Ok I have a question that might sound dumb to some of you. I have read a lot of posts on here and I am wondering what the heck the torsion bars are? I have a 97 2wd f150 that i just put a 3 inch body lift on. I would like to level it up but have no idea what you all are talking about when you say cranking the torsion bars. Right now my truck is about 1 inch lower in the front. How do I go about this and how involved is it? Does it change the handling at all? Thanks

 

Torsion bars are splined rods made of spring steel. They attach to your frame on the rear end, and to the upper control arm on the front. There is a bolt that is threaded into the assembly on the rear, that can be turned either way, to adjust the tension, which affects ride height.

You can achieve up to about 2" of lift on the front end by "maxing" them out. In so doing, however, you preload the bars making them stiffer. You will notice a stiffer ride, and the tendency for the front end to resist travel. You also alter the angle of your cv joints, putting more wear on them.

Personally, I would (and have) only done this to level out the front, so the truck wouldn't look jacked up in the rear. Pull the truck onto a level surface (this is very important), and measure from the ground, straight up through the center of each wheel to the bottom of the fender flare. Get one side where you want it and adjust the other side to match.

 

Thanks for the well written response. I am still a little uncertain so I may have to have it done somewhere. I just want the truck to sit level before I put the bigger tires on it. Thanks

 

It's really a lot easier than it sounds. Just crawl under and locate the bars just inside either frame rail. The adjustment bolts will be under the cab. Turn it clockwise to raise. Just make sure you're on a level surface. It's a piece 'o cake. And it's not a permenent mod, so don't be afraid of messing anything up. Make sure to take it to the alignment shop when you're done, as it will affect the camber.

 

blackflareside, as you have the 2wd 97 f150, you do not have torsion bars. Unless my memory is realy bad you have coil springs at the front. The 4x4's had torsion bars in place of springs.

 

Im not sure if 4x2's have torsion bars.

You can easily check though. Look for a black bar under the truck (1 on eash side) that goes from the front of the truck to about mid way back.

As has been mentioned, it's easy to do it yourself. You just tighten them up, and if they bottom out, you simply cant raise it anymore.

Also, you might not end up turning both bolts as much as the other. You might turn one a whole turn and the other two to get the truck to sit even on both sides. Also some trucks appear to have one bolt already bottomed out from the factory so no adjustment (to raise) is available by this method.

And like he said you should take the truck to an alignment shop after you adjust the bars.

 

Yeah, they're right. The 2wd's have coil springs. Sorry, I didn't catch that. The easiest thing to do would be to use spacers, I suppose. I'm not sure though, I've never owned a 2wd.