I've got a '98 F150 Supercab that I'm thinking about lifting 1.5" (body lift only) to accomodate some new Wrangler AT/S's that I just had put on. I'm putting 1.5" blocks in the rear....question is, is it ok to torque up the torsion bars to raise the front 1-1.5" without doing any harm to the truck?

Thanks,

Eric

 

There are many opinions on this. Most guys here will advise against it because it causes the truck to ride a little rough, and there are even some cases where torsion bars have broken. Most people will say that if you adjust them than you should get an alignment right away. I adjusted mine to level out the front of the truck when it was new. I have put about 25k on it since and I have not had a problem yet. The truck rides a little rough, but I quickly got used to it. I have not had an alignment and my tires are wearing normal so far. You do lose the corresponding downward travel when you do this, so you may notice that the front end seems to 'bottom out' if you hit a pot hole, or if you drop off the edge of pavement onto a low shoulder. On the other hand the suspension seems to handle things like speed bumps etc. just fine. I would suggest that if you do decide to go ahead, count the number of turns and write it down in case you decide to return to the stock settings. Most guys will say that you should turn both bolts the same amount, but this is not always the case. On my truck I had to turn one side one and a half more turns then the other to get both sides level. It was just sort of an experiment for me, and I will likely set them back to stock in the spring. I don't know if this is required, but I put the front of the truck on jack stands to unload the bars before any adjustment was made. It may take a couple of tries to get both sides perfect, but remember to put the weight back on them and bounce the truck a bit to settle the suspension before taking any measurments.

 

I did mine with about 2500 miles on the truck and now have 36,000 on it. No problems. It is an '01 F150 4X4 Lariat. I now have the 285/75X16 Bridgestone Duellers on it with no problems. Left the rear as it sat so the truck sits near level now. I like the ride and it took nothing to get used to it. Try to go equal on both sides to the height you want. Then level side to side. I did mine with it on the ground and a tape measure locked at each corner of the front of the frame. Just had to roll the truck a bit to get an acurate measure. By leaving it on the ground, I could eyeball the height as I went for the setting "I" liked.

Do it, you will be happy.

 

turned mine 4 turns and it is about level...no problems