I was looking at my truck the other day, and I noticed the rear sits higher than the front. I've heard some people say that on that particular truck you can adjust the torsion bars, and that will level out the truck. How many people here recommend doing that, or have another idea. I know you can buy leveling kits, but I don't want to go to expensive. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

I raised my truck about an inch and have not noticed any bad from it...the truck rides a little rougher now but thats about it.

 

The leveling kits for the truck are usually just new re-indexed keys. I did an add-a-leaf on my truck, it raised the back 1.5 inches. Then I cranked the torsion bars 1.75, so the front still sits lower than the back, but not as bad.

Most people will tell you the cranking the torsion bars will wear out front end parts faster, because you you changing the angles of your front end suspension. You just want to make sure you stick to cranking them around 1.5-1.75 and you should be fine. And make sure you get an alignment after you crank them.

 

cranking down on the torsion bars may only get you 1- 1.5 inches. depends on where they are set now. you will not get any additional wear, your not moving things that far. quite often you wont need an alignment, there is a tolerance on the + or - setting and you may still fall into that range. wont hurt to have it checked to find out. you can use a 2 foot level on the outside of the tire if you know what your doing, or take it to someone that does know.

 

Seriously??? I'm not saying you're wrong, but almost every post I read before I cranked mine said it would need to be aligned.
I personally haven't taken mine in to be aligned yet. Nor have I grabbed a level to see if it was even close. (it's too damn cold) I just cranked them a couple weeks ago, and I only drive it on the weekends, so I haven't worried about it too much. But was planning on it soon.

I've also seen lots of people go back and forth about the wear and tear on your suspension, I just figured as long as your not trying to go 2.5 inches or something you should be fine. Most people say 1.5 or so.

 

Can you benifit any more by buying the new Keys like on E-bay and in the magazines than using your factory keys to crank up the front end

 

Not certain, but the keys are just indexed more so that you can lift it more?

I'm not certain on how that works, I know they are indexed differently, but you would still be putting that wear on your front end if you used them to lift your truck high than an inch or two.

Hopefully someone will chime in on that one.

 

has anyone used the new keys and how much lift did you get and did you have any problems

 

the aftermarket cam has the key way cut in a different place. when you install it and the screws are not cranked at all, the truck sets a couple inches higher than stock. you can crank the screws and get even more. i have heard you have to pry things a little to get them installed as the key ways are cut to the extreme compared to stock. now if you are lifting 3-4 inches, then things start to get out of alignment and the angle of the front alxe half shafts starts to get a little hairy. its time to have things checked out after installing these keys. also you ball joints and tie rods might have somewhat shorter life........... i cranked the stock keys, got about 1.25 inch lift to levell the truck front to rear. put a level on the outside of the tire and it was still in speck. dont put the level on the bump at the bottom due to setting on the ground, move it forward or backward 3-4 inches, still vertical up and down. you should have the top of the tire tipped in maybe 1/4 to 3/8 inch as compared to the bottom. if you have 1/2 inch thats excessive, if you have 1/8 inch thats not enough. this iis a quick test.

 

here is an old post with some photos

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...?highlight=key