Cranking the torsion bars on an H2?

[autumn walker]

I know this is popular on the H3, and I had it done on mine... but what about cranking the torsion bars on the H2? Does anyone do it, how high can you go and still be safe?

 

[ReconH3]

If nobody can answer here you could try on 2500 forums since the front end is pretty much the same.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

Sent from my iPhone

 

[alrock]

I know it is done regularly. Timgco, Rugged and others would have this info.

 

[twinmill28]

I'm kinda curious about this as well. I've pretty much decided not to screw with the 2's suspension, I'm really happy with how it rides and wheels. I learned alot from cranking my 3 and realized it did get a much stiffer ride with the crank and Bilsteins. I like the way the 2 rides and don't want to alter that at all.
So my question is in addition to cranking, what does it do to ride?

 

[autumn walker]

I'm not sure how much I want to do it either, based on my experience with the H3, but I was walking to the truck yesterday and the rake really bothered me. Perhaps I should just lift the whole thing and be done with it. lol

 

[seventwozero]

I know it is done regularly. Timgco, Rugged and others would have this info.

I thought the T-bar crank was a pretty common mod for 2 owners :emb:. I picked up a set of 'green' t-bar keys, IIRC they are the OEM 1 ton keys vs the OEM 3/4 ton keys that are currently in the H2. The new key's re-index the torsion bar, so you're not really 'cranking' them per-say, just putting them in a different position with the same amount of load. There are various kits available (like the Truxx) or just keys available, depending on what you're trying to achieve.

This was the first mod I did to my 2 along with 37" tires, within two years or so it seems the t-bars of settled a bit.. or maybe it's just me. As far as effecting the ride? Not all that much, the first day or two I noticed some difference but it wasn't anything drastic, overall the ride is still 10x better than the F150 I had, so I'm more than happy. I think you can pick up a set of the 'green' chevy keys for about $50-60 online, and expect about an hours worth of install from a mechanic.

There is a fairly lengthy thread regarding this mod somewhere on here, maybe in the tech section, I'm not sure if it applies to a specific truck or just 'cranking' t-bars in general. I'll poke around and see if I can find it.

 

[twinmill28]

Yeah, occasionally my 2's rake bug's me, but it's not really enough to drive me nuts.
As for cranking your 2 and only feeling a "little bit of difference", you should put it back to stock ride and see what that little bit of difference is. When I cranked my 3 back to stock height just before selling it, I took it out for a quick spin---it was a world of difference better ride, and that's what convinced me not to screw with the 2. You don't realize what you sacrifice in ride until you go back.

 

[seventwozero]

Yeah, occasionally my 2's rake bug's me, but it's not really enough to drive me nuts.
As for cranking your 2 and only feeling a "little bit of difference", you should put it back to stock ride and see what that little bit of difference is. When I cranked my 3 back to stock height just before selling it, I took it out for a quick spin---it was a world of difference better ride, and that's what convinced me not to screw with the 2. You don't realize what you sacrifice in ride until you go back.

You might be right, but I don't have any complaints about the handling of my 2 after it was done either.

 

[[__--MUD--__]]

reindexed keys are cheap, blows my mind when someone says they dont want to spend that kind of money...expecially considering how much our rigs cost.

crank'em only for looks if you are able to accept how horribly ****ty the truck will ride.

 

[seventwozero]

reindexed keys are cheap, blows my mind when someone says they dont want to spend that kind of money...expecially considering how much our rigs cost.

crank'em only for looks if you are able to accept how horribly ****ty the truck will ride.

Bah! You guys make it seem like it's a night and day difference! It's not like these trucks exactly hug the curves with stock settings :giggle: My ride isn't really any more rough, I have coil overs and Toyo MT's... which aren't exactly the smoothest riding tire in the first place.

 

[[__--MUD--__]]

Bah! You guys make it seem like it's a night and day difference! It's not like these trucks exactly hug the curves with stock settings :giggle: My ride isn't really any more rough, I have coil overs and Toyo MT's... which aren't exactly the smoothest riding tire in the first place.

I'm going to have to disagree w/ you on this I've driven/ridden in a few H2's where the front end just felt like hell. Coming to find out the previous owners had cranked on the bars...backed them back off and got a good ride back. The mileage probably has a factor in it...if you have alot of worn out parts, I'm guessing it wouldn't be as noticable.

