Hi all.
My question is about leveling the front of our H3. I know how to do it with the stock torsion keys, and buying replacement keys is a waste yada yada and so on and seen the some how to vids. However I have heard people talk about turning the keys while the vehicle is still on the ground and not lifted on the jack. Is this much harder to do than jacking it up before turning the torsion key bolts? I would really like to do this without the extra effort of lifting the vehicle. Thanks

 

Just put a jack under the front skid plate....you can almost turn the bolts by hand.

 

I have never used a jack and I have lifted both of my H3's. I just slid a lead pipe over the end of the ratchet for leverage...didn't have any problems.

 

thanks JJ, I was wondering if putting a jack under the skid plate was safe opposed to doing the left/right side of the vehicle one at a time. I will do this tomorrow and get it aligned this coming week. I will then soon and have some pics of before and after as my truck sags alot in the front.

 

Now thats what I want to hear, but if don't succeed then I will jack it up from the skidplate. Thanks

 

I did mine without lifting the front end off the ground. No issues.

 

Did mine with out a jack with no problem. Bolts were not that hard to turn just use a long ratchet when you do it... Just in case have the jack on stand by I did

 

i left mine on the ground as well, just need a little leverage on the ratchet. BUT, i think it would be good to drive around a little, then check it again to see if it settled. i leveled mine over the course of a week. i made adjustments till i had it holding at 23.5"...then had it aligned and it brought it up to 23.75" and it has stayed there ever since with zero issues.

heres a confusing little side story about leveling...so the other day i went into my local off-road store for some extended bumpstops...first off, he couldnt figure out for the life of him why i even wanted them...he said i should of bought torsion keys instead and i wouldnt need the bumpstops. which has me thinking now...$80 for the keys, another $80 for alignment and my factory ride will remain the same? or crank tbar for free, $80 alignment , and $50 for extended bumpstops...am i only saving 30$? and would both options have the same effect on the ride? my next step is to try the bilsteins, which i think is necessary no matter what way you choose to level it. dont get me wrong, its still a nice ride, but i think it can be improved. i just hope i didnt choose the wrong leveling option to only save $30. so the confusing part to me is, if cranking the tbar is so popular why is trailduty the only one who even makes extended bumpstops? and yet there are plenty of options for the torsion key route. i wanted to beleive what the OWNER of this offroad store had to say, but then when i inquired about 35" tires he said "you'll never fit them on there without cutting the fenders...i just put a 4" lift on an h3 recently and the 35's didnt fit on his custom rims"(im thinking the rims had some crazy offset or backspacing or something. but that guys credibilty is shot now since half of the people on here have 35" tires...so yeah, now im confused on what and what not to beleive. good luck, let us know how it comes out.

 

I have left my response inside of your post in blue

Please read below:


They are not actually just "bump stops" they are progressive dampeners used as part of the entire front suspension on a GM IFS system. They bend and flex to give you better control and a softer ride. The Non-GM "bump stops" do not have the same progressive rate of compression/deflection in them and will exhibit different ride qualities.

You may notice that the LCA on the GM IFS seems to be resting on its upper bump stop. This is not only a bump stop, but what is called a progressive dampner. It compresses at a progressive rate, simulating a progressive rate spring, and letting the torsion bars achieve close to a progressive feel. Another con is as you increase the ride height by adjusting your keys, the ride gets worse. Now it’s a common misconception that there is more of a load on the bar and this is the cause. That is impossible since the LCA moves as well, so there is no more torsion on the bar than before, the spring rate does not actually change like many belive. The twisting action does not change the pre-load on the bar directly, so cranking your bars is just like adding a block in the rear or a coil spacer. It is simply changing the position of the spring. Just to clear things up, pre-load is the amount by which the torsion bar can't return to its original (unloaded) position due to be installed in the truck. The reason for the bad ride quality is instead a combination of things. First of all, when you adjust the height up, the angle between your LCA and the ground is increased which effectively does reduce your pre-load by reducing the leverage your LCAs have on your torsion bars. This negativly effects the ride by taking the torsion bars out of the preload range they were designed to work in. In combination with that, if you crank too far your UCAs have very little room left between them and the lower bump stops, reducing downward travel. You also pull the LCA away from the progressive dampner, making it ineffective and putting yourself back into the position of having a linear spring. These are the reasons the ride gets worse!

I hope this helps out with some of your questions.

 

thanks for the info tainter...i think i recall you spelling all this out once before. so i guess ill stick with my original plan of just adding the trailduty dampeners? my only question now(and ill post a pic later to show you what i mean) is that the shortest space between my LCA and dampener seems less than a 1/2"...so i was wondering if the 1/2 extended stop from trailduty will be resting on my lower control arm. i hear ideally you want about .125-.250" clearance?