I recently bought a 2002 4x4 XLT X-Cab 4.0 V6 5speed...

I turned the torsion bars up a little at a time, taking measurements as I didn't want to go over 2". I managed to get about 1" but my drivers side adjustment bolt is bottomed out, completely maxed. For some reason, the pass. side still has 1/2" of thread left...but the truck sits level. I looked in the drivers side door tag under "SPR" and it says "1K".

The truck has 100K miles, could the torsion bar just need replacing? I don't want to go to a salvage yard and get a code "1" bar, and spend the time putting it in if I am going to run into the same problem. I will buy a new one from ford for $60.

Anyone else ran into this, and what did you do to solve it?

Thanks in advance...

 

Thats how Ford made it for some reason one of the bolts always sticks out 1/2" longer than the other. I don't know about the torsion bar replacing, sorry.

 

Like any other spring under load, the torsion bars tend to change shape over time. If you replace one, you should replace both and make sure they are #1's like your truck came with. I wouldn't put the work into swapping in a set of junkyard bars unless they are off a very low mileage donor and very cheap. As stated above, the difference in the right and left adjuster position is characteristic of torsion bar Rangers.

 

Is there a torsion bar that may have more "preload" than the one I have in there? I just dont want to put in the effort of installing a new bar if I am going to max it out again with only 1" of lift.

Also, what are your opinions on re-indexed torsion keys?

 

#1 is the best you can get. New ones should have the adjustment available to move your truck to the top of rebound travel if desired. Going all the way will get you a harsh ride, reduced ball joint life and uneven tire wear. Same story with reindexed keys. If you use the truck hard, cranked torsion bars will begin to sag sooner because they deflect to a greater angle when the front suspension bottoms.

 

Thanks for you help...I think I will probably leave it alone for now. I got 1" of lift out of it...It sounds like if I go to 2" I am bound to have some ball joint problems. Hopefully with just the 1" I won't run into quite as many front end issues. I still may get a new torsion bar just so the drivers side bolt isn't maxed out. Is it true that the drivers side bolt is shorter than the pass. side...and this is why it always bottoms out?

 

Yes thats true, even swapping the bars the bolts will be different lengths. If you do swap the bars make sure to swap both sides at the same time.