Torsion Bar tech 101

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bowtiefreak

bowtiefreak

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technically the bars should come right out but you may need to "tap" them out with a hammer. Once the bars have been safely unloaded and the keys are out you're good.
 

Bodri

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Oops?

First off I am a fairly low grade beginner at this stuff so please keep in mind. I just changed the keys on my daughters 98 Chvy 1500 4x4. Now, as I have found in other posts my front end bounces like crazy. While I have found others say that's what you get for going cheap, I haven't found what I need to do to fix it. Is just lowering the front back down a little the best? You state the tbars will "settle" in some, should I wait for that? I really don't want her driving it like this, doesn't seem very safe. She is a country girl teenager that had to have her truck lifted and I didn't have the money for suspension system. I did put 3 inch left keys in, but did not max them out. Gained about 2.5 inches in lift. I didn't replace shocks, MUST this be done as well? I didn't have this trouble when I did this for her other truck (99 model). Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
 

Fixer

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I realize this is an old thread and I'm new here, so I'll take what I can get. I just this evening started the process of replacing the upper and lower ball joints on a friends 99 4 door 4X4 Tahoe. My question has to do with skipping the first step in this tutorial, ( http://www.tribalvisiontruck.com/balljoints.htm ) which is unloading the pressure on the torsion bars. I only have the vehicle raised and the wheels are off, so I could go back to square one and start over. Would it be impossible to do the job if I continued and did not unload the torsion bars?
 

gettygatz4life

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So I can lower my 01 tahoe front 1" and leave the rear stock will that mes up my ride

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nathanhanover

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one thing to note is the 4dr tahoes t bars are 52" truck bars can be swaped in as well as the crossmember
Hi, I have a question related to your post. I have 3 of the 2 door Tahoes. I cut up a rusted out 1995 4 door for parts. I noticed right away the 4 door had swivel in the Key-crossbars on both ends. But found no details on their purpose. And yes the bars are 2 inches shorter at 52' they are also about a 1/8 inch thinner than my Stock 1994. I am restoring it and was wondering since there is enough room to re-drill and re- loacate my stock cross bar and put in the shorter torsion rods. Would it give me a heavier/stronger suspension being shorter? Or is it just a stupid idea?
 

AGearHead4Life

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Wow.. Amazingly helpful information that you've provided here Bowtiefreak. Thank you very much for taking the time to create this thread. It is extremely well worded which makes it easy to understand. I did not expect to learn this much about t-bars. I'm amazed and grateful.
I have shared this thread on my blog page for others to enjoy. Many will benefit from this post.

I'm in the process of researching replacement torsion bars before replacing a sagging driver's side T-bar on my wife's '01 Tahoe. I was considering upgrading to the police package t-bars. Your thread has confirmed that it would be a good idea for my project and that I'll likely need a drop key for the heavier duty t-bars to keep it at it's lowered height.
 

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