First I would like to say hello to everyone here. I'm new to the dodge thing but have owned a jeep for several years that is highly modified. Recently (a few months ago), i bought an 02 ram 1500 quad cab short bed. I love the truck however i hate how it rakes to the front. I have been thinking about adding a leveling kit. Now the one i have been looking at is http://www.fatbobsgarage.com/cart/pr...05-793-11.html I'm considering this one cause I do haul with this truck and typically its my jeep so i was thinking that the add a leaf might help stiffen up the rear end to help with sagging. Now i dont plan on running a tire larger than 33x12.5 on the 17" rim. Also the truck needs new shocks also so i wanted to see what you guys might recommend for that since i do tow with the truck but it is also a work truck. Please give me any feedback on the leveling kit if you feel that there might be a better kit and also what shocks you would recommend.
thanks Jason
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From what I've researched, I don't know if you'll like the ride comfort after cranking up the front torsion bars enough to get 3" of lift on the front. You can try cranking the factory bars first to see if that helps. I've done mine and got about 1.5-2" of lift, and I like the ride quality. I didn't crank them all the way up though.
Once you start cranking so high, you're pre-loading the tension to a point where the bars are so stiff that every bump is felt thru the front end. And even though the aftermarket torsion keys advertise as being better ride quality, I don't know how that could be true, because you have to have the same amount of tension on the bars to get the front end to lift, no matter whether you use the factory keys or the aftermarket ones. I think the biggest point of aftermarket ones is that they will allow you to put even more pre-load on the bars, which will allow for more lift.
As far as shocks go, I'll follow your post and see what everyone recommends. I don't have much experience in that area, and I'm looking for a set myself.
i got a 2.5in leveling kit from fatbobs. now itll be dif cause mine is an 07 but if you cranked yours 2.5in itll be fine. the add a leaf will help hauling but might raise the back end back up after you have leveled it. if you need to replace shocks id go with rancho. they have good ones.
shocks: rancho or bilsteins. rancho has some RS9000's that have 9 adjustable setting and are supose to be very nice. I myself are going with Ranchoo 5000's because i dont feel like spending $100 on a shock. and the 5000's are very good too. i dont know much about the bilseins, but from what i hear theyre good too.
i appreciate your responses. So if i get this correctly, i can just crank the torsion bars to level it out? Then whats the purpose of the leveling keys?
the leveling keys let you crank the bars a little more than you could using the factory hardware. this lets you get an extra 1-2". that's it...to me not worth the work and the $$$. Like I said, try cranking the factory ones first to see if you get the results you want.
the best way to crank them is to park on a level surface, like a concrete pad or garage. measure the clearance between the bottom of the front fender well to either the center of the rim, or the top of the rim(I wouldn't use the tire as they might not be uniform from side-to-side.) use these measurements as a reference for lifting, and keep these measurements if you think you want to drop it back to stock at some point.
then crawl underneath and start cranking the bolts on your torsion bars. you might want to spray some lube to make it easier. i cranked mine about 3-4 complete revolutions, but you can start with 2-3and take measurements as you go. make sure when you're done that you measure both sides and the clearances are about even. you may not have to crank each bolt an equal # of times to get the same amount of lift.
finally, take it for a spin to let the suspension settle, then park it again and re-measure. make any adjustments to even it out, then you should be good!
I am not very familiar with leveling kits...I have had full suspension lifts before but never the leveling kits. How big of a tire can you fit with just a 2 1/2 in kit or a 3 inch kit?
Help?
I had a couple of questions on here about torsion bars, but I figured this out myself (in a bad way). I bought a 2004 Ram 1500 4X4 about 2 weeks ago. The front was level with the rear when I bought it and I noticed the torsion bars were cranked up. I took the wheels off today and noticed a few things. First the ball joint covers where split. With the torsion bars cranked up, the cover is pinched underneath the knuckle (and these look new). Also there is play on the drivers side so I know I need to replace 1 ball at least. Also on the back side of the knuckle, the stearing stops were worn flush with the knuckle on the high side of the stop (due to increase in height hitting the control arm). I also disconnected the shock and noticed that it is almost fully extended which would account for the bottoming out sound when I go over large speedbumps (so I need to replace these as well).
I cranked them back down to what looks like stock (by measuring equally of what's left of the stearing stops. I recommend anyone wanting to level their 4X4 with torsion bars either go with drop shackles in the rearor just go with a 4" front 2" rear lift. Cranking up the bars will screw up your suspension in the long run.
Levleing with new torsion keys basically allows you to crank up the bars more then stock keysso I wouldn't recommend them either with the results I have found.
leveling kit and shocks?
