thus is gives more when you hit bumps.

When you lift the truck with say a ball joint spacer it helps to accomplish lift while keeping the UCA more level so you don't lose the ride quality.

I would not suggest lowering the front suspension because while it will become more compliant, you will hit the bumptops a lot and hard which will have a negative affect on the ride quality. I would look to raise the rear suspension to match.

Frank

 

im not looking to make it ride that nice. it just seams excessivly rough when i go over bumps. on these rr tracks i go ove everyday on the way to work my truck kinda see-saws really bad. but if i get the kit with the balljoint spacers and springs then my truck should ride better rite? i dont think my shocks are warn cause it doesnt fail the bounce test.

 

I just finished adding spacers to the rear coils in mine today. I know that is a rig up but I dont have the cash for replacement springs and I wont have for another year at least. Dont lower the t bars unless they are already misadjusted. And in that case, set them to OEM specs.

 

I like running coil spacers with stock rear springs. It flexes awesome. I have air shocks to help with load capacity when I need it.

Frank

 

If he gets that kit he won't be lowering the truck but instead increasing the suspension travel and lifting it a bit too.

Frank

 

Hey, I've got a question for you guys: do the torsion bars "sag" or wear out like leafs springs do? I would assume that they do?

I ask because either the PO lowered the front (maybe to match the rear sag?) or they are sagging because at ride height, the lower control are is only about 3/4 - 1 inch from the bump stop, and most of the pics I've seen on here show about twice that (just an estimate from pics) and thats not on tweaked t-bars, what do our guys' rigs look like?

oh, and btw, mine rides like doo-doo over bumps, no matter how small, and always feels like it is hitting the bump stops

 

To increase ride quality there's really no need to lower the truck and make it less useful...

Get a set of 1.5" bj spacers and raise it an inch and a half, then let the bars back out and drop it back to stock height. You'll get more relaxed tbars and ride better, and still be at the same distance from the ground you are now.

Btw, I've raised and lowered my truck with the tbars and never had it jacked up. You just have to roll it around a bit and bounce it to settle the suspension between measurements.

 

Yes, especially with a heavy winch bumper or bashing them hard off-road.


Probably is hitting the bumpstops, that's not enough clearance, you should adjust the t-bars or get ball joint spacers.

 

Unless someone has messed with them in the past, raising or lowering it will just put you closer to your bump stops. So in your attempt to soften your ride, you will find yourself hitting your stops. Unless you really want to lower your truck, I would put in a polyurethane 1.25" coil spacer in the back to level it out. If your looking to get a little lift and still have a great ride check out this. http://www.jamesdeancreations.com/4r...htm#Suspension Maybe you need better or new shocks.

TB don't ware out or sag as fast as coil springs do. Stock TBs are 23mm thick and coils are about 10mm thick. You do the math as to why coils sag first. Don't forget that every time you change your ride height it will change your camber and your toe and you will need an alignment. I have better things to do with my money than buy 2 $200 front tires all the time.

 

yeah, I plan on doing the balljoint spacers and rear add a leaf, just as soon as i get some money, maybe I'll try and raise the front a little with the t-bars for now, just to get it back to where it should be, I'll take a picture tomorrow of where it sits now

 

If you lower the ride down to stock after putting in BJ spacers, do you still need an alignment? I think the camber would change a bit, but enough to cause a problem?

 

i did when mine was done (didnt want to take chances w/ $800 a set tires)

 

Yep you do. You'll find even changing ride height a little or adding any lift kit will require an alignment. You can, however, do this yourself. There are instructions on our website.

Frank

 

you definatelly will need an alignment. you should align you vehicle when you touch anything underneath the front of your vehicle. if you disassemble something or lift or lower the truck with the torsion bars. but going down on the torsion bars will definatelly make it ride better...

 

That's not always true about needing an alignment when you touch anything on the front end. You can raise and lower torsion bars without needing an alignment...it just depends on how much you've raised or lowered them. I've done this for years, and my alignments have always been spot on afterwards when lowering or raising no more than about a 1/2".