[hatzie]

Originally Posted by jocko

Thx Hatzie. That is my understanding - aftermarket keys just in essence give you "more bolt". I'm amazed by how much misinformation there is out there, and here on this board. Lots of it. I had already read several threads on it here (some of which was very good, some was way off the mark), heard some BS from the experts today at the shop where the cap was installed, yada yada. Was trying to sort it out to see if I was out to lunch. Simply put, if you raise the truck exactly 1.5" with new keys or the original keys, the ride will change whatever it's gonna change, regardless of method. 2"? same ride whether done with new keys or originals. I think that is the main bad gouge floating around out there - that somehow you can raise a truck 2" with aftermarket keys and it will somehow ride better than if you raised it that same amount with the original keys. Granted, you may not be ABLE to raise it the full 2" with original keys, but from an apples to apples lift perspective, the truck raises x amount due to x amount of additional twist on the torsion bars, regardless of key choice. Anyway, maybe someday, but for now I think I'll just leave it where it is. Rides nice, and it's already aligned. I may go with slightly bigger tires when the time comes, but none that will require a lift to fit.

Thanks for all the replies!

The biggest issue with just cranking up the torsion bars, with whatever method floats your boat, is that you take the inches of lift away from the A-arm travel. Slamming the OEM A-Arms hard against the stops repeatedly does bad things to the suspension mounting points.

Lifting is a mildly dangerous game and it costs real money to do it right.
It raises Caine with the axle shafts to lift it more than a couple inches... probably more like more than an inch of lift is an issue. If you lift it more than two inches you really want to drop the front axle down. Not as far as you're lifting it but it shouldn't stay in the factory location. The transfer case and rear axle pinoin angle need to be mated again... Shocks need to be modified as well by either raising the mounts or putting longer shocks in place with the correct valving. etc etc etc.

It becomes an exercise in mitigating the extremes so stuff doesn't wear out as fast as it might otherwise but it'll never last as long as it will using the factory settings and the road feel is never the same lifted as it is using stock suspension.