1.5" lift, front wheel stance?

OS RR · July 9

Will a T bar crank (to gain 1.5" front lift) cause the suspension to pull the front wheels in noticeably? It seems like every t bar crank i see gives them that hot rod look (rear wheels sticking out the fenders more).

On the same topic, how much lift does a zr2 have over a stock 2500hd? (Yes i know it has different knuckles/arms, i assume this is to preserve suspension geometry).

Epsilon Plus · July 9

Not sure how torsion bar settings would push the rear wheels out of the wells.

ZR2 is a 1.5" lift. UCA, LCA, Knuckle, and Diff drop bracket for each side. 1.5" spacer under the rear leafs in the back. Factory spec ball joint and CV angle. It's a lot of work for 1.5", about equal to what you'd do putting a 3-4" kit on. However, no aftermarket jank or cutting and the aforementioned factory designed suspension geometry.

OS RR · July 9

1 hour ago, Epsilon Plus said:

Not sure how torsion bar settings would push the rear wheels out of the wells.

What i meant was people crank the bars so high that it pulls the front wheels inside the fenders but, the rear wheels are poking out past the flares still.

i'm getting the impression a 1.5" crank with upper control arms is a safe max.

Epsilon Plus · July 9

Alignment can get all jacked up when playing with trim heights. Once you get a truck where you want it, it's a good idea to put it on a rack.

"Safe" bet is relative though. Without proper UCA angle your ball joints are going to get eaten up. You'll also have even less travel and be maxing stock shock rod travel. Torsion cranked trucks are known to ride like crap. Must be bad because I think stock HDs ride like crap .

GM thought 1.5" was enough to engineer a bunch of new part numbers. Doesn't sound like much but keep that in mind going forward.

Kjduvall · July 9

the cognito 3in performance kit with fox 2.0ifp shocks/ upper a arms is a really nice kit. i only turned it up to 2in and was perfect for my set up 35/12.5 r20 (i also had to use diffrent u-bolts/ 1.5in blocks cause mines a 1 ton) the kit comes with 1in blocks witch would be fine on most set ups. its about 1800 bucks. the stance of the truck will really come from your wheel choice after that. you can also add other things to it to make it evan better i did a suspension maxx diff drop to get my cv angle perfect and the cognito pisk kit to beef up the pitman arm, and mine drives great. next ill be adding the steering stabilizer set up just for the heck of it.

newdude · July 9

13 hours ago, OS RR said:

Will a T bar crank (to gain 1.5" front lift) cause the suspension to pull the front wheels in noticeably? It seems like every t bar crank i see gives them that hot rod look (rear wheels sticking out the fenders more).

That's because some people just run the adjustment bolts straight up all the way in lol. These new 2020-up HDs do however seem to have the rake front to rear visually look less than it used to, so keep that in mind too if you are worried about aesthetics. The 11-19 trucks the rake was definitely more visually noticed.

Each full rotation of the adjuster bolt should net 2/10ths of an inch. So 5 full turns should get you 1", 7 turns close to 1.5".

OS RR · July 9

10 hours ago, Epsilon Plus said:

"Safe" bet is relative though. Without proper UCA angle your ball joints are going to get eaten up. You'll also have even less travel and be maxing stock shock rod travel. Torsion cranked trucks are known to ride like crap. Must be bad because I think stock HDs ride like crap .

GM thought 1.5" was enough to engineer a bunch of new part numbers. Doesn't sound like much but keep that in mind going forward.

I think mine rides fine other than the rear. I don't really tow with it so been floating the idea of dropping the rear tire pressures down close to the fronts. Should help. And I would just get the ZR2 parts but pretty sure the knuckles are still on indefinite back order.

8 hours ago, Kjduvall said:

the cognito 3in performance kit with fox 2.0ifp shocks/ upper a arms is a really nice kit. i only turned it up to 2in and was perfect for my set up 35/12.5 r20 (i also had to use diffrent u-bolts/ 1.5in blocks cause mines a 1 ton) the kit comes with 1in blocks witch would be fine on most set ups. its about 1800 bucks. the stance of the truck will really come from your wheel choice after that. you can also add other things to it to make it evan better i did a suspension maxx diff drop to get my cv angle perfect and the cognito pisk kit to beef up the pitman arm, and mine drives great. next ill be adding the steering stabilizer set up just for the heck of it.

Got a shot down the side showing the tire poke out difference between front and rear?

Edited July 9 by OS RR

Kjduvall · July 11

Kjduvall · July 11

Whipplecharged · July 11

I think that illusion is created more by the flare of the bed sides imo

Whipplecharged · July 11

Just now, Whipplecharged said:

I think that illusion is created more by the flare of the bed sides imo

As it is not a complete square body

OS RR · July 12

12 hours ago, Whipplecharged said:

As it is not a complete square body

No? I've never noticed that.

Thanks for the pictures KJ.

Another JR · July 12

I suspect simply changing the torsion bar adjustment to raise the front 1.5 inches will cause you to hit the lower suspension stops often enough it would be irritating.

Kjduvall · July 12

another jr is right, once you get too much its the upper a arm stop that gets iffy (this is drv side pic), the lower is fine. even with the cognito set up you have to chop off the stop just under the front upper a arms and it works just fine.