I'd say my rig hugs the curves pretty damn good

 

[twinmill28]

I don't give a damn about hugging the curves, I just don't like rattling my teeth out on the dirt roads getting to the trails or where-ever. The 2 already has a much better ride than my 3 stock vs. stock, but I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[citiboy]

I installed the gm green keys so i can get the 2" lift that i want in the front for the 38" tires. I'm not a fan of suspension lifts as it lowers the torsion bars and cross member, plus i worry to much for the center of gravity . I cranked 'em to 2.5" but it gave me a stiff ride...for me, cranked to 2" would be the perfect ride and it level out my truck.

 

[autumn walker]

Revisiting this one - every time I look at the side profile of my truck I cringe - the rake is too much for me. I did some research on the green keys and I guess (from what I read) they don't actually do anything for the ride, they just reindex the torsion bars (more preload) just like cranking on the stock (purple) keys would do. The green keys just give you more of a range to crank on (i.e. start you with more preload than the purple keys).

The other thing that drives me nuts about the H2 is that it hits everything on the trail with the front skid... EVERYTHING! I never had the issue with my H3 (leveled on 35" tires). I figure that leveling the H2 should eliminate some of this.

My main concern is premature wear on the CV joints. The CVs blew up in my H3 - dealer replaced under warranty as a faulty part; however, they were suspicious of the leveled truck. Curious about how people who are leveled are finding the wear on their axles / front end components.

As for a rough ride, the trick to smoothing out a leveled H3 was extending the bump stops as the suspension is designed to ride on the bumps, cranking the front up obviously creates a gap and a "soft" suspension - more diving under breaking, cornering, etc. Perhaps extending the bump stops on the H2 would cure the ride issues?

 

[twinmill28]

Funny, I had my deuce backed into its parking spot at work this morning, alined with the sidewalk into my office---so looking out the door it was amazing how noticeable the ass was up compared to the front. I don't notice it really any other way. I'm getting close to replacing the tires on the truck and my plan is to go 37's, so the rubbing will really decide what I do with the front end.

 

[tomp]

I tried cranked TBs and parts wore out 5x faster, mostly tie rods, pitman and Idler arms, even with Cognito PISK. CVs were never an issue except for vibration that occurs over 70 mph if you crank too far. I'm resting back at stock ride height now, if that tells you anything!

 

[autumn walker]

I tried cranked TBs and parts wore out 5x faster, mostly tie rods, pitman and Idler arms, even with Cognito PISK. CVs were never an issue except for vibration that occurs over 70 mph if you crank too far. I'm resting back at stock ride height now, if that tells you anything!

Interesting - that is valuable information. I wonder how the Kryptonite tie rods would fare?

 

[tomp]

It's the severe angles that increases the wear. I'm already running HD tie rods and they wore out quicker with cranked TBs. the more you crank the TBs, the worse the problem gets, it doesn't matter how strong the parts are.

 

[creina]

I didn't want to start a new thread and I found this one. I bought duckhead keys but no TB tool. Has anyone installed w/ a C clamp or should i try autozone to rent a tool? I'm thinking about doing this tomorrow.

 

[Scarsman]

It's been done with c-clamps. The tool is a little safer. In reality though, unless you have completely bottomed out the stock keys and not able to get enough height, there is no reason to change them. They don't do anything different than the stock ones other than allow you to rotate the bars further than the stock ones.

 

[Zach]

A C clamp will work, but I would be very cautious unloading them. Never heard of duckhead keys. I am running the GM green keys

 

[creina]

http://www.prorydeliftkits.com/CHEVROLET-GMC-TORSION-BAR-KEY-LIFT-KIT-p/64-1200g.htm

I just need about an inch to avoid some minor rubbing w/ 44s. Maybe i should get the unloading tool.

 

[Scarsman]

You can't get an inch out of your stock keys?

 

[creina]

The unloading tool would been much easier. The dealer wanted $200 so I did it myself.

 

[creina]

Some videos
[video=youtube_share;kDqgovU-tmw]http://youtu.be/kDqgovU-tmw[/video]
[video=youtube_share;TjDOLv8dzAw]http://youtu.be/TjDOLv8dzAw[/video]
[video=youtube_share;EkV-lJa3wDY]http://youtu.be/EkV-lJa3wDY[/video]
[video=youtube_share;aMapQWEGTjs]http://youtu.be/aMapQWEGTjs[/video]