How to change to Ford keys

[n8huntsman]

To remove old keys:

Jack up vehicle and remove tires.

Remove shocks, sway bar, and unbolt lower ball joint.

Remove adjustment bolt.

Have someone push down on the a-arm while you remove the half circle shaped nut from the crossmember.

Now slide the t.b. forward. Be careful because the old key will fall out. and if it lands on your head it will hurt.

Put the bar back into the hole in the cross member just enough so it will stay.

This way youll have enough room to slide the new key in.

While holding the new key in posion ( tip should be about an inch down from bottom of the cross member) slide the t.b. back into the new key.

Now again have someone push down on the a-arm and try to insert the half circle shaped nut. If this is too difficult, you may have to remove one or both of the a-arm bolt, slide in the half circle nut, and then try to align the a-arm and get the bolts back in.

Then just put everything back together. When its done, remove the tie rod ends and put them back in. This is to make sure that they have enough travel and are not in a bind. Sometimes they look ok but they really arent. The joint between the center link and the tie rod only allows a certain amount of travel. If you exceed this you could break it and loose your steering.

With the adjustment bolts out you will already be higher than a maxed out stock key so you may just opt to leave the bolts out. If you want to go a little higher, tighten the bolts but your gonna get close to your bump stop so watch that closely. If you have any question respond to this and ill reply. Check my page for detailed pics.

Torsion Bar pics

[03GMC2500HD]

Really no need to remove all those parts, just use a GM torsion bar unloading tool part #J-36202 or a large gear puller to unload th e bars then swap the keys and reverse procedure. Takes 30 min tops to swap them with the tool and maybe a bit longer with the puller. Here is a link to the wholee procedure with pics.

 

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forum/showthr...&threadid=65871

[c5hd]

I'll throw my $.02 in. I attempted the key swap this weekend, but was unsuccesfull. I was only able to get my hands on a 6" gear puller and after it jumped off twice, I decided to give up. I was able to get the old key out (then back in), but the "green" key was just too difficult. Given the right tool, this should be a snap. I did start to look at taking apart the front suspension, but then reconsidered. My local shop will probably do it for $50 and save me the trouble.

[marcski]

c5,

 

don't give up. You need the GM torsion bar unloading tool, night and day difference. I purchased mine from the tool warehouse, search on "gm torsion bar tool" and it will show up. 75 bucks well spent. my driver side gave me fits, ended up using BOTH the gm tool and the 5 ton gear puller. You c an do it, it is worth it.

 

when you are cranking, keep one hand around the the gear puller to ensure it gets a good solid bite.