The Stupid Lift Questions Thread

[FasterTheBetter]

what's the most lift I can get out of my t-bars and not destroy my front end? if I could get 1-1.5" I would be happy.

 

[MOBS]

Your t-bars are not there to adjust your lift, they're there to adjust how hard or soft your ride is. The correct way to lift(and it's not too terribly expensive) is to get lift keys and depending on what keys your stock vehicle came with, you can sometimes get keys from the stock HD trucks and you'll get a decent little lift(I switched to HD keys and went from a 1" tire gap with 31's to where my lca's were touching the lift stop when suspension was loaded). Anything higher and you have to do some fab work to the front end. This was on my 95 k1500, sold it so I can't provide specific pics, but I can tell you the ride quality changed none because I didn't crank the torsion bars atall. The HD keys combined with 1/4" longer studs did the trick.

 

[squeaky3]

i hate to call you out on here...but i will

KEYS ARE THE SAME AS CRANKING!!!!!

you may not believe that but just imagine the stock keys and bars....no imagine turning the bolt to crank them and how they look then....if you were to make a mark on the bar on the end and see how it moved around with turning the stock keys

now when you put the keys on...look and see where that mark is and you will see it have moved around in the same manor

the only thing keys will do is to allow you to crank more than the stock keys, and on an obs you have no need to go more than the stock keys will allow and you will be sitting on the upper control arm bump stops

 

[FasterTheBetter]

I have heard a lot of people on here saying exactly what squeaky is saying. I just would like to know what's the most lift I can get out of my ORIGINAL t-bars. If I'm only gonna get one inch without destroying my front end, then I will simply have to get a 2" block for the rear. I don't want my lifted truck to be squatting like a drag-car, just a leveled out lifted look. Thanks guys.

 

[squeaky3]

i got about 1.5-2" out of mine

some people get 1" or so and some get alot more...really differs from truck to truck and how worn your tbars and other parts are

 

[MOBS]

i hate to call you out on here...but i will

KEYS ARE THE SAME AS CRANKING!!!!!

you may not believe that but just imagine the stock keys and bars....no imagine turning the bolt to crank them and how they look then....if you were to make a mark on the bar on the end and see how it moved around with turning the stock keys

now when you put the keys on...look and see where that mark is and you will see it have moved around in the same manor

the only thing keys will do is to allow you to crank more than the stock keys, and on an obs you have no need to go more than the stock keys will allow and you will be sitting on the upper control arm bump stops

I was referring to the stressed lift height. When your suspension is under load your t-bars twist to a certain degree, this is their "loaded height"....with the keys/studs I added, it extended the suspension further down so the t-bars started twisting earlier than before so they came to rest at their "loaded height" as usual, the t-bar didn't twist any more or less, it just made the t-bars start their twist earlier and reach their normal loaded position with lca being lower than before. If I remember right, the lca-to-lift stop gap was about a half inch or so when under it's normal load. It still retained it's previous flex ability(maybe more due to not wanting to rub fender), but with a pre-stressed t-bar(cranking it further...making harder ride), it's normally not possible to reach the same flex angle due to the spring rate being stiffer.

^This is how I've always known the torsion bar suspension to work....and it's always proved more successful and less detrimental to the front end bushings. If I'm wrong then oh well, it works for me

 

[FasterTheBetter]

squeaky...what kind of cb and whips you running on that rig there?

 

[squeaky3]

i got a cobra 29...pretty basic standard cb with 4ft firestik...i have 2 but only one is hooked up to cb...other is just for looks basically

 

[dirtyhick42]

Your t-bars are not there to adjust your lift, they're there to adjust how hard or soft your ride is. The correct way to lift(and it's not too terribly expensive) is to get lift keys and depending on what keys your stock vehicle came with, you can sometimes get keys from the stock HD trucks and you'll get a decent little lift(I switched to HD keys and went from a 1" tire gap with 31's to where my lca's were touching the lift stop when suspension was loaded). Anything higher and you have to do some fab work to the front end. This was on my 95 k1500, sold it so I can't provide specific pics, but I can tell you the ride quality changed none because I didn't crank the torsion bars atall. The HD keys combined with 1/4" longer studs did the trick.

I was referring to the stressed lift height. When your suspension is under load your t-bars twist to a certain degree, this is their "loaded height"....with the keys/studs I added, it extended the suspension further down so the t-bars started twisting earlier than before so they came to rest at their "loaded height" as usual, the t-bar didn't twist any more or less, it just made the t-bars start their twist earlier and reach their normal loaded position with lca being lower than before. If I remember right, the lca-to-lift stop gap was about a half inch or so when under it's normal load. It still retained it's previous flex ability(maybe more due to not wanting to rub fender), but with a pre-stressed t-bar(cranking it further...making harder ride), it's normally not possible to reach the same flex angle due to the spring rate being stiffer.

^This is how I've always known the torsion bar suspension to work....and it's always proved more successful and less detrimental to the front end bushings. If I'm wrong then oh well, it works for me

Please stop, your making yourself look stupid.

 

[MOBS]

Please stop, your making yourself look stupid.

Yeah, I'll leave this alone....too many opposing opinions and some just can't debate maturely.