I did not think 2 wheel drive have torsion bars. And if jcbst12 has a 2wheel drive then how would he have torsion bars?

 

if he has two wheel drive, i bet i know what he was turning... there's two bars under there that connect the engine to the frame... i tried to tighten them once lol

 

I too have wanted to level my Z71 up, but I don't want to screw something up by cranking up the torsion bars. The factory has them set that way for a reason.There are leveling kits that you can buy for about 200.00 or so. That's what I'm planning on using.

 

I didn't realize jbts12 ahd a 2wd, but that makes since.

RobF1970 - you can buy the older style torsion keys on ebay for @ $60. They work fine, just don't have the cooldial on them, that you will never see after you finish putting them on.

 

Doesn't changing the torsion bars settings change the alignment? If that's the case your tires are not going to wear evenly.

 

if you dont turn them up too far you can get it re-aligned to correct the problem... a lot of people crank them all the way up, and that can't be corrected... that's also when you run into broken front end parts by cranking them up all the way

 

I thought torsion bars were part of the alignment setting.

 

No, my truck is a 4x4, but not a Z71. Its kinda like JohnAdamsR was saying on mine also with one maxed out and one half way. I asked a Chevy Dealer Mechanic and he said that its the way it comes from the factory. They control the sprung weight of the truck in the front. A.K.A., the more you crank them has the same effect as putting bigger coils on a 2WD. The only weird part is that (like JohnAdamsR) mine also looks to be off to one side just a wee bit. Maybe its cause the gas tank is off to one side and it throws the truck off kilter?

 

Also on my last truck (91') I had plenty of room to crank up the torsion bars so I did and it worked out great. I took a ratchet to the bolts, lined it up with the cross member and counted how many times the ratchet passed the cross member. I think it did only two per side and it lifted it about a little under an inch without screwing up the way it drove. It did eat a little of the outside edge of my front tires tho after a year (more so then usual).

 

Yesterday I got bored so I went ahead and cranked on my torsion bars just to see what would happen. Now my truck is nearly level (i measured each fender w/ a tape) and it looks way better, BUT it rides much stiffer. Small bumps in the road I drive over every day jostled the hell out me today and its just a really uncomfortable ride now. Needless to say, im going to set them back the way they were especially since i now know about the wear it causes.

As for the replacement torsion keys, is that a good way to go for couple inches of lift in the front end? I was thinking about doing that and putting blocks under the rear leaf springs to acheive a sorta cheaper "lift kit." That would cost like what, maybe $400? Thats a lot better than doing a full on suspension lift for $1000+. Any thoughts?