Hey off roaders, got a request for a thorough explanation here. Here's the deal. I have a 2wd 90 5 spd hardbody. I WANT DEARLY to make it big. Right now it is all stock, except for some 14 inch aftermarket rims with some nasty ass 24 inch all weather tires. It seriously looks retarded. Ok, so I know how the torsion bar gets cranked in order to raise it. When I went under the truck to crank the t bars, I noticed that they seem all cranked out already. The adjusted bolt is pretty much near the end, and has no threads left to turn on. The thing is, fender is only about 2 inches away from the top of the tire. The truck seems like its been lowered by undoing the tbars, but the tbars are maxxed out already. I think I just need to reindex the tbar. ive read posts on how to do it and what not, but how does it really work. Does it reposistion the adjuster bolt so there is more threads to turn on? Can I just keep reindexing to go higher and higher? I know when I get high enough I need new upper a arms, but can someone explain how cranking tbars and reindexing them works? If I just got new a arms could I jsut keep cranking and cranking? How does the tbar give lift and work as a suspension? And when I want to really lift the truck, and I want to buy a lift, do I really need to get those new tbars that allow 30% more crankinglift? Some one please help answer all my questions about reindexing, cranking, and what I really need for a suspension lift. Thanks a ton!!!!!!!

Hi dboy,

I'm not aware of tbars that "allow 30% more cranking lift." I have seen tbars that are 30% stiffer, which helps reduce sag associated with the weight of aftermarket bumpers, winches, etc. Also, in theory, the stiffer bars should require less preload to achieve the lift, so might not ride as harsh. However, you won't gain any additional lift from them, due to the design limitations of IFS.

Cranking the tbars will affect the camber, which longer UCA's restore so you get the front-end aligned in spec. The more you crank, the more the camber will be out of spec, the more stress you'll put on the ball joints (wearing them out prematurely) and the harsher your truck will ride.

I don't know what the limit of torsion bar cranking on a 2wd is. There are no CV joints to bind, but I would think that everything else (tire alignment, ball joint wear, steering component stress, etc) would be somewhat similar to that of a 4x4, in the 2" range.

There are some long-travel 2wd IFS kits out there (Fabtech, Total Chaos), but they come at a hefty price.

If you're looking to run larger tires and need body clearance, a 3" body lift might be of help as well.

Regards,

-matt

thanks matt! that cleared up a lot! one question,whats a balljoint,and what happens when it wears out?

The lower and upper control arms attach to the frame with bolts. At the wheel, they attach to the knuckles (not sure if that's the right name) with balljoints.

Many of the suspension lifts come with "high angle" balljoints, to deal with the increased angle that will occur by cranking up the tbars.

As they wear, they allow excessive wheel slop, which makes for bad steering. If they fail completely, since they essentially hold the wheel to the control arms, you wouldn't be going anywhere.

Fyi, Greg has built up his 2wd Fronty extensively (body lift, spring over axle rear conversion, etc). He's putting Fabtech lift parts on the front, so follow his thread to get an idea of approximately what can be expected.

Greg's lift thread...

Regards,

-matt