Ford and Chevy torsion bars
- Thread starter escadventure
- Start date
Here are the 54s.
Interesting.
http://www.swayaway.com/products/pr...ormance-series-set-of-2-bars-and-splined-keys
Interesting.
http://www.swayaway.com/products/pr...ormance-series-set-of-2-bars-and-splined-keys
justcuz
Explorer
From what I have gathered so far all GM torsion bars on GMT 400 and 800 vehicles are 54".
Sway a Way only makes a 54" bar for GM applications, but the splines at the key end allow you to set the preload.
Sway a Way bars and keys are expensive, over $1,000.00 for bars and keys.
Still have not been to the wrecking yard to measure short Ford torsion bars.
Sway a Way only makes a 54" bar for GM applications, but the splines at the key end allow you to set the preload.
Sway a Way bars and keys are expensive, over $1,000.00 for bars and keys.
Still have not been to the wrecking yard to measure short Ford torsion bars.
Root Moose
Expedition Leader
IIRC short bars are 46".
I was looking at those as well. I still am unsure how they work? There is very limited information on their site other than they are on some rigs. I also emailed the emails with no response. They do look interesting.
justcuz
Explorer
They are not a lift, all they do is allow the torsion bars to stay in the stock position if you install a lift kit in the front end.
It simply improves your break over angle since the torsion bars stay mounted up close to the chassis in the stock position.
The silver part is what they are advertising.
justcuz
Explorer
Yes this accompanies the dropped front kit, that lowers the control arms and differential, it just keeps the torsion bars up in the stock position so nothing behind the wheels is below the frame.
I will be doing the torsion bars or keys pretty soon, sorry for the delay but have had some family business come up the last couple weeks on a family members estate that I am the executor of.
I will be doing the torsion bars or keys pretty soon, sorry for the delay but have had some family business come up the last couple weeks on a family members estate that I am the executor of.
justcuz
Explorer
Went to the wrecking yard today, bought my Ford keys off of a 1st gen Expedition. Torsion bars are 54-55" long.
I may go back and get them tomorrow and see if they fit in my Suburban! My Suburban has the light XL bars.
First and second generation spindles on F150 4x4's and Expeditions are tall, like 20" tall. Ball joints mount the same as Chevy. First gen has a 3 bolt unit bearing and second generation has a big 4 bolt unit bearing with 6 lug bolt pattern. Both have nice 4 piston caliper brakes. The inner axle bearing is a CV not a tripot joint.
My mind is wondering how much work to get F150/Expedition spindles to work in a GMT400 or 800 GM torsion bar front end. Actually the second generation with the coil over may work in a 2007 and up GM also.
Maybe increase front travel from 8" to 12" or more?
It will definitely be a future research project.
If I could get 12" of front travel in a GMT 400 