Do You Really Need A Leveling Kit To Level The Truck?

[Lincoln30]

I see all these posts about leveling kits for the GMT-900 and I don't have mine yet so I can't look for myself. But on my 800 I was able to crank the torsion bars to level the truck without buying the "ford" keys. It's been that way for 8.5 years and never caused a problem. Do the new trucks not use a torsion bar setup???

[Bobslob]

The new trucks use coil springs.

[AgDoctor]

torsion bars were cool but these coils are cooler. cold as ice. seriouslyeasier tolift without the harsh ride and hammered ball joints.

[99silverado1500]

So the ball joints get damaged from cranking Tbars? I was thinkin of crankin mine but dont want to inflict any extra damage.

[Lincoln30]

torsion bars were cool but these coils are cooler. cold as ice. seriouslyeasier tolift without the harsh ride and hammered ball joints.

 

I didn't notice a big change in the ride quality when I cranked mine and they are probably cranked more then they should be for not having changed the keys. I have 123K miles with them cranked and I've had no ball joint problems. I'm actually surprized that I've not needed any suspension work except new shocks at 50K miles. The Rancho RS9000X I have for the past 70K+ are still fine. This has been one hell of a good truck and I'll be sad to see it go in a few months.

[AgDoctor]

Dont think that cranking them with the stock keys will hurt the bars. I have logged over 100,000 miles on max'ed out t-bars with no problems. I was talking about if you added ford keys and then crunk the bars as far as the ball joint problem. I dont have experience with this myself, just heard of it.

[AgDoctor]

by the way, i have noticed that one can net more lift when cranking the bars of a crew cab than on a extended cab, first hand. not sure why. model specific 04-07 classic, seen at least 4 cases where this was so. i turned my wifes tahoe up some and only did 2 full turns and it is level and over an inch of t bar bolt still showing, go figure.

[pcgeary1973]

I had an 03 Silverado Z71 regular cab and cranked the torsion bars to level it. While it looked nice, it rode like crap and definately was not worth it. My I am debating on leveling my 07 NBS

[Controller]

I had a '95 gmc that I bought new and the torsion bars were cranked, I had no problems with 91K miles on the truck when I traded it, just keep everything greased regularly. The ride was pretty harsh though!

[luke713]

I had a '95 gmc that I bought new and the torsion bars were cranked, I had no problems with 91K miles on the truck when I traded it, just keep everything greased regularly. The ride was pretty harsh though!

i bet so

[Drunken Sailor]

I've got my 2005 CCSB factory keys maxed out and it rode a bit worse after I did it. I got 3" long Pro-Comp ES9000 shocks from Summit and it cleaned the ride up to almost factory.

 

Word of advice if you decide to get the Pro Comp shocks: Don't go by the Summit (or any) parts lookup. I've seen the wrong part numbers listed by members on this site too. If you get them (the same ones Summit recommends for a 3" lift), the front shocks are the same length as stock and the rears are actually 2" SHORTER than stock. Look in the Pro Comp catologue or call them.

[AgDoctor]

i have installed the tuff country,revtek, and rough country. I like the ease of installation of the rough country the best and the rides of the RC and the tough country better than the revtek. i traded my revtek with a friend and got his struts and installed the rough country. the revtek seems to be the better on the suspension travel distance though.

[GMC 1]

I installed the ready lift leveling kit. it gives the tuck more of a tough truck attitude without a major suspension upgrade