Getting my ride "On the Level"
I don't know why, but it really bothers me that the nose of this truck is so lo compared to the rear of the truck. The numbers on the corners of the truck from the ground the center of the fender lay out like this; RF=26.25", LF=26", RR=29, LR=28.5". So, no real continuity on the numbers but they are close and It is time to commit to turning some bolts.
Depending on who you talk to tightening up your torsion bars can either be a good or bad thing. On the good side it is an almost free (gotta get it aligned=$$) way to get the truck to sit the way allot of us think they should sit, bowing to no other truck! On the negative It does increase operating angles on the ball joints and that will inevitably make them wear out faster (faster is a relative term) and if you tighten up the bars too much alignment can get tricky!
My old 1500 had the bars cranked to the max (by the previous owner) and I ran that truck 100K miles after I got it with out a single problem and when I slid under the HD to look at my torsion bar situation the bars were barely turned at all. So to the jack and an 18mm wrench I ran. The bars under my truck are the GL bars with 8400 ft/lb torque rating and the second stiffest bar they put on Silverado trucks, which explains part of why the pork chop bolt is barely engaged and why it only took 5 turns to move the bar 1".
After turning the left 10 turns and the R 8 turns the truck now sits; RF=28", LF=28", RR=28.5", LR=28.5" (Turning the opposite side up more must have evened out the rear). These seem like figures that I can live with. I also had allot more room to tighten, but I don't want to push the angles on the ball joints too much. Also the alignment only cost $56 and it dialed right in on the specs I wanted, caster= 3.5* and camber= -.3*, it handles real good!
Article I found on the GM Full Size forum I referenced on Torsion bars, Keys and how to (interesting read and allot of info, weather you tighten the bars or not):
http://www.gmfullsize.com/tech/torsion401.html
Before and after photos: