Torsion Bar Adjustment

[yakimarcher]

I was hoping to get some advice for my hunting rig. It's a 95 Gmc Yukon, several people have told me that you can get an inch or two more if you turn adjust the torsion bars. this sounds easy enough, but I'ld like to know more details. Do i have to add a leaf in the back to bring it back level?  If any of you have done this please let me know what all goes into this project.

[Woodchuck]

sounds like you have pretty close to down, will change the ride quality 

[jackelope]

The torsion bar adjustment is a hokey 1" or so lift. Don't max it out and you'll be fine. It does affect the camber(I think) adjustment and you will lose some adjustment too. It will also stiffen up the ride some. I did it on my 94 2500 truck so I could stuff some 285 tires under it but they still rubbed some if I stuffed them. I wouldn't expect it to be enough to make a difference if you're looking to "level" it...and you definitely won't need to worry about adding leafs or anything in the back. I don't think it's worth it...I just did it to try and get my free tires to quit rubbing, otherwise I would have just bought tires that fit under it.
Some say it will affect your front end parts over a long period of time too...I never had any issues 100k miles in.
You could look for the little torsion bar keys they make for it to actually level it. I don't know much about them but a Les Schwab would likely have some more info.

[jackelope]

http://www.truckspring.com/suspension-parts/leveling-kits/suspension-maxx-torsion-bar-keys.aspx?make=GMC&year=2004&model=Yukon

Thats the torsion bar keys.

[Buckhunter24]

Did it on my pickup when I was in high school and it rode a lot rougher. Was also told theres a good chance of wearing out cv and ball joints a lot quicker. I ended up breaking a tie rod not too long after that too. Not sure if that was a side effect or not  Cheap way to get a little more room if your tires are rubbing though 

[yajsab]

I cranked the t-bar on my little Isuzu pup.  Got about 1" - 2" lift.  For the rear, I fabbed two longer shackles and replaced the stock ones.  It leveled out fine.  I don't drive this rig everyday, but so far, no problem yet.

[jackelope]

The rake on that Yukon, if it's like every other Yukon on the planet, is high enough in the back that cranking the torsion bars will, at most, even it out, it will sort of level it. It won't lift it up in the front enough to need to worry about the back being too low.

[yakimarcher]

I was driving my company work truck just about an hour after i posted this, i hit a pot hole and heard the unmistakeable sound of something breaking. I got out and noticed that the front end was nearly sitting on the tires. I limped it into the city shop to get it fixed and was told it was a broken torsion bar! if that aint the almighty telling me not to do it, i don't know what is!

[elksnout]

I was driving my company work truck just about an hour after i posted this, i hit a pot hole and heard the unmistakeable sound of something breaking. I got out and noticed that the front end was nearly sitting on the tires. I limped it into the city shop to get it fixed and was told it was a broken torsion bar! if that aint the almighty telling me not to do it, i don't know what is!

           

That's funnier than chit   

[sirfunkeybut]

i tightened my torsion bars on my blazer and added some shackels in the rear. the shackels were $20 at autozone. Cheap but the worked. But beware that doing a torsion bar lift can be hard on your cv's. Plus if your torsion bars are old, tightening them will only really bring them back to stock hight.

[toyman2]

Torsion bars are nothing more than a spring except they are a twisting solid rod of spring steel.
you can gain some small lift, but the ride will be rougher and the CV angle will be greater.
think of it like the spring im you ball point pen, you can pull it out and play with it, even strech it out to make it taller but its not really good for it, you will need an alighnment and there should be enough room to leval the tire out again so you dont wear out the outsides of the tires.
All that said its been done alot and will work.

[sebek556]

if it has front coil spring they sell either metal or PVC spring spacers for less than 50 bucks plus as previously mentioned 20 for rear spacers or shackles and your lifted 2-3 inch's with same ride.

[bloodhound]

dont crank them up, the problem is that if you crank them up it indeed throws off your camber and youll end up destroying your tires. it will throw off your millage, makes the ride ruffer, and you get less traction because your riding on one edge of the tire instead of even pressure on the whole surface of the tire.

[jackelope]

if it has front coil spring they sell either metal or PVC spring spacers for less than 50 bucks plus as previously mentioned 20 for rear spacers or shackles and your lifted 2-3 inch's with same ride.

Thats all well and good till you stretch your springs out off road and the spacers pop out.
Then you're lopsided.

Torsion bars are nothing more than a spring except they are a twisting solid rod of spring steel.
you can gain some small lift, but the ride will be rougher and the CV angle will be greater.
think of it like the spring im you ball point pen, you can pull it out and play with it, even strech it out to make it taller but its not really good for it, you will need an alighnment and there should be enough room to leval the tire out again so you dont wear out the outsides of the tires.
All that said its been done alot and will work.

Cranking them on a GM truck decreases the camber adjustment you can get. You will only be able to turn them so far till you can't make up for the difference by adjusting camber. Then you're riding on the outside edge of your tires again.

[jeepasaurusrex]

IFS.. Another reason why car parts do not belong under trucks...

Don't load the torsion bars while the weight of the truck is on it. Jack the front end up by the center section until the wheels are off the ground and put jack stands under it. Then you can crank a few turns into the bars. Do equal amounts per side. Let it down off the jack stands and see if it sets level. You may have to crank one side a turn or so more to level it out.