Ford Keys & Torsion Bar Cranking/Replacing **TECH**

[2wdchevywt]

Originally Posted by FLAIRFAN

i used aftermarket keys my 03 1/2 ton and it barley raised it level about 1.5 inches. what does the ford key do compared to chevy aftermarket keys? on my 04 dodge 1500 i had it raised truck 2.5 plus cranked them up 2 inches in front then put 2 ich block in rear and it looked great. the chevy lift ws a wased of money for the small effect it had. im running 33 inch on 18's and hey cleared stock as well as now. im wanting to rub 35 tires.

the ford keys are indexed differently. I think you can get around 3" out of ford keys maybe more. I think i'm gonna do ford keys and 33's for my 04 1500 in the spring

[chriskg]

Originally Posted by FLAIRFAN

i used aftermarket keys my 03 1/2 ton and it barley raised it level about 1.5 inches. what does the ford key do compared to chevy aftermarket keys? on my 04 dodge 1500 i had it raised truck 2.5 plus cranked them up 2 inches in front then put 2 ich block in rear and it looked great. the chevy lift ws a wased of money for the small effect it had. im running 33 inch on 18's and hey cleared stock as well as now. im wanting to rub 35 tires.

The ford keys and the real chevy aftermarket keys are the same, they both are indexed differently to give more lift, here's a link to what the chevy 2" lift t-keys look like:
http://www.generalspringkc.com/index...193&parent=164

they're the same as the ford keys, except there isn't a cutout as you see with the ford keys. If you didn't get much lift for you new keys then you didn't have the bolts tightned enough, they need to be were they were when you took them out, if you still don't like the look, tighten them up a bit, you should get about 2-2.5" of lift with the ford keys, you can go 3" but then your causing undo stress on the suspention components

[stoltz23]

Originally Posted by chriskg

Thanks, for the blocks what size would be the best, 2" or 3" in combination with the ford keys?

depends on how much lift you want to put on the front i have seen guys run 2" 3" and 4". i woudl recommend getting the front done and at the heigth you want and drive it to make sure you can live with the stiffer ride. then measure and see what you need. I personally like the look of the back being a little higher than the front.

[eburr]

If you cranked your torsion bars, you did the same thing that ford keys do.

[chriskg]

Originally Posted by eburr

If you cranked your torsion bars, you did the same thing that ford keys do.

Sorta, ford keys give you more lift without acutally cranking the torsion bars, it seems like it's the same but it's not. but you can crank the bars with ford keys too, allowing for even more lift

[chriskg]

Hey guys, I got the ford keys, there on their way. Instead of lift blocks I went with a skyjacker 2" add-a-leaf. $88, but it seems more worth it, lift and better load. Just an fyi for everyone

[Twiztedmods]

What keys should I be looking for? Its a 94 six lug K2500? Thanks

[chriskg]

Originally Posted by Twiztedmods

What keys should I be looking for? Its a 94 six lug K2500? Thanks

If it's the six lug K2500 then it should have the same independent front torsion bar suspension as the 1/2 tons, K2500 six lug is a light 3/4 ton, so just use the keys that luke has the part number for at the beginnig of this thread, this:

Part No.: XL3Z5B328CA
Link: Ford Parts Online http://www.fordpartsonline.com/ (it'll say torsion bar adjuster, samething)

[Twiztedmods]

It has GK bars... So use the ford keys... Thanks

[chriskg]

hey, so I crashed my truck into a power pole, it was really slippery and da*n black ice, don't look at me like that haha, anyway, anyone know if there is a good site to get a bumper, grill, and hood for a decent price? Thanks

[19doug90]

im thinking either rockauto.com, lmctruck, ugh and my brain is not functioning theres a company that makes the steel cowl i want, they probably have everything youre looking for too.


Now for my question. Stock 97 yukon gt, 265/75/16 tires. I put an add a leaf in the rear and want to crank my front to the max of what the stock keys will allow (its not cranked at all yet).

do i need heavier duty torsion bars for this? or is that only if youre running bigger tires/ford keys.

[chriskg]

Thanks for the info, on to your question

If you crank the t-bars all the way up, which will give about 1" of lift, then you wont need heavier duty ones, if you put in the ford keys and you crank those then you'll need the bigger torsion bars because the stock ones will start to sag,

Cranking stock- stock t-bars are just fine
Cranking ford keys- new ones are going to be needed

just to shorten it up lol

[stoltz23]

Does any one else with cranked t bars or ford keys steering wheel point to 1:00? i just put in a new pitman arm and it seems worse than it was before. I am going to sell the truck and dont see how i can wiht the steering wheel like this. i did not see that there is any way to adjust the pitman arm but what about the tie rod ends can yopu make the passenger longer than the driverside to correct this?

