Torsion Bars Adjust Or Not?

[speedydog5]

I have a 2003 2500HD, just had plow put on,7-1/2 pro plow ultramount, should i have the torsion bars turned up to help out seems to bottem pretty easy, going up driveway, is this commen??? and how do i go about adjusting if i do? how much do i go

[Shaners]

Probably wouldn't hurt to turn them up a little. 2 or 3 turns might be enough to handle it. The plow guys here would know better than I would.

 

It is very easy to do just make sure you turn both sides the same number of turns. If you crank them very far, an alignment may be necessary.

 

The bars run back towards the rear of the cab along the frame rails. It's very easy to see the adjusting bolts. There is one bolt on each side of the truck. I would set the plow on the ground to get as much weight off the bars as possible before doing the adjustments.

[2000DV4.8]

To crank the torsion bars, you will need to adjust the torsion key adjustment bolt, which is located in the torsion bar cross-member. The cross-member is pretty much directly below the seam between the front and rear doors. Follow the torsion bar into the cross member, then you will see an adjustment bolt. That is the bolt you need to... well... adjust. lol.gif

 

Ok, so now for the adjustment process. You will need a jack and jackstands, a bottle of whiteout, an 18mm socket, and preferably a 1/2" drive ratchet.

 

Measure the original fender height heights with the truck on flat level ground. Then jack up the front of the truck, and put the jackstands under the frame. Mark the adjustment bolt and the cross-member with whiteout so you can better keep track of how many rotations the bolt makes. Each full revolution of the bolt equals about 1/4" of height. I'd start off with 4 revs, which should net you about an inch.

 

Let the truck down bounce on the bumper a little bit, and drive it around the block and make a couple of hard stops to let the suspension settle. Then park the truck in the same spot as before, and re-measure.

 

Repeat as needed until you get to the height you want, it is completely normal for one bolt to have more thread showing, or for one bolt to take more revs to raise the truck (I had to turn my drivers side bolt 2 full revs more to get the truck to sit level).

 

Just keep in mind, your ride will stiffen up, and if you go over 1.5" it will REALLY start to suffer. Also, if you go much over 1.5", you will start to wear through parts like CVs, tie rod ends, ball joints, and pitman/idler arms much quicker than normal. Keep the height reasonable, and you should have no problems.

 

You will need an alignment.

[Kodiak450]

Yea, crank them up! I intially cranked mine when I had my Meyers 7.5 plow on the truck. I now have a Western pro plus 8.0 contractor grade snow plow which is much heavier and have no bottoming out problems. After you crank them, you'll need an alignment, because it will throw your alignment off. I forgot how much I dranked mine, but I measured 9" from top of tire in front, to bottom of fender flare.

 

Don't forget to get yourself some dielectric grease for the snow plow's pump. You want to put some on all the electrical fittings.

BTW, got any pic's of your plow?

[Kodiak450]

Also seeing you have a 2003, are you at anytime experiencing your temp needle going up? If so, you need to swap out the revised clutch fan GM released in 04. It will allow your temp to stay stable, if you ignore the temp needle, you risk the computer shutting down the truck and lossing power temporaly until fan kicks on. Also does your thermometer give inaccurate readings when the plow is on? Mine does. It will spike up 40 more degrees usually. I was told that the reason why this happens might be due to the plow affecting the magnatism of the thermometer and compass.

[Shaners]

I actually made my measurements from the frame rails to the ground because GM body panels can be out quite a bit from side to side. I measured from three different spots on the frame rail on each side of the truck and compared my numbers.

 

I did not jack my truck up in the air but did drive it and then park it in the same spot as before and remeasured.

 

Level ground is best like a concrete garage floor.