Frontend Sag

Buzzy99 · July 1, 2005

Ok I have a question. I want a reasonably priced solution to the front end sag on my 04 2500 HD I have read everything about twisting the t-bars and installing a leveling kit. Right now I don't want to add bigger tires but I will in the future. I just want to get the front end up and not sacrifice ride quality. Any opinions would be appreciated

lrymal · July 1, 2005

Much of this depends on what is meant by "reasonably priced." I have always maintained that a well-designed lift kit is the overall desired solution. But desired can always mean $$$$$$.

With that said, I have never installed a lift kit.

Torsion bar cranking involves a lot of opinions and issues. So here's mine:

1) They are not there for cosmetic purposes, but to actually adjust the front suspension for when heavy-weight accessories are installed on the front end. Z-height trimming is the formal term, I think.

2) There is some "wiggle room", hence enthusiasts can get away with adjusting these for cosmetic reasons, to a certain extent.

Positives are the obvious---you get the look you are after and you can clear oversized tires

Here's my take on the negatives:

1) Go past the "wiggle room" and your ride harshens and can be bouncy. As one member here susggests, get a punch and hammer, and make marks where the original setting was. He does this annually since he uses his truck with a heavy plow in the winter.

2) There is a potential for alignment readjustments. Go for a check on this.

Additional modifications to deal with ride issues:

1) Longer shocks, if found. Or place washers between the shock's top and mounting hole. Do a search here for more details. Poor man's way of dealing with the factory shock length and the body lift.

2) Lots of guys hack up their jounce stops, whatever they are called. I have read that this is a very bad idea. They are not suspension stops as so many think they are, but are an actual part of the suspension, allowing the suspension travel to smooth out.

Finally, if you drive on mainly smooth roads, then the ride quality may not really matter. But, if you have to live with bad roads, dirt roads, and freeways with awful expansion joints, you certainly won't want to make your ride any harsher. Hence my view that a suspension lift would be better.

Anyway, opinions are opinions. These are mine....

curly · July 1, 2005

I turned my torsion bars up to allow for the tires I just put on. I can honestly say I don't see a difference in the ride since it already rode "harsher" than my 1500 did. The tires helped the truck to ride much better. I am going to put washers on the shocks (sounds like a good project for this weekend ).

cwh · July 3, 2005

I bought new lift keys for my '01 gmc and installed them myself. Pretty easy really. Just need an air chisel to pound out the torsion bars from the old keys and a heavy duty 2 jaw gear puller. I bought them from Victoria Performance in Texas. They sell on EBAY. I installed them to get larger tires under the truck. The front end is level with the rear end now. The ride did get harder, but you know. Anyway my two cents. I didn't really like how the front end sat so low.

Chris

GMSVCMGR99801 · July 10, 2005

I adjusted my torsion bars ('04 2500HD) to where the truck sits almost level and the ride difference is negligible. Careful not to adjust too far and be sure to have it aligned afterwards. Counting the number of turns and keeping it on record is a good idea.

gtimark · July 11, 2005

I, too, leveled out my '05 2500 HD 4x4 by cranking up the torsion bars. Like the previous poster, I didn't get radical and I counted the number of rotations. It's not perfectly level, but it's a heck of a closer and a lot nicer looking now. BTW: I didn't notice any change in ride quality ... which is already pretty "truck like."

Mark

asilverblazer · July 11, 2005

Mine are almost level, Not really a lift but to help the appearance. I needed to adjust the side to side as wel. I had it aligned afterwards too. Camber can sometimes not be adjusted to spec. due to cranking the bars too much.

FloridaZ · July 15, 2005

I bought new lift keys for my '01 gmc and installed them myself. Pretty easy really. Just need an air chisel to pound out the torsion bars from the old keys and a heavy duty 2 jaw gear puller. I bought them from Victoria Performance in Texas. They sell on EBAY. I installed them to get larger tires under the truck. The front end is level with the rear end now. The ride did get harder, but you know. Anyway my two cents. I didn't really like how the front end sat so low.
Chris

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I'm planning on doing a lift kit on mine after it's paid off (6 yrs). If I put the new keys in it to level it now, would I have to reinstall the stock ones to put the lift on? If not, I think it would make it a couple inches higher in the front than the back... Does that sound right?