i have a 2003 super cab tremor. i would like to level it front to back. i guess its about 1.5 or 2 inch difference. from the posts ive been reading about this some models have torsion bars and if thats the case then i should be able to crank them up. my question ( and i know it may be silly) is how do i tell if i have torsion bars?

 

I'm pretty sure the Tremors were all torsion bars. Just look under the front of your truck, you'll be able to tell if theres bars under there.

 

ok, found it. thanks. do you have to reallign after you crank them?

 

Yes, I would go get it checked. It might not need it but better safe than sorry.

 

If you plan on getting new tires soon, wait until you get the tires then crank your bars, some shops will do the alignment for free when you buy tires

 

i was told that its not a good idea to crank the torsion bars... but my thought is that if im only doing it to level out the truck, and i don't offroad with my truck anyways... i don't see it being that big a deal... i was also told that it will ride rougher... but thats no biggie being that the d*mn thing rides desert prostitute anyways.

 

Cranking your t-bars will put more strain on the front end. It's not so bad that you will destroy your truck, go for it

 

It really depends how much you crank them and how much life your bars have left. Every truck will be different

 

Well it IS going to ride like crap if you crank them up 2".
Measure the wheel to wheel well distance with the truck sitting on the ground. Then lift the front of the truck off the ground and measure again. My guess is that there is only about 3" of droop from static ride height. If you crank the torsion bars for 2" of height, you only have 1" of droop in the front end, and the suspension will top out over expansion joints, potholes, during a turn, etc. It will suck. I would leave a minimum of 2" of down travel from ride height, although that is still less than ideal.

 

well, the only other thing i can think of is a leveling kit and they run $250. is that right?

 

A leveling kit is just different torsion keys, waste of money

 

i guess i dont understand... so if i want my truck to be level i am going to just have to deal with losing my ride comfort and also degrading my suspension sustainability?

 

Pretty much

 

Yea, Ford didn't really think this whole front suspension thing all the way through

Plus the aftermarket doesn't really cater to Rangers

 

ouch...

 

Yes and no. It is a truck, the rear sits higher so that the springs compress with a load in the truck, it is suppose to be that way. So you can adjust the torsion bars (which is free by the way) for more height and degrade ride quality. You can adjust it a little without much effect, but the higher it goes the worse the ride.
Or you can put weight in the back which will improve the ride but mileage will suffer. Or you can remove the blocks in the rear so the rear sits lower.
OR, you can buy a real suspension kit that relocates the front suspension and keeps the factory angles such as a superlift kit. Then lift the rear the proper amount to make it level.

You can also read more in the hundreds (thousands?) of threads asking about the same thing.