Leveling a 2016 2500HD

brwk · February 5, 2016

Ok but probably wont happen until Spring.

Doug64 · February 5, 2016

It's all good. I'll be here. The owner at Suspension Maxx sold me the front diff spacer kit and told me rather than get control arms, just lower the front about .5 to .75 of an inch, he said that would be enough to stop the uca's from smacking the bump stops and that little bit would hardly be noticeable. So that's what I'm going to do, and if it doesn't, then I might go with new uca's.

Jesse Whitney · February 29, 2016

You should change the torsion keys, even if you only plan on going up a little bit. If you crank up the factory keys you are putting to much stress on the torsion bars. I know people have been saying you don't need them but that's not the case. The way keys work is to reindex the the starting point of the bar thus giving you equal ride quality to stock since it would be under the exact same tension. Shock extenders should also be used as the factory shock will no longer have enough downward travel and will bottom out.

15dmax978 · March 1, 2016

Maxx cam 5 level 295 60 20 on some fuels rides awesome no mods no rubbing

15dmax978 · March 1, 2016

^^

SMiller · March 1, 2016

You should change the torsion keys, even if you only plan on going up a little bit. If you crank up the factory keys you are putting to much stress on the torsion bars. I know people have been saying you don't need them but that's not the case. The way keys work is to reindex the the starting point of the bar thus giving you equal ride quality to stock since it would be under the exact same tension. Shock extenders should also be used as the factory shock will no longer have enough downward travel and will bottom out.

This is NOT correct.

I don't care what method you use to twist a bar, you are still twisting a bar, installing keys is a waste of time and money unless the stock bolts will not get you as high as you want to go.

Jesse Whitney · March 1, 2016

This is NOT correct.

I don't care what method you use to twist a bar, you are still twisting a bar, installing keys is a waste of time and money unless the stock bolts will not get you as high as you want to go.

Explain to me how when you install the keys and put the bolts back in the same distance you have achieved 2 inches of lift without cranking the bolts all the way in. I have 20 years experience in the automotive industry. I'm not talking out my ass like you, I'm stating facts. These forums are to help people out, so when you don't know the right answer don't chime in. People ask questions so they can learn how to do things the right way. They don't need half ass advice on how to do things.

rocnrol · March 1, 2016

Explain to me how when you install the keys and put the bolts back in the same distance you have achieved 2 inches of lift without cranking the bolts all the way in. I have 20 years experience in the automotive industry. I'm not talking out my ass like you, I'm stating facts. These forums are to help people out, so when you don't know the right answer don't chime in. People ask questions so they can learn how to do things the right way. They don't need half ass advice on how to do things.

Wow, 20 years in the biz.. and you still haven't figured out how torsion bars work?? Slow learner I guess. Maybe, perhaps you can explain how adjusting the torsion bars with the stock keys add additional stress to the bars. Once you do, I'll attempt to explain why you're wrong, but by your response to Miller, I doubt anyone here will be able to debunk your misguided belief.

Doug64 · March 1, 2016

wade_660 · March 1, 2016

Explain to me how when you install the keys and put the bolts back in the same distance you have achieved 2 inches of lift without cranking the bolts all the way in. I have 20 years experience in the automotive industry. I'm not talking out my ass like you, I'm stating facts. These forums are to help people out, so when you don't know the right answer don't chime in. People ask questions so they can learn how to do things the right way. They don't need half ass advice on how to do things.

You're not gonna win this one bud. Your 20 years doesn't appear to be in suspension geometry.

LongrangeLauber · March 1, 2016

The "level" keys are reindexed lower so it just allows for more adjustment. All in all it just tears the front end up more than need be

SMiller · March 1, 2016

Explain to me how when you install the keys and put the bolts back in the same distance you have achieved 2 inches of lift without cranking the bolts all the way in. I have 20 years experience in the automotive industry. I'm not talking out my ass like you, I'm stating facts. These forums are to help people out, so when you don't know the right answer don't chime in. People ask questions so they can learn how to do things the right way. They don't need half ass advice on how to do things.

Lmao, I just wanted to quote this before you tried deleting it.

Again you are twisting a bar, doesn't matter how you twist it...

Jesse Whitney · March 1, 2016

I'm not going to delete anything. Over rotating the torsion bar is not a good idea. I'm not saying that this the proper way to lift a vehicle either. But theleveling keys are a better choice than not. When you over rotate the bar you take it out of its designed amount of travel which will lead to excess movement in the control arms and they will hit the bump stop. That won't happen with aftermarket keys. Why do you think GM used all those different keys over the years. If they weren't necessary they could of just cranked them up for different model options.

rocnrol · March 1, 2016

I'm not going to delete anything. Over rotating the torsion bar is not a good idea. I'm not saying that this the proper way to lift a vehicle either. But theleveling keys are a better choice than not. When you over rotate the bar you take it out of its designed amount of travel which will lead to excess movement in the control arms and they will hit the bump stop. That won't happen with aftermarket keys. Why do you think GM used all those different keys over the years. If they weren't necessary they could of just cranked them up for different model options.

So you did come back, and stuck with your theory, which shows amazingly how little you know, or understand about what you apparently work on.

Torsion bars are a spring. Like any other spring, they have a spring rate, and while supporting a load, have a preload that is determined by the weight of the supported load.

A torsion bar spring rate is determined by its length and diameter.

So... there you have it, two constants in this equation that are preset from the factory, the spring rate of the bars, and the weight to be carried.

If you were able to magically install the torsion bars so that the truck was sitting completely on its lower bump stop, and you had the ability to have infinite adjustment of the bars from this point, and started adjusting the bars, at first, all you would be doing is twisting the bars, with no upwards movement of the truck. At this point you are adding preload to the spring.

Once you get to the point where the preload of the spring matches the weight of the truck, any further adjustment of the bars (further rotation of the keys) from this point starts to raise the truck. You could in theory infinitely raise the truck from this point with no further stress on the bars, the limits in actuality are determined by other components in the suspension, such as CV joints and ball joints.

Any increased harshness in ride quality that comes from raising a truck by cranking the bars does not come from "additional stress added to the bars by over twisting them " but rather from going to far, and the upper control arms end up resting on the upper suspension travel limit block on the frame. You're suspension is steel on steel with no travel, yeah. No wonder the ride is harsh at this point.

Let me know, probably by another stupid remark supported by garbage knowledge, if you still don't understand, cause I can still keep breaking it down for you.

rocnrol · March 1, 2016

To add some more context to this,cranking on the keys accomplishes the exact same thing as adding a lift block to factory rear leaf Springs, no change in spring rate or ride here, but the back of the truck got higher, or adding a spacer to a coil spring, again, no change to the spring rate, but the front of the truck went up.