hello i just wanted to post about my new torsion bar keys that i just recently installed. it was really pretty easy and i was able to find some for 70 bucks on ebay. the keys were forged just like the ones that ready lift sells but these will save you from paying the 220 bucks that they want for them. i also found out after breaking my 5 ton puller that a ball joint press works just the same as the 150 dollar torsion bar puller.

these are just some things looking back now that i thought others would like to know. also be sure to get an alignment after installing the new keys.

here is the link to the ebay site, shipping was fast and the keys are good quality: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIFT-KIT-FOR...ht_1365wt_1270

a little long but it will save you alot of money

 

dude get rid of them...theyre junk and you still wasted your money

 

X2

Those are over-indexed, and if you crank them up, you'll be destroying ball joints and CV joints like crazy. Simply cranking factory keys is enough for your suspension to handle.

 

wow thanks for the heads up. before the keys were cranked up and it made the ride horrible. the new keys and the alignment gave me some lift and smoothed the ride out quite a bit. i guess i just rally them and see what happens.
thanks tho for letting me know

 

please do some research on this site before you do your next mods. you will be so grateful! if you would have searched for info about those keys here you would not have put them in your truck. as long as you dont crank them more than halfway or so you should be within a reasonably safe zone for your front end components. but PLEASE search for info here before you buy things. not only will you be educated and informed on which products to buy and stay away from you will also find what will work and what is not good for your truck or your safety

 

Just thought I would post my experience with keys. I read every one saying how bad of an idea it was to use them. When i asked around no one actually had any evidence of cv's and parts wearing out faster then usual. The people who were warning me had never actually used them.

I bought a set of cheap ebay keys and installed them + alignment (around $70 for the keys). Yes my ball joints and cv's are on crazy angles. I have had them installed for 2 years and over 80,000km's, shocks spaced to gain more lift (they were holding it from going any higher). I am a mechanic and i check my front end for play and wear every oil change. My truck has 135,000 km's on it and still all original front end parts.
Based on experience I would do it again in a heart beat.

 

i am a mechanic also. my truck along with two friends have the stock keys maxed out and we all have had issues with many front end components wearing out prematurely several times on each of our trucks. i replaced the upper control arms on my truck when i bought it 2 years ago and my driver side upper ball joint is done in again. thats in under 35000 km.

 

you might want to look into quality of parts your using. But i guess it depends on what you do with the truck too. Mine is mostly highway km's. But it does see a fair amount of off road use too.
Just my experience.

 

I'd crank the bars. Get #1 bars and crank them. As far as parts wearing I'd have to say that has to deal with how you treat your truck.

 

i have been replacing with quality parts. i do a hell of a lot of wheeling with my buddies tho

 

Looking at this picture, it doesn't look like you have any more lift than can be achieved with factory 98-07 keys. What most of us have been getting at regarding the aftermarket lift keys is that you can get that kind of lift out of factory keys, but if your intent is to go higher, which the aftermarket keys will do, you're going to cause a lot of problems.

And yes, it makes a big difference on how you drive your truck.

 

Jeff where in Ontario are you? Welcome to the site.

 

cranking the stock keys and straining the bars is better then not cranking the bars and replacing keys to lift the truck...

now ive heard it all!
LMAO

put keys in your truck, you can actually loosen the bars if they lift it too tall, get a softer ride and the same effect, or like said above, max out your bars, strain everything and ride like a tank. 100% your call. Hahah.

 

Read up on it man. Those after market keys are already indexed higher then the "pre keys" of 08. So cranking stock keys isn't gonna stress a front end as much as those aftermarket ones.

 

this was my experience exactly. i didnt have to run the set bolts in nearly as far as before and my ride quality is way up from before. also i dont have that god awful popping and creaking that you can get from having your stock keys maxed out.

 

You obviously don't understand the relationship of keys, bars and ride height as much as you think you do.

Cranking your stock keys, or putting aftermarket keys that need less cranking to get to the height of cranking your stock keys, is all doing the same thing: you are twisting your bars further than the factory setting to lift your truck.. They bars are no less strained because the aftermarket key doesn't have to be cranked as much to get lift. The ride will not be smoother because the adjustment bolt doesn't have to be cranked in as far. The bar being twisted further than stock ride height and the control arms being at a steeper angle is the reason for the harsher ride.

The point that's been made here and in the 5,000 other threads about aftermarket keys is that the same height you can achieve with stock 98-07 keys is the max that you want to go. There is no need to go to aftermarket keys just so your bolt isn't cranked in as much, and if you get aftermarket keys and crank those up, you're really going to be straining your suspension.

 

I'm sorry to tell you, but the ride quality you "noticed" after putting in aftermarket keys was all in your head, just like guys that remove the silencer from their factory intakes insist their vehicle feels faster. Out of curiosity, I'm going to ask the obvious question: did you change your shocks at the same time you put the keys in?

I'm not really sure what you're talking about with the creaking and popping. I had my bars cranked before going to coilovers, and it never made a sound. It rode like crap, but quiet crap.

 

Glad somebody gets it.

 

LMAO. You've answered a logical, factual statement with a picture you found on the internet. You win.

 

lol i just dont feel like getting into it, and that picture made me laugh.

im coil spring, and i dont like T-bar much, but i get what your trying to say. theres logic to both situations, and it depends what your looking for.

moral of the story, buy a coilover conversion kit and ditch the bars.

 

LOL. It was worth a chuckle.

Agreed! (And you can click on the link in my sig that'll take you to the thread about how to get brackets )

 

I did not replace the shocks because they had been replaced just before i bought the truck and with the keys im not totally maxing them out so they still work just fine. i did replace my lower ball joints which could have helped with some of the noise that i was hearing. but i did it in phases and i drove with the new keys and old ball joints for a few days and the noise did have quite a bit of reduction.