Torsion bar twist-realignment not needed

alpha42 · February 23, 2003

Hey for those of you who run a plow on these trucks I have to share this with you guys. I turned up my Tbars 3 turns each to help compensate for the weight of my Western plow. Even with the plow prep pkg it was still too low.3 turns stiffened it up a bit without blasting it into the stratosphere. Now common sense and everyones opinion is" Whoa you need an alignment now-toe in,tire wear,front end parts,the pope,5 rabbis etc". I have a good friend who aligns the cars we drive at work on a brand new Hunter machine. He checked my truck out with the 3 turns dialed in and showed me it was still well within specs and did not touch a thing. The main reason he stated was that GM engineers know that when you load the rear of a pickup truck (which people do) it goes down and like a see saw pulls the front up. Same as when you do the torsion bar thing. As long as you don't crank the living snot out of em. A couple- as in 2 to 3 turns is almost always acceptable. At least as acceptable as loading the truck would be.You may not gain much visual unloaded height but with the stiffer T-bar setting the truck wont go down as much when it is under a load. You will likely find descrepancies from either left to right and certainly variations from truck to truck. In my case in winter I need the added resistance for the weight of the plow,even with Timbren helper springs. In summer my travel trailer pulls the back down and the front up somewhat-even with a load spreading hitch. Point is unless you use the truck the same way everyday and never vary the loads it is under you can't have your ride height and/or suspension wear optimum at all times.

kshuart · February 23, 2003

Agreed. I took my truck in for a new door seal that was coming off on Friday and asked about an alignment since I cranked the torsion bars up. I did about 8 turns so it sat level. The guy asked how far it raised up and I told him probably 1 1/2 to 2 inches. He said it shouldn't be a problem. I asked if there was any way to check it to make sure without paying the $70 for an alignment. Apparently they have something that they can put on the outside of the wheel to check the camber. Spec is 1/2 to 2 degrees with 1 being nominal. Mine was at 1/2 degree, so he said it was still within spec and no funny tire wear should occur. No alignment needed.

Firetiger(MN) · February 23, 2003

I spoke with a technician at the local Chevrolet dealer and he said that GM recommends an alignment if they go over four turns on the adjusting bolts when they mount snow plows.

I turned my bars up 12,000 mi ago and never had an alignment done. No abnormal wear of the tires so I feel that I'm within the range. I should have done it sooner to prevent any wear that may have occurred, but I took a gamble and saved some cash.

Shaners · February 23, 2003

I believe our trucks are set at the low side of the spec. from the factory. A little cranking will probably do no harm, but if you change keys or crank it alot then it would be reasonable to assume that the front end should be checked.

sonjaab · February 23, 2003

ALPHA.......I run a Western ultra-mount plow on my 01 2500.

And yea the ground clearance is LOW !

I just punch marked the torsion bar bolt head and frame.

In the winter I give it 4 cranks to raise the front up and

in summer just turn it back down 4 cranks to my marks

so no alignment issues so far !

Remember clockwise to raise...counterclockwise to lower !

HEy man ...If your a plowhead check out www.plowsite.com

Lots of help and advise over there about plowing, repair,

etc...with NO flaming either !................geo

alpha42 · February 23, 2003

Hello to all! I had a feeling that a good deal of common senese like you guys have would confirm what I saw on the lift and suspected all along. My 2500HD works pretty hard for me pulling multi duty tasks-snow plowing (gotta love that extra cash),pulling 27ft travel trailer summers (to get away from the daily grind) and as my run around (kids to pre school the bank,buy beer) and I really love this truck. But I know after 3 years,maybe maybe 4 its getting traded as a down pmnt for another new one. I always carry my knowledge with me when I set up a new one for my needs. This is my 5th GM fullsize and I have cranked the T bars on 3 of them without any probs at all. Now I have added the Timbren rubbers to my list of knowledge. I also know what is BS and a waste of money-like the 300.00 air cleaner noise "upgrade". Thanks to all for reading and sharing!! I am off toady so time for a few brews and a cigar.