Torsion bar crank, No-Go

[ozziemo27]

Hey guys, heres my problem.
I put 2inch lift shackles on the back of my truck so now I was doing a torsion bar crank. I jacked the front end up so i had enough room to drop the suspension down through cranking the t-bar bolts. When i cranked them, nothing happened. I only tried it on one side, tightened it, i even loosened it and still the front suspension did not move. The catch is my crossmember is slightly bent on the driver side and the torsion bar bolt on the side I tried is slightly bent as well. I live in Michigan, could rust be an issue, could the bent crossmember and t-bar bolt be affecting something? I can post pictures of the crossmember to show how bent it is. Thanks, any help would be appreciated!

 

[Chris.S.]

How much did you try try cranking? You have to turn the bolt more than you might expect. To get 2" lift with mine in the neighborhood of 8-10 full turns iirc.

Post your pics up though, bent cross-member shouldn't affect it too much but that bent bolt like will. What happened under there?

 

[kennykenny]

You have to let the truck back down on its own weight to see the results of the cranking too.

 

[tpking]

crank them then let it down .. if its rusty might take a short trip to get them to move

 

[ozziemo27]

it appears the pics were taken down from the hosting site, i'll have to upload them onto photobucket when i get home.

 

[danger_ranger05]

When i first cranked mine, nothin happend, but then I really cranked them and got a response. You have to make sure your actually twisting the bar, sometimes the bolt will thread, but the bar won't move until it gets enough pressure to twist. just keep watchin and make sure you record your measurments at the wheel, you don't wanna over crank those babies lol

 

[ozziemo27]

 

[ozziemo27]

anybody think that bend would mess it up?

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

holy shit thats messed up. is it just the cover that's bent to hell? if it's the actual keyway and bolt plate, i wouldn't even drive it. get it fixed. holy crap.

 

[ozziemo27]

everything is solid, its been like that for many many months

 

[jeffro184]

where in MI do you live if you need a hand and you are close i could help out

 

[kennykenny]

everything is solid, its been like that for many many months

Yeah, but it only takes a split second. That looks pretty tweaked, if I were you I'd put that high on my list of things to do.

 

[ozziemo27]

where in MI do you live if you need a hand and you are close i could help out

Southwest Michigan, Wayland/Middleville area

 

[JohnnyO]

anybody think that bend would mess it up?

I did that on my old Sport Trac the first week I had it, going over a railroad crossing. Wasn't going fast but the stock shocks were so soft that when they compressed, the torsion bar crossmember caught the rail and bent.
An alignment shop pulled it straight, replaced the bent torsion bar bolt and block, turned the bars up, and realigned it.

 

[jeffro184]

Southwest Michigan, Wayland/Middleville area

oh im up in clare, mt pleasant area