Leveling kit VS. Torsion bar adjustment - Page 2

Thats strange.....is it an older h2 with higher mileage? If so your t-bars could be worn out, not likely but it is possible.

It's brand new with 500 miles on it. The passenger side turned 4 times then bottomed out and the drivers side turned 6 times with more turns left.

I never worked on an h2 before so it's kind of hard to speculate, are you sure you ran out of threads or did it just get so hard to turn that you thought it was at the end? Did you jack the front up before doing it? Maybe an h2 owner can pipe in here to help ya, if you didn't do it already post the problem on the h2 board...there are a few h2 guys there that aren't cool enough to post here....j/k. but there are guys there that won't see this here.

quote:

ORIGINAL: importkiller

Thats strange.....is it an older h2 with higher mileage? If so your t-bars could be worn out, not likely but it is possible.

It's very possible that the t-bar could have settled. It al depends on many factors. How it was driven etc.. or it could just be a weak t-bar. I have heard of that on older IFS trucks.

Right now my t-bars are cranked only about 2 1/2 turns. I'm still not sure if I'll leave it like that or re-index them. But I think if we keep the H3 long term (it may end up being my 9 yo's first ride if she wants it when she turns 16) then I'll probably do a solid axle swap after it's out of warranty.

thats what I was thinking too, but he said it is brand new with only 500 miles,unless he got a weak one from the factory.

That's strange, alright. That's whats so much better about leaf springs... you can see when something isn't right.

Going by the installation instructions of the Truxx Lift Kit, I can only say that without the kit, it is very possible to start front end wear from just turning the T-Bars. Here is a warning when using the kit that is made for the H3:



With that said, does anyone know the correct height to set the T-Bars without the Truxx kit? If they recommend a certain way to use their kit to prevent front end wear. it will most likely cause excessive wear just guessing.

Again, not telling anyone what they should do, just bringing up something that may be of concern down the road.

On the bottoming out of the shocks....I wasn't really talking about that as the shocks will be stretched (when using stock shocks a turning the T-Bars) and when used off road, may rebound to where the shock will top out. That is why the Truxx kit with the extensions, will have the normal travel.

All I can tell ya is that I have been installing lifts and working on 4x4's for over 15 years now....I have never seen any abnormal front end wear from cranking on the t-bars (within reason) Stock shocks with a t-bar crank have gone through rubicon with no problem, I can personally say I have never had a problem, I have hit some real tough trails here in PA. Like I said, do what you are comfortable with but the fact that everyone here that knows trucks and works on them have cranked the t-bars in their own personal h3's should tell you something.

I guess I have one weaker T-Bar than the other from the factory. That's why it's designed to adjust. One side was cranked on more to get the right height.

yea I'm guessin too Joe, you may want to check into buying some new aftermarket t-bars that are stronger. That way you'll be where you are now with a lot of adj left. may firm the ride up some but if you are maxed on one side now that means your going to look kinda funny when they do settle.

Good idea. I think I'll look into it. Thanks for the help.

quote:

ORIGINAL: importkiller

All I can tell ya is that I have been installing lifts and working on 4x4's for over 15 years now....I have never seen any abnormal front end wear from cranking on the t-bars (within reason) Stock shocks with a t-bar crank have gone through rubicon with no problem, I can personally say I have never had a problem, I have hit some real tough trails here in PA. Like I said, do what you are comfortable with but the fact that everyone here that knows trucks and works on them have cranked the t-bars in their own personal h3's should tell you something.

I hear ya but we will see how the front ends are a few years down the road as a result of the T-Bar adjustment.

BTW, I have also been familar working on 4X4's and my first was back in 1974 with my first vehicle purchase of a brand new 1974 Ford F-250 4X4. I don't know if you remember those but they came with a 4" lift bar between the axles and the leaf springs (top over) with 8 lug wheels. I guess that is around 32 years. I have also seen a lot of normal wear with several of my 4X4's without lifting too! As Smoking Joe said, the T-Bars are made for one specific reason, to adjust to factory specs. I feel they were not meant to be a lift kit going past specs, but that would be up to whom ever decide on what he wants to do with his or her ride. $400.00 for the Truxx kit isn't much money for piece of mind though.

Let me know when you are going back to Paragon.

absolutely, hoping to go soon, but with this weather as warm as it's been I may take my boat out a few more trips.

one last thing on the t-bar and reindexing key discussion.....both methods achieve lift the same way just one tightens the t-bar to acieve it and the other relocated it to achieve it...both method will put the SAME exact added stress on the front end, primarily the cv joints. The only way to truly take the added stress off of the cv-joints would be to lower the front diff somehow...Trail Master makes a front differential lowering bracket for earlier chevy trucks that keep the cv-angles close to stock, but doesn't make anything for the h3 yet. So really in reality the only difference in cranking the t-bar and using the re-indexing cams is that the t-bar is slightly stiffer after cranking them then when the cams are used