3" lift

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05-30-2010, 04:11 AM
lechez71

3" lift

i want to lift my truck 3", is there a way to do it without a bodylift. i dont like the gaps in the fenderwhells, box, and the exhaust hanging low due to the body lift. if i get different torsion keys will it raise it 3" without a harsh ride? also how will i lift the back?
05-30-2010, 10:53 AM
jetersaurous

Quote:

Originally Posted by lechez71

i want to lift my truck 3", is there a way to do it without a bodylift. i dont like the gaps in the fenderwhells, box, and the exhaust hanging low due to the body lift. if i get different torsion keys will it raise it 3" without a harsh ride? also how will i lift the back?

for the back you could step up from the factory 2" blocks to 5" blocks, that would be 3". or you could do 3" blocks in the rear with HD springs or add-a-leafs.
05-30-2010, 01:19 PM
oleshifty

2 wheel or 4 wheel?

if 4 wheel....Ford keys can safely give you about 2-2.5 inches, and you can do bigger blocks/addaleaf in rear

if 2 wheel...you can either do different spindle, different springs, or both and get 7" :)
05-30-2010, 03:57 PM
lechez71

Quote:

Originally Posted by oleshifty

2 wheel or 4 wheel?

if 4 wheel....Ford keys can safely give you about 2-2.5 inches, and you can do bigger blocks/addaleaf in rear

if 2 wheel...you can either do different spindle, different springs, or both and get 7" :)

its a 4 wheel drive. the ford torsion keys will fit my truck without modifcations, do they just bolt up and replace the stock ones. also which ford keys should i look for what year truck? thanks
05-30-2010, 05:12 PM
oleshifty

tanz might know that off hand...i'd have to look. I BELIEVE any ford torsion key will replace a chevy, but give it a little more lift.
05-30-2010, 06:04 PM
lechez71

im gonna look into ford keys.
06-01-2010, 08:01 AM
tanz45

Yep, the ford keys go right into place. 1999 and up F150 keys will give you that extra lift due to the offset indexing.

But if you wanna raise the whole truck, don't be afraid to buy a ''leveling kit''. I quoted that because the leveling kits still raise the rear a lil bit as well to give you around 2.5 lift all around.

For the price and you get shocks, this is your best bet. 99-06 CHEVY GMC ROUGH COUNTRY 283S 1.5 - 2 INCH SUSPENSION LIFT KIT @ NTW

And NO, you do not need a special tool to unload your torsion bars. This is the ONLY way I do it and have done it on a dozen trucks at least.

1. Jack up truck and place stands under frame by first cab mount.
2. Unwind the torsion bar bolts
3. Remove tires, shocks, and disconnect sway bar and tie rod ends on the knuckle only.
4. Place jack under the lower ball joint nut and give it another one or two pumps to raise the lower arm a smidge.
5. Undo the upper ball joint.
6. Gently lower the jack until the torsion bar is fully unloaded.
7. Remove the t-bar key pins.
8. Slide the t-bar forward out of the key. You may have to TAP it gently to slide it forward.
9. Swap out the keys, and replace the pin.
10. Jack up the lower control arm and reattach the upper ball joint.

It's that simple.
06-01-2010, 08:21 AM
oleshifty

thanks tanz.... that extra front end stuff is new to me :-p
06-01-2010, 03:56 PM
lechez71

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanz45

Yep, the ford keys go right into place. 1999 and up F150 keys will give you that extra lift due to the offset indexing.

But if you wanna raise the whole truck, don't be afraid to buy a ''leveling kit''. I quoted that because the leveling kits still raise the rear a lil bit as well to give you around 2.5 lift all around.

For the price and you get shocks, this is your best bet. 99-06 CHEVY GMC ROUGH COUNTRY 283S 1.5 - 2 INCH SUSPENSION LIFT KIT @ NTW

And NO, you do not need a special tool to unload your torsion bars. This is the ONLY way I do it and have done it on a dozen trucks at least.

