t-bar swap ?'s

[Swims350]

ok guys my 88 1/2 ton 4x4 has saggin bars, wondering what I can change them out with...

3/4 ton ones? and if so wil my keys work on them stock 1/2 ton ones. will it raise it higher? or give more room to raise it higher via the key bolt, or will it be the same or lower it?

I heard 3/4 tons keys on 1/2 ton will lower it.

will newer trucks work and if so to what year and will my keys work on them?

 

[vipergtrdj]

ok guys my 88 1/2 ton 4x4 has saggin bars, wondering what I can change them out with...

3/4 ton ones? and if so wil my keys work on them stock 1/2 ton ones. will it raise it higher? or give more room to raise it higher via the key bolt, or will it be the same or lower it?

I heard 3/4 tons keys on 1/2 ton will lower it.

will newer trucks work and if so to what year and will my keys work on them?

I have actually been waiting to do this to my truck. I grabbed 3/4ton bars from a 94 to put in my truck - same length and keys appear to be the same. From what I read, you will want to grab something from 88-98. I only went with 3/4ton because of the weight it can support. 3/4ton bars can hold more weight then 1/2ton bars (they have a post on here that has the different weight ratings for each of the bars). I suggest doing a quick search for the post with the information on it. Its really helpful.

You may want to make sure you can get your stock bars out of the LCA and the keys - mine are rusted solid on both sides (another reason I have not gotten to it). But I live in New England, gotta love the winters and the rust tht comes along with it.

 

[Swims350]

same here but if it comes to that I'll try to cut them at both ends, remove the keys and control arms and drive them out with a sledge or something if it'd work.

I keep hearing about the t-bar chart but I don't have it, gonna have to find it and look.

 

[badazzbulldog]

http://www.gmfullsize.com/tech/torsion401.html heres the write up

 

[Swims350]

I actually had that saved and didn't know it, anyways...

no hd/3/4 ton for me, being a PITB to load and all, I'll pass. only question left is could I use 99 and up NON OBS style ones or not, I need to find me some ford keys I think and get new bars too.

 

[vipergtrdj]

I actually had that saved and didn't know it, anyways...

no hd/3/4 ton for me, being a PITB to load and all, I'll pass. only question left is could I use 99 and up NON OBS style ones or not, I need to find me some ford keys I think and get new bars too.

Your stock keys can go high enough with bars that are not warn. Why would you not do the 3/4ton bars, same process to load and unload them as any other bar as far as I know. With the right tool its a piece of cake.

 

[Swims350]

because of what the instruction on the torsion bar chart said....


Can I replace my half ton bars with HD ones?

Yes, you can. The advantage to this is that it will take more weight to get your front end to sag and the bars will last longer. This is good if you have a heavy aftermarket bumper, winch or brush guard. The bars are not a plug and play swap though, the bars themselves are indexed differently and there is no way you can load the HD bars with green keys, at least on the GL bars I used. Lighter duty bars may load easier. To solve this problem you can get the less indexed purple keys. Even then you will have a hard time loading them and they will give you a lot of lift when not cranked at all, which still has the negative effects. If you want the heavier bars with no more lift over stock you can use ford keys and rotate them so they are under clocked and they will load very easily this way. It gives you maybe even less lift than stock though and I would not recommend this – there will be almost no preload on the bars and they wont ride very well. If you want to just gain a little lift or stay at the stock height with heavier bars you could take a set of purple keys to a machine shop and have some keys made they are indexed less. I would index them about the same amount less that the purple are from the green. In other words say there is a 10 degree difference between purple and green, I would do 10 more degrees from purple/20 from green.

 

[Swims350]

NO WAY you can load the bar with GREEN KEYS, which are stock 1/2 ton keys, yes he said the bar he tried but why risk it? and if I do this bar swap I want to make sure I can gt what I want. If I buy bars and they sag like mine I'm gonna be ticked but maybe the ford keys added to it will let me get enough who knows. The keys are just an added thought and would cost extra, the bars I really need. I just don't know, new bars cost too much but old one might sag like mine, mine had half bolt sticking out when I got the truck, turned the one up and bottomed it out, other still has some turns left, but I went the same amount on both as far as turns go, and it's still 1/2 off the droop stop. Yes that might be ok being 1/2 inch off, but just in case when I go with bigger tires I'd like to know I can jack it on up to the droop stop if need be. I tower over my 25/70's now but I want 35's and I want to clear them.

 

[Brickyard]

So, if I am reading that article right, (and after this weekend I may not be) I could find some HD bars, that have a higher torque rating, and could install them for not only a couple of inches of lift, but no ill effects like cranking my stockers? I have a 98 Z71 if that makes any difference.

 

[Swims350]

NO, hd bars he said wouldn't load, and if so would be maxxed out without the bolts all the way in.

regardless, crank is crank, the ill effects are there period. The only inches you can get without ill effects is a full drop suspension lift, that's it.

As for hd bars dirtyhick pointed me in the right direction, flip them from ds to ps and then use the 1/2 ton keys and it'd load and work fine.