Torsion keys vs maxed out stock keys

[Ohhnulix]

Okay, I’m a little new to some of this stuff, I found a kit on Amazon, a 2/3 inch lift, it’s just some 2 inches shackles for the rear and new torsion keys that say they can go up to 3 inches for the front. My truck has the factory 2.5 inch lift blocks and maxed out torsion keys up front. Would it be worth it to change the keys? The CV axels don’t appear to be at too bad of an angle now, same with the ball joints, I could probably go another inch or 2 and be fine, I’m just wondering if anyone has ever done the same thing? Or would I just be wasting my time?

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm not a fan of maxed out bars or lift keys honestly. At the end of the day these torsion bar trucks only have so much suspension travel... and you need both compression and rebound.

Is the goal bigger tires?

 

[Ohhnulix]

I'm not a fan of maxed out bars or lift keys honestly. At the end of the day these torsion bar trucks only have so much suspension travel... and you need both compression and rebound.

Is the goal bigger tires?

I want to be able to put 33s on the truck, I plan on doing this lift plus a 3 inch body lift, figure that’ll give me 4-5 inches of lift in the end depending on how this one goes

 

[RonD]

How is your ride right now?

The torsion bars are the front springs

Say the front of the Ranger weights 2,000lbs
So each torsion bar supports 1,000lbs in its stock setup

To get the torsion bar to LIFT that 1,000lbs higher you have to increase its spring rating
So crank it to support 1,200lbs and front goes up because its NOT 1,200lbs

Springs, front or rear, work because the weight they support is high enough so when you hit a bump the wheels move up and down not the frame and body
The frame and body are heavy enough for the spring rating

If you increase the spring rating but not the weight it supports then when you hit a bump the wheel along with the frame and body go up and down

Called a harsh ride
But if you are OK with it then LIFT away, but there are better ways, just not cheaper ways, lol

Pickup trucks rear springs can suffer from that because the rear of the truck weighs 1,000lbs empty but has 1/2 ton rating so springs are rated for 2,000lbs, can make for a harsh ride where you feel every bump in the road
You can fix that, by using lower weight rated rear leafs with an overload leaf added

With 33" tires you can run a lower pressure and that will help smooth out the ride

 

[Ohhnulix]

How is your ride right now?

The torsion bars are the front springs

Say the front of the Ranger weights 2,000lbs
So each torsion bar supports 1,000lbs in its stock setup

To get the torsion bar to LIFT that 1,000lbs higher you have to increase its spring rating
So crank it to support 1,200lbs and front goes up because its NOT 1,200lbs

Springs, front or rear, work because the weight they support is high enough so when you hit a bump the wheels move up and down not the frame and body
The frame and body are heavy enough for the spring rating

If you increase the spring rating but not the weight it supports then when you hit a bump the wheel along with the frame and body go up and down

Called a harsh ride
But if you are OK with it then LIFT away, but there are better ways, just not cheaper ways, lol

Pickup trucks rear springs can suffer from that because the rear of the truck weighs 1,000lbs empty but has 1/2 ton rating so springs are rated for 2,000lbs, can make for a harsh ride where you feel every bump in the road
You can fix that, by using lower weight rated rear leafs with an overload leaf added

With 33" tires you can run a lower pressure and that will help smooth out the ride

It’s a truck, I use it for truck stuff, if it rides rough it’s okay, I’m just worried about cv axel angles becoming an issue and binding

 

[Uncle Gump]

I don't believe turning the torsion bars up changes the spring rate at all. What you've done is simply change the location of the fixed end of the torsion bar... which in turn relocates the working end of the torsion bar closer to the limits of the suspensions downward travel. The spring rate of the torsion bar remains the same. You want heavier spring rate... change the torsion bars.

The problem with all of this... after tweaking the torsion bars is you start running the axles at steep angles. This tends to wear out the CV joints. It's also hard on the control arm bushings... ball joints... tie rod ends and alignment issues. The other thing is you have "lifted" all the downward travel right out of the suspension... and that makes it harsh.

If you're going to do a 3 inch body lift... I would put the front suspension back to a more normal factory setting. Favor the high side of the limits if you wish but you won't have adjusted all of the downward travel out of it. All your front end parts will thank you.... and it should still ride pretty good.

On these trucks... with a little tweak to the bars you can run 33x10.50x15 on the right set of wheels with about zero rub through the full range of travel and stop to stop on the steering. When you go to 33x12.50 on wider wheels with less backspace and maybe wheel spacers to add a wider stance... the width of the set up just needs more lift clearance to clear when you put it through the paces.

The other thing to remember is the weight of your wheels and tires... some of these packages are really heavy and they take their toll of front end parts too.

This is my truck on 32 inch tires still at factory torsion bar settings... my axles are straight... and I've only had it rub once lightly. But I don't hard core off road. Your results may be different. I would like to see where your truck is currently at... you say maxed torsion bar didn't change much.