tbar cranking

[csledge]

What's the most y'all would recommend cranking the torsion bars before you really have to worry about tearing up the front end? I really want to get some cheap lift, but I don't want to end up paying for it anyway by have to keep replacing front end parts. I was thinking hopefully about an inch worth of cranking and the 2" body lift. What would be the best thing to get an inch in the rear? shackles?

[98'S-Dime]

i like shakle lifts in the rear thats what id do man. and if your worried aboutgoing over with your bars in the front you can find keys for like 100 bucks on the internet at times

[T Man]

Keys still tear up your front end, they just allow the front to be raised more. SHackles for the rear, or you can flip the axle under the springs for about 6" of lift

[Mikz86TA]

I wouldnt use the torsions to go over 1" either way

[csledge]

if i were to put the leafs over the axle, I would end up needing to get into dropping the diff, etc. to get the front raised high enough to match it wouldnt it? in which case I might as well just save up and get the BDS or superlift kit? That's what I'd really prefer to do, but I'm not in a position to spend that much cash right now :(

[98'S-Dime]

yea seriosly lifts are one thing i would never go cheapo on though.. save up till you can do it right. youll be so much happier you did in the end

[T Man]

I believe that most lifts do exactally that, drop the front diff, and flip the axle

[Blazer69]

just get some ford keys and crank them babys.....or just do a cheap 3" body till u can afford a good suspension lift....i would recommend bds....brother has it on his suburban.....alot of local guys and guys we off raod with have bds lifts.....no problems

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

I would guess that you wouldn't want to do more than 1" using the torsion bars. I'd say that shackles would be your best bet for a rear lift. The only other options for a small lift are add-a-leaf or blocks. I thinks shackles would be cheaper than add-a-leaf, but for the small price difference between blocks and shackles, I'd say shackles are a better bet and probably a lot less work.

You may need to get an alignment if you do crank up the tbars--maybe someone can confirm or deny this. I had to get one after I did my 2" suspension lift. At least a lot of places will give you a free alignment check, and if it has been a while since you've had one, it couldn't hurt anything anyway (besides your wallet).

What size tire do you want to run?

[csledge]

hoping i can do 32's with a little trimming, but I'd reluctantly settle for 31's! lol.. All the body lifts I've seen are 2"- but I've heard of using one for an older model that'll give 3", anyone know about this? If I can get that, plus the t-bars, I'll have 4" of lift

[Blazer69]

u can crank the bars more than an 1" .....i believe u could go as far as like 5" just wouldn't go more then like 3".....yeah u can make an older 3" body work...with a 3" body and some fender trimming 32's would fit fine

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

Yes, you CAN crank the tbars more than 1". But just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do something. Two things are directly affected by cranking the tbars. 1-Ride quality. 2-Wear on components.

1-When I installed my lift I initially had them cranked somewhere between 3"-4". The ride was VERY rough. I know every vehicle is going to respond a little differently. And before I had tried, I would have said, "oh, yeah, I can take a rough ride. Just get me big tires!" So I cranked them till it seemed level and it looked quite a bit taller, and I ignored what my instructions said about maximum ride height. So I have since lowered them back down a bit.

2-When I had them cranked too much, I expelled some grease from my CV joints. Not good! This was b/c the angle of the CV joints was too extreme. Take note of the angle before you begin and after you're done. I'm not sure what to call OK and what to call too much, but you're CV joints can only take so much, and you still might end up wearing them out prematurely. Also I believe it's ball joints, idler, and pitman arms are likely to wear more quickly. The lift kit has different upper control arms that helps keep stuff in specification.

Oh, another thing is shocks. From what I've heard, factory shocks are not recommended at 2" of lift, though you can probably get away with them. But beyond that I'd say you definitely want longer shocks.

Is this an S10 or blazer? What year? For a little more insight, look at Tink's post from this thread http://s10planet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8668&page=2

As far as the 3" body lift, the body lifts I saw from both performance accessories and superlift were 2" for later years and 3" for earlier years. You'd have to research the difference to see if it'd work, but I'm guessing there is something different or else there would be a 3" lift for later years, too.

If you have more questions or need clarification, let us know. Keep us posted on what you decide and how it turns out!

[Blazer69]

these things are directly affected even with a lift.....there are alot worse things u could do.....any suspension work u do involving a lift will affect your ride quality.....i wouldn't recommend pro-comp shocks....go with bilstein......blazers eat ball joints whether lifted or not so not a big deal there....i'm not saying i recommend cranking up the bars but if u wanted to u could......

