Id like to raise the front of my 89 an inch or so, just enough to level it out. I dont know how far to turn the bolts or if it can be done at all. I had an old duster a long time ago & lowered it that way...

I did it on my 96 Z71 without any problems. I wouldn't go any more than 6 full turns though. Start with a measurement, then turn each side evenly a few turns, then check your measurement again. I adjusted mine about 4- 6 full turns. I also replaced the Pitman and idler arm on my truck and then took it in for an alignment.

Thanks, what will 4-5 turns get me? Can I just do the bars or will I have to do the other things you did as well? I heard you could use ford keys for the same effect...

Yes, you can just adjust your torsion bars. My 96 Z71 needed a new pitman and idler so I threw them on last month. I adjusted my torsion bars over a year ago. You could probably adjust them to the end of the thread on the bolts, but it will definatly throw your alignment off. Just crank them a few full turns and see where it puts it. A friend of mine had a 05 Chevy 1500 HD and had a snow plow installed. The shop that installed the plow, cranked his torsion bars up about 1/2" to compensate for the plow mount. Just keep an eye on your tire wear. If you need new front end parts, throw them on after you crank up the torsion bars and then get it aligned. I have seen some kits on ebay for lifting our trucks in the front by using torsion bar adjusters, but I don't know if they will work on your truck.

Ill give it a try. Thanks...

Let us know how it goes. Kind of curious to see what kind of difference you can get.

I cranked them up on my`92 back in`93,no problems.It`s about 2" higher in the front than it was.You will lose downward suspension travel (droop) if you crank them up to much and it`ll ride rough as heck.

Hello everyone. I work at an alignment shop and get asked this question alot. Yes, you can turn the torsion bars up to gain clearance, however it is not recommended. Anything more then half an inch you can expect problems down the road. I puts more stress on front end parts as in idler, pitman, cv shafts, and so forth. And yes you will want to get it aligned after doing so, in many cases, turning the torsion bars up or down is a method we use to put the vehicles into alignment if the cams are maxed out and it is still out of spec. All the aftermarket keys do is allow you to adjust it more, say if you were lowering a vehicle, and you've turned the bolt to the last thread but its not as low as it should be or you would like, you can replace the key to get it to drop further then the oem key. Either way you go, it needs to be aligned. Sure its easy and the cheap way to do it at the time, but you can expect to replace parts sooner then normal. Just my two cents, but I hope it works out for you. Keep truckin. :metal:

The idler arms are notorious for premature were on all IFS trucks.My truck has 230,000 miles on it and I`ve only had to replace that,about ever 80,000 miles.It`s ready for it`s 3rd.

I cranked the torsion bars on my 95 4wd Yukon and it cost me a little over $700 a couple years later for replacement of the lower ball joints and a few other items. I'd recommend against it!