Well, I went to crank my t-bars the other night without much luck

I broke a rachet & one of the t-bar bolts is slightly rounded (socket still grips, but when turning with severe force it slips off).

Passenger side is killing me. I finished the drivers side, half way through the passenger side the rachet broke, and eventually I slightly rounded off the bolt. I've now been unable to get the bolt to move more. I eventually just went ahead and lowered the driver side, drove, adjusted. After driving about 20 miles both sides are .5" and about 2 hash marks above stock.

I just soaked the bolt in WD-40 during break today, we shall see how that goes. Otherwise, I am going to have to get outside help. My concern is, how many turns should I have the bolt turned now? I want 2" of lift, but I know the shocks settle and drop, so I cant measure on the spot. I can't remember exactly how many turns were done on it already since it wasnt smooth sailing. I'm thinking 4 more turns per side ?

 

What size socket did you use? They're 1/2" bolts on mine. A 13mm fits, but it's loose and I wouldn't trust it.

How many turns varies from truck to truck. You crank it some, move the truck, and measure -- lather, rinse, repeat...

 

I used a 1/2"

Well, would it be possible to tell based on the immediate height increase (IE: the unsettled height). I have about .5" that was settled. So if I could find out how tall it should be for 1.5" before being settled I could probably easily get on target.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

when I did mine I started with a regular sized rachet with no luck. Went to a breaker bar and it gave me enough leverage that I didn't have to force it that much to get it to turn.

 

No, because the radial geometry changes as you crank it. Why do you need to "calculate" it? Why not just adjust it until it's where you want it?

Better order new torsion adjuster bolts at your first opportunity, and get a new 1/2" socket. I think yours is probably worn or otherwise out of tolerance.

The adjusters have a vicious threadlocker on them, and usually you need a nice long ratchet to turn them. Using a short one is frustrating. After you've adjusted them up and down a few times, the threadlocker gets used up and it's not so bad anymore.

They say the threadlocker should be on there, but I'm running mine without any these days. You'll have to make your own decision on that.

 

I was just thinking that if I got outside help it would be cool if I could get it right the first try without having to do much adjustment. It's cool though.

I was actually using a short rachet at first, that's the one that broke on me. The 1/2" socket is still fine, just the passenger bolt is dinged up a little.

 

Are you doing this with the truck jacked up or sitting on the ground?

I did my last truck jacked up and it was smooth sailing...

 

Good enough. Oh, is it a "6 point" socket? I'd use one of those because of the torque required. A "12 point" is more likely to strip the points off the bolt head.

Good luck. We all struggled with this and the torque required is a bit frightening when you go to do it the first time -- you wonder if there's a locknut or something, lol.

 

I tried both. I started off with it down, got a crank or two that way but very slowly. I got off work midnight and had work again 7 AM, so I said screw it jacking it up will be quicker if I can crank it quicker. I was able to finish the driver side like it was butter. Passenger side screwed me. I did the adjustments (uncranking driver side) with the jack down, very easy.

I don't know tools at all, in all honesty I never heard of such a difference before you mentioned anything. I'm guessing 12 point has more teeth? If that is the case im pretty sure I was using a 12 point as it definately had more than 6 teeth.

GOOD NEWS: I'm getting it done @ a shop for no charge. I'm going to ask them to crank it 4 more turns since I'm fairly confident I got at least 2 - 3 cranks out of both sides.

 

Very good. Yes, you're thinking correctly about the sockets. A 6 point socket has a hole that's the same hexagonal shape as the bolt or nut you're turning. A 12 point looks more "round" inside, and has 12 v-shaped indentations around the inside of the socket to engage the nut or bolt.

The advantage of a 12 point is it's easier to get on the nut/bolt in tight places. The 6 points advantage is that it puts less stress on the nut/bolt points when torque is applied.

 

i dont know about you but i turned mine about 5 1/2 turns and i only got about 1 3/4 inch lift out of it but as he was saying it prob differs truck to truck

 

It sure does and it's constantly surprised me how MUCH it varies.

 

hit it with an impact, and its like a slow airbag setup! watch the truck rise as you crank them up.

we measure side to side, top of the tire to the fender. then crank up some, measure again, bounce the front of the truck. remmeasure, crank some more, even it out. bounce it again, and even it out one more time.

 

i must be one of the lucky ones: truck on the ground, about 6 turns got me 3 inches of lift. then went to the allignment shop, allignment was not needed. went home. total time to crank the bars: 10 minutes. (also, i did the same proceedure as chris did)

 

Sorry to bring up an old post but I screw this up a long time ago but haven't fixed it yet. I need to get new bolts. I rounded to drivers side I think. It's been so long I've forgotten. But does anyone have a part number for the bolts? I doubt it's a commonly available bolt. Thank you.

 

do you guys jack (car jack) your cars up before you crank the torsion bars up?

 

Makes it alot easier.

 

i would see it makin it easier, but youd have to jack it up, tighten them, lower it, measure progress and to see if its level, lift it up again, and repeat. Get a 2nd person, measure from the top of the tire to the fender on both sides, and go up as far as you want with the bolt allowing, bounce the front of the truck, and remeasure. Some have said that you need to lift the vehicle up if its not equiped with some kind of urethane bushins, but i see no difference.

 

definatley not constructive or helpful.

 

this may clarified it

 

That should help him out. Any word on a part number for new bolts or the size, pitch and all that jazz?

 

YOU GUYS ROCK!!...I was changing out my T-bars to #1's ..I rounded the edges a bit on a T-Bar bolt using the 13 mm... I thought it was right since the cover bolts are 13mm as well..So I rounded one and was all pissed..Then I searched here found this thread and went back down to the garage and banged on a 1/2..Worked great after that...Anyway you guys made my day just because you are here...THANK YOU !

 

On my old FX4 I got the driver's side turned until it was out of threads(about seven turns), the passenger side had a good five or six turns left after the initial seven to square it out. That seems to be pretty common. Don't just bottom both out, bad idea. I used penetrating (green) loctite on mine after I was done too.