[csledge]

well I might have found a guy that'll sell me a 6" superlift kit plus 15" wheels and 32x11.5's all for $800. The wheels are bead locks though, which I don't think will work b/c this'll be a probly 90% street truck. So I'm going to see if he'll send me just the kit for like 5-600. If so I'm gonna snatch that up!
I'm sure this has been asked before, but what specifically what size tires could I get away with on the stock rims? I really don't want to spend the money to get wheels if I don't have to

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

these things are directly affected even with a lift.....there are alot worse things u could do.....any suspension work u do involving a lift will affect your ride quality.....i wouldn't recommend pro-comp shocks....go with bilstein......blazers eat ball joints whether lifted or not so not a big deal there....i'm not saying i recommend cranking up the bars but if u wanted to u could......

Yes, these things are affected w/ a lift. But most lifts do things to try and minimize the impact. That's all I'm saying. Since he didn't want to spend the money for a suspension lift, then I'm just warning to be careful with what he does. I assumed this to be a daily driver, and since that's the same boat I am in, I always have to be a little more careful with it than somebody who uses it just for a toy. I haven't had problems w/ ball joints, but I am but one blazer owner amongst many.

I realize that you didn't recommend cranking the torsion bars. I'm just telling him what I know, have experience, and would recommend so that hopefully he makes the choices that he's most satisfied with in the end.

[csledge]

Oh and it's a 99 Blazer btw.. Treason, about how much did you lower it after you had it cranked so much? Are you at a point now where you're not really have much front end problems? I'm trying to figure out how much I can crank them without doing too much-i've heard 2" at the most

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

That's a really good deal on the kit! Is it used or did he buy it and couldn't use it?

As far as what size tire, I think all manufacturers would be pretty much the same. I checked out BFgoodrich's listing for All Terrain, b/c that's what I have. You could do the 33x10.5 on your stock 15x7 rims. Here is the listing (http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/specs/all-terrain-t-a-ko/44.html)I used.

I think I'm at around 2" or 2.5" inches right now. I've only had the lift done for around 800 miles so far, but I think everything is good. The CV joints haven't lost any more grease because as far as I can tell I didn't actually damage the boots, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to keep running them that way. The angle on them doesn't look too extreme at this point.

I was saying 1" to be safe, but you can always try 2" and play it by ear, but then you might not find out for a few thousand more miles.

[csledge]

it's used, which is a tiny bit of a concern. I want to make sure he still has all the instructions, etc. And the superlift kit requires welding, no? So he had to uhh.. un-weld it to get it off the truck?

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

Yeah, a used kit would be a little bit of a concern. Is this someone you personally know or someone off a forum? The instructions can be downloaded from superlift's website. Yeah, the kit does require welding, so maybe he unwelded it or tried cutting it off. I'd recommend reading through the instructions for the 6" kit to see just what it comes with and what has to be welded. If there are some missing pieces, they can probably be obtained from superlift, and my guess is that you'd still be getting a good deal in the end.

[Blazer69]

just so u know might wanna read the fine print about the lift...my buddy bought the superlift 6" suspension.....usually for the ifs lifts it's a 4.5"-6" depending on your vehicle....his rear went up 6" and the front only 5" so he had to crank up his bars to level off the truck

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

Brandon, good call. That would be especially troublesome because the front is generally about an inch lower in the front than the back to begin with, and you need just a little more room in the front b/c of the travel in the suspension and the tires needing to turn.

[csledge]

would 32 or 33" be as big as to really need to re-gear the truck? I'm trying to cover all the bases! And if I were to crank the tbars, it'd probly be a good idea to replace some of the front end anyway, don't you think? Maybe with some heavier duty stuff for some peace of mind. What all would you suggest, if it's really necessary?

[Blazer69]

i would if u have the time and money upgarde balljoints pitman and idler arms.....do dual streering stabilizers if possible......with 33" and u running a 4.3 gears should deffinitely be in your budget.....maybe 4.10's even 4.56's....

[csledge]

Well, I'm also planning on swapping in a 350 or LS1 eventually, would the truck hold out with the stock gears until then? If I did do the engine swap, would I still need to re-gear anyway??