[chriskg]

Originally Posted by stoltz23

Does any one else with cranked t bars or ford keys steering wheel point to 1:00? i just put in a new pitman arm and it seems worse than it was before. I am going to sell the truck and dont see how i can wiht the steering wheel like this. i did not see that there is any way to adjust the pitman arm but what about the tie rod ends can yopu make the passenger longer than the driverside to correct this?

Your supposed to get it realligned after you install the ford keys, you really can't align it yourself, unless you have the equipment, but have a professinal alignment shop do it for you. You just wasted money on the pitman arm too

[stoltz23]

thanks but the ford keys have been installed for 20K miles and its been aligned twice actually.(not because of the steering issue)

how did i waist money on a pitman arm? the one i replaed had about 1" of wheel slop in it? please tell?

the steering wheel was like it is now when i first did the keys but then gradually with the wearing of the pitman arm became less noticable. but its really noticable now that the pitman arm is new.

Originally Posted by chriskg

Your supposed to get it realligned after you install the ford keys, you really can't align it yourself, unless you have the equipment, but have a professinal alignment shop do it for you. You just wasted money on the pitman arm too

[chriskg]

Originally Posted by stoltz23

thanks but the ford keys have been installed for 20K miles and its been aligned twice actually.(not because of the steering issue)

how did i waist money on a pitman arm? the one i replaed had about 1" of wheel slop in it? please tell?

the steering wheel was like it is now when i first did the keys but then gradually with the wearing of the pitman arm became less noticable. but its really noticable now that the pitman arm is new.

sorry i didn't mean to sound bad, I was thinking that you went ahead and replaced the pitman arm without anything wrong with it. you may have the keys cranked to high, it would cause that to happen, and check the tie rod ends too, they could be worn out. even if your t-keys aren't cranked all the way, turn them down about 1/4 turn, see if that helps

[MikeyTruck]

Am I hosed or What? 99 OBS Tahoe. Tried the swap for the ford Keys and the F'in Tosionbars are not comin out of the keys that are still in the crossmember.......Did everything rite, and the pasengerside moves in and out of the slot under the front end but not out of the key...and I think Im gonna need a bottlejacke to get the drivers side out of the front end and the drop the other crossmember that helps support the tranny and take the torsion bar crossmember out with the torsion bars still attatched and try and use a press to get the bars out of the keys! this is crazy. Anybody had this much trouble getting these keys out? By the way. this tahoe came from jersey so the rust is STOUT! i had to bolt it all back up and have all the parts soaking in WD-40 for the week. A friend that worked for Big O Tires said there was a tool to push the torsionbars out of the keys from the back while the crossmember is still bolted to the frame. What would You guys do cause im STUCK Like my torsion bars....

[Luke2kZ71]

Originally Posted by MikeyTruck

Am I hosed or What? 99 OBS Tahoe. Tried the swap for the ford Keys and the F'in Tosionbars are not comin out of the keys that are still in the crossmember.......Did everything rite, and the pasengerside moves in and out of the slot under the front end but not out of the key...and I think Im gonna need a bottlejacke to get the drivers side out of the front end and the drop the other crossmember that helps support the tranny and take the torsion bar crossmember out with the torsion bars still attatched and try and use a press to get the bars out of the keys! this is crazy. Anybody had this much trouble getting these keys out? By the way. this tahoe came from jersey so the rust is STOUT! i had to bolt it all back up and have all the parts soaking in WD-40 for the week. A friend that worked for Big O Tires said there was a tool to push the torsionbars out of the keys from the back while the crossmember is still bolted to the frame. What would You guys do cause im STUCK Like my torsion bars....

I dont know what to tell you besides try something stronger with more penetration power for the rust...

It might be hard to try to find a press that will work in that situation... and i dunno if a puller for that.... what i would do is use a good oil, and beat it with a sledge.

[MikeyTruck]

Hey Luke, I talked to another member in the technical forum "NDBoost" that had the same issue with his 2dr tahoe. This is what he said to try since it worked on his.

"I just used a ball point chisel and a big 10lb sledge hammer. Whacked the back of the key (there should be a hole to hit) until they popped out.

theres ALOT of mass you're trying to move so it may take awhile. Try using some PB Blaster and spraying both sides.
Also try tapping the bottom of the cross member a few times to loosen things up, and also tap on the actual torsion bar on the side. Mine took about 15-20min to get out for both."

SO I guess each night this week after I get home Ill just spray a half a can of that PB Blaster on the two keys and the driverside front of the torsion bar and then go to town on the back of the keys this weekend after i pull all that mess out. Ive pulled the tranny crossmember befor out of G-body chevy cars.......but this is a truck with a Tcase and all that. is it cool to just sit there for a few hours without a support or should I get another jack and board to trow under the tranny while I beat the piss out of those keys and the back of the torsion bars?

[hillnuttz11]

so can i just my torsion bars and crank them about a inch without having to get keys or ne thing.. and will this be stressfull on my front end?