Front end sitting high after suspension rebuild

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Switchdr

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I have a 96 4wd yukon that I just replaced the all the front end rubber, joints and shocks. The torsion bars were so rusted in to the control arms I cut the control arms off and bought 2 from the junk yard. I got everything back together today and pulled it out of the garage and the front was way higher than the back and the upper control arms were maxed out. I adjusted the keys all the way and it dropped a little but the front is still way higher than the back. I have never dealt with torsion bars before, will it settle down or did I put something together wrong?

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Matt Conner

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I have a 96 4wd yukon that I just replaced the all the front end rubber, joints and shocks. The torsion bars were so rusted in to the control arms I cut the control arms off and bought 2 from the junk yard. I got everything back together today and pulled it out of the garage and the front was way higher than the back and the upper control arms were maxed out. I adjusted the keys all the way and it dropped a little but the front is still way higher than the back. I have never dealt with torsion bars before, will it settle down or did I put something together wrong?

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Are the keys off a notch? Are they off a notch in the control arms? How stiff is the front?
 

Switchdr

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Are the keys off a notch? Are they off a notch in the control arms? How stiff is the front?

Doesnt feel too stiff, similar to my wife's 2004. I had everything torn down and the keys out so it is possible I have them a notch out. I attached a pic of the control arms as they sit right now with the key bolt almost all the way out

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L29Sub

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If you've slacked a off the adjuster cams, the bars are clocked wrong. The torsion bars set the ride height.
Unless, wrong shocks (too long or something is badly bound up. You could rule that out by backing off the torsion adjusters. If they loosen before contacting the frame stops, somethings bound up. Be careful. The weight should be off the front end when adjusting the bars. Lots of neverseize is good too.

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mariodave

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I don't think you could get it back together with the keys a notch off. If you turned the torsion bars end for end it will be off. The hex is offset on my 98 Z71.
 

Hutchinson

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When I first put my front end back together (changed everything like you did (urethane bushings, ball joints, everything), I put new sway-away racing torsion bars in and lowered it to the ground,..... it was jacked up so high, that it bottomed out on the upper urethane stops. Raised truck back up, loosened the keys, slid the torsion bars forward (luckily I gobbed the lithium grease on the forward bar end/control arm), reclocked the keys, and put it all back together. 2nd time was the charm.
 

Schurkey

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Looking at the photo posted above:

1. Did you torque the control arm-to-frame bolts with the suspension at normal ride height, or did you torque the bolts with the suspension at full droop? If you torqued the bolts at full droop, it'll ride high for a week or two. The ride height comes down, folks think the springs have "settled", but what really happened is the new control arm bushings tore and are now junk.

2. The sway bar end link bolts are way loose. Won't change ride height, but tightening them would make the sway bar work better. I"m not convinced that the sway bar end-link spacer is the right length, either (but that could be just the angle of the photograph; and tightening the bolt might pull the sway bar into position.)
 

Supercharged111

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As mentioned, if the bars are in backwards they will be clocked wrong. I did this last year when I put 3500 bars in my 1500. There were marks on the fronts of all my bars.
 
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