[Blazer69]

what gears do u have now? 33's with anything less then 3.73 would work but would have like no power....if u have like 3.42 they would prolly hold out but not for sure

[csledge]

i'm honestly not sure.. stock gears for a 99 Blazer 4x4.. gearing is a whole 'nother realm of crap I'd rather not get into. How much do most places charge to do that?

[csledge]

hmm maybe I should just stick with the tbar crank and body lift idea for now.. I can do all that for a couple hundred bucks, still fit 31s and not have to regear. I'm liking the price of that option atm lol. For a 5-6" lift plus gears plus wheels/tires we're looking at what, $3k or so probly?

[T Man]

uhhhh, try 5k or more

Lift 1500-2500

Wheels and tires 1500-2k

Re-gear 500-750

[csledge]

yea.. $3k was bad enough for me :P **** I paid $6k for the whole truck lol.. ok so I could get maybe 3-3.5 in. of lift out of a tbar crank, shackles and body lift.. all told maybe $200-250? could do that all myself so no labor.. keep the stock wheels and run what 31s at the most? probly couldn't get away with 32s. so just tires, no wheels.. $500 or so.. grr I just know I'll want more!!

[csledge]

i might not even do the shackles cuz as it is right now the rear is about 2" higher than the front

[T Man]

You can listen to what some of these guys are saying and crank the t bars till they bottom out, or get keys and crank some more, but imho, thats just asking for trouble. It puts increased wear on the cv shafts not designed to properly work at such an angle (Its fine for all highway, but Id rather not be able to get into a trail, than to be able to get in there then break my cv shafts) It also puts increased wear on the balljoints. Of those of us who have done them, we know thats not a cheep venture, I did the labor myself at my shop and was still out 100 in parts. The job pays 2.8 or 3hrs or so for the pair to R&R. T bar cranks are ok to level, but if you want to do it, do it right, either get the lift that corrects these problems by dropping the diff and providing uca's or get ready to buy new cv shafts and balljoints.

[csledge]

advice well taken.. thanks man. do those types of lifts usually level out everything? lift the front a little more than the rear to even it out? I know a lot of that depends on how worn out my front end is, which I'm sure it is- 106k miles and I'd be willing to bet none of it's been replaced

[T Man]

from what Ive seen they do not raise the front a little more to level it out. I cranked my T Bars on my truck for that very reason. I ended up netting just a little over an inch on my truck, but it sits dead level

[Blazer69]

with most lifts u might have to crank like an 1" to lvl out.....

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

do those types of lifts usually level out everything? lift the front a little more than the rear to even it out?

The superlift 2" kit is called a 2" front/1" rear lift. They say that reason they do that is that the blazer is already higher in the rear. The blazer kit comes w/ add a leafs, and the s10 kit comes with shackles. If you want the full 2" rear lift, then you can add the shackles to your kit--that's what I did. So, yeah, they do kinda level the truck, but not really in the way you'd hope. Of course then you're just back to the issue that the more you raise the front w/ the tbars, the more trouble you face.

The rough country kit IIRC only comes w/ shackles, and that's why it's a little cheaper. One other interesting thing about the rough country kit is that they have you bend your tie rods--effectively making them a bit longer in the right direction. This is done to help keep things in alignment, but sounds like a bad idea to me. Anyone else have any ideas on that? I ended up ordering my kit from rocky mountain suspension and the guy I ordered from told me to the order the rough country kit, but I told him about bending the tie rod and he didn't believe me. Of course at this point, I think the 2 kits are basically the same w/ slightly different instructions.

If you are going to crank you're tbars, download the instructions from the superlift site for the 2" lift kit. Look towards the end and there is a page that tells you where to measure to determine ride height and how much they recommend. You probably shouldn't go as far as what they say since you don't have the other componets, but it would give you some idea of what you can/should do.

Oh, and if you're going to do the body lift, I'd recommend getting gap guards. I know they drive the price up, but I think you'd be much happier with the look.

[Blazer69]

x2 for gap guards.....i wouldn't get any suspension lift except bds or superlift.....i have some friends and guys i wheel with that have rough country....every brand imaginable....all they do is *****....my brother has bds and other buddy has superlift and have never had any problems....kinda get what u pay for

[Slacker1357]

My personal opinion is... do u want a practical lift? get suspension
do u want only bigger tires and have to hide space from a body lift and still have the frame close to the ground. with a body lift, the only thing that raises the vehicle is larger tires.
suspension raises the frame and fits larger tires to raise it even higher