Just wondering I am in the process of putting a 3" bodylift on my 02 screw and was wondering if i could get the pros and cons of cranking up your torsion bars vs using a levelling kit ive looked at a bunch of kits and they all say a kit is gonna change your handeling negatively so why not just crank up the torsion bars?

 

cranked mine about a inch or so, and no noticeable change at all, besides getting comments that it looks higher

 

First, you only have torsion bars if you are 4x4, but i'm sure you knew that. Second if you do have torsion bars, a leveling kit is just new torsion bars which the generally consensus is that these will cause premature wear on your suspension parts. So yeah just crank up your stock TBs if you want the truck level. Welcome to the site

 

Thats what i figures, thanks bsl. Also saves me a hundred bucks haha unless i need an alinment afterwards. Thanks Guys

 

I agree. Save your money and crank up the torsion bars with the oem adjustment keys. You will need an alignment afterwards.

 

you do need to get an alignment, but would need it with the aftermarket torsion bars also, so you still save $100. All you need is a front alignment, so if you can find a shop that does that it should be about 35 bucks. at least thats what sears charged me here.

 

I'm debating this very thing. Does everyone here agree that if you have torsion bars then cranking them is a better bet over leveling kits? I really don't want to do anything that will damage my truck.

 

It doesnt matter a "leveling kit" for the 97-03 F150's is reindexed torsion keys! If you do that you still have to crank them. Since they are reindexed you can crank them higher putting WAY too much preload on the torsion bars causing premature wear on ball joints, cv shafts...

Just Crank you stock torsion keys to make the truck sit level, I have had mine cranked 3/4's of the way up for about a year and have had nothing bad to say about doing it this way!

DONT BUY AFTERMARKET TORSION KEYS!!!! AKA "LEVELING KITS"

 

Amen!

 

Pardon my "newbieness"... lol
Is there pics or directions on how to crank the torsion bars? I've only glanced at mine the other day and they look pretty rusty, so i assume spraying them with PB Blaster and letting them soak for a few hrs would help. Do you have to jack up the front end to do this ? Tools?
Thanks for the help!

 

i've read that you have to jack up the front end to do so, however, i did not. all you will need is an 18mm socket, 1/2'' drive, and a 1/2'' breaker bar. i didn't even spray mine, and i still managed to get them to turn. it took a lot of effort though. i would recommend spraying them a day or two before. turn one side three equal turns, then the other. repeat this a couple of times. if you crank them all the way, the passenger side will be higher than the driver's, due to the gas tank, and the front will sit ~1'' higher than the rear. Play w/ them until the truck sits as you like it, then get an alignment. Everytime you fool w/ these, you'll need an alignment, so keep that in mind. Also, the ride will stiffen as well, depending on how high you crank them.

 

Exactly.

 

Thanks, that helps a lot. Sounds like they are set differently already to accomodate the difference in weight of each side but to maintain the equalized height, I will be sure to adjust them equal amounts to maintain the original difference between sides.

 

turn them an equal number of turns on both sides, then take a physical measurement. b/c of the weight of the gas tank, you could very well crank the passenger side higher w/o even realizing it.

 

when you say the ride will stiffen, how stiff are we talking? stock is soft and springy, how much stiffer will it get, is it un bareable, enough to create rattles or would some say it makes it better. is it compared to say firm off road shocks? thanks im just a noobie here..