1. Jack up truck and place stands under frame by first cab mount.
2. Unwind the torsion bar bolts
3. Remove tires, shocks, and disconnect sway bar and tie rod ends on the knuckle only.
4. Place jack under the lower ball joint nut and give it another one or two pumps to raise the lower arm a smidge.
5. Undo the upper ball joint.
6. Gently lower the jack until the torsion bar is fully unloaded.
7. Remove the t-bar key pins.
8. Slide the t-bar forward out of the key. You may have to TAP it gently to slide it forward.
9. Swap out the keys, and replace the pin.
10. Jack up the lower control arm and reattach the upper ball joint.

It's that simple.

thanks for the help, its good to know i wont need to buy a torsion bar removal tool. with that kit will the the truck be level all around or the ass end will be higher.
06-02-2010, 07:24 PM
6.0vortecchevy

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanz45

Yep, the ford keys go right into place. 1999 and up F150 keys will give you that extra lift due to the offset indexing.

But if you wanna raise the whole truck, don't be afraid to buy a ''leveling kit''. I quoted that because the leveling kits still raise the rear a lil bit as well to give you around 2.5 lift all around.

For the price and you get shocks, this is your best bet. 99-06 CHEVY GMC ROUGH COUNTRY 283S 1.5 - 2 INCH SUSPENSION LIFT KIT @ NTW

And NO, you do not need a special tool to unload your torsion bars. This is the ONLY way I do it and have done it on a dozen trucks at least.

1. Jack up truck and place stands under frame by first cab mount.
2. Unwind the torsion bar bolts
3. Remove tires, shocks, and disconnect sway bar and tie rod ends on the knuckle only.
4. Place jack under the lower ball joint nut and give it another one or two pumps to raise the lower arm a smidge.
5. Undo the upper ball joint.
6. Gently lower the jack until the torsion bar is fully unloaded.
7. Remove the t-bar key pins.
8. Slide the t-bar forward out of the key. You may have to TAP it gently to slide it forward.
9. Swap out the keys, and replace the pin.
10. Jack up the lower control arm and reattach the upper ball joint.

It's that simple.

WOOW thats way to much work for whats needed. Just get the weight of the front end, get a c clamp and then put it on the key. Now loosen that bolt but dont take it out yet. Unload the pressure by loosening the c clamp. There should be a point to where the key will no longer move, that mean there is no load on that torsion bar. Now just push the torsion bar forward and drop the key. I said to leave the bolt in there for safety reasons.
06-03-2010, 12:46 AM
lechez71

looks like im gonna get the rough country kit when i get new tires, i need tires pretty soon.
06-03-2010, 06:33 AM
tanz45

Replacing the shocks anyway and the upper control arm limits how far you can drop the lowers.

Again that was without any special tools. C-clamps are a dangerous route too. They bend very easily and then could fly off in your face.

But if that's how you do then that's your way.
06-03-2010, 02:05 PM
6.0vortecchevy

Well you must be using cheep ones, the ones is use are iron and it will take a lot more then a torsion bar to bend it. "Not flaming"
06-03-2010, 02:14 PM
tanz45

I just do it that way. I've even heard of the actual T-bar tool breaking. And yeah, maybe. I forget where I got them from. It's been a few years.

No offense taken, we all do things different. If we didn't there wouldn't be much discussion on here.
06-03-2010, 10:22 PM
6.0vortecchevy

True dat^^^^^^
06-06-2010, 11:16 PM
GreenMonster005

i have a body lift and you can hide it lol it aint that bad i also cranked the torsion bars cuz it saves u bout 100bucks so u aint gotta buy the keys lol so really my trucks lifted 5in in front and 3in back i need to add a leaf :(
11-01-2010, 01:52 PM
BigMac

3" rear lift from OffroadDesigns in the form of a rear shackle flip. I used it on my 93' K1500 with a total of 7" lift with the flip and new leafs. But then again, I was more after function than form.