Newbie. Understanding suspension......

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jwatt38

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93 K1500 Suburban......This is a planned offroad build. Nothing wild or extreme but nothing lame either.

I want to make sure I understand some things about suspension before I just start buying parts. More specifically the front.

Torsion bars and torsion keys.......there's a bolt on the cross member(?) that presses on the leg of the torsion key. There's a special tool that takes the pressure off the bolt and allows the torsion key to be removed?

Replace the torsion key to get a lift? Or screw the bolt in more to gain lift? Or twist torsion bars to get a lift?

How far can one go before needing to switch to a different lift solution? Or is it proper to go to a proper lift solution and the keys and twisting method is ghetto?

I'm pretty lost here as I don't know enough to understand why one way or whatever and I do not want to rig or do anything the ghetto way.

Thanks, I don't always get hung up but this is a pretty important part of the performance on and off-road, stability, and above all safety. So I tend to double-check and question myself a lot when those things are on the line.
 

df2x4

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Or is it proper to go to a proper lift solution and the keys and twisting method is ghetto?

Pretty much this. You can get away with up to 2" of height increase from cranking the keys, but it will kill your ride quality and put more wear on parts. Any upward adjustment from the factory z-height settings will do this.

Don't waste money on aftermarket keys, you can already crank too high with the factory ones.
 

Supercharged111

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You can crank the stock suspension right to the downstops on stock keys, no keys needed for a GMT400. Judging by the size of the tires in your pic, you're going to want a proper lift.
 

jwatt38

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You can crank the stock suspension right to the downstops on stock keys, no keys needed for a GMT400. Judging by the size of the tires in your pic, you're going to want a proper lift.
I’m gonna go a tad smaller on the tires. Those came with it. I like the look. I just don’t need super swampers. Proper lift it is.
 

jwatt38

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For the rear. Are the blocks the right way/only way to lift the rear or is that ghetto too?
 

b454rat

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Nothing wrong with blocks. Ford, Dodge and Chevy used them from the factory. Just gets scary and ghetto going over 4.5". I have a lifted Tundra that has a 2" I think, I towed, hauled, never had an issue.
 
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