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You're on the right track, and that's good!!
When I said it's the same as adding a block, I was referring to the adjuster bolt itself. The bolt is basically a threaded block. It increases the distance from the EDGE of the KEY to the piece the bolt threads into. The actual vertical location of the bar makes no difference. The only reason that the torsion bars are dropped with a lift kit is because the bar must exit the lower control arm in a straight line. And when you drop the lower control arm, the torsion bar must go with it. But the adjuster bolt can only move so far before it runs out of threads. Putting in an aftermarket key is basically like adding a spacer to the end of the bolt.
You're right, the bar IS twisting. However, you have to realize where the source of the twist is coming from. The bar is actually trying to RESIST being twisted....it's RESISTING the force of gravity trying to push the truck down. It's not twisting on it's own and trying to push the truck up. That would mean that the bar has it's own source of energy. But like all steel springs, they only store energy. When the truck is sitting still, the energy comes from gravity. And since gravity is always the same, the energy in the bar is always the same.
An air bag is different. Air bags store energy from an air compressor. When you raise the height on a truck with air bags....you ARE increasing the pressure. This is because you ARE adding energy.....from an air compressor.
Now this is all just in general terms. As the suspension moves, the angles change.....and the amount force that the bar "sees" changes. Within +/- 1 inch of ride height, the difference is negligible. But as you get higher and lower, things are gonna change. However.....the change may not be what you would think.
The more you crank your bars, the greater the angle becomes on your lower control arms. This makes it easier for the torsion bars to resist the force of gravity. So, in an extreme case.....the pressure on a cranked bar would actually be LESS than the pressure on a truck that had been lowered slightly.
Think of an Olympic gymnast on the rings. The most difficult thing is to support your body weight with your arms straight out. It's easier to hold yourself up with your arms angled down. Well, your lower control arms work the same way. It's harder for gravity to push the truck down when the control arms are angled down. So......less energy gets transferred to the bars. What this means is: If you could measure the twisting force being applied to the bar, a cranked bar would have LESS force than a normal bar.
Now, here is where the whole thinking backwards thing comes into play again. We've established that the more you crank a bar, the easier it is for the bar to resist gravity. And if it's easier for the bar to resist gravity....what else would the bar want to resist??
BUMPS!!
The suspension seems stiffer, not because the torsion bars have gotten stiffer.....but because they don't have to work as hard.
Now this example was only for an EXTREME condition. You would have to install aftermarket keys and crank them up for like 3 inches of lift to get that effect. For the most part.....when you stay within the range of the stock adjusters, the geometry doesn't change that much. But, it does effect your suspension travel.....which is what causes the most notable change in ride quality.
I don't have time to get into the whole travel thing right now. But I just wanna add one more thing to confuse you LOL!!
You can't change the stiffness of the torsion bar. But you can change the suspension geometry. If something changes enough to make the suspension feel stiffer, it's because the torsion bar isn't having to work as hard. If something changes, and the ride feels softer.....it's because the bar is having to work harder. So you could almost say: Any increase in ride stiffness means that the pressure on the torsion bar must have decreased.
I'll try to get to the whole shock and suspension travel thing a little later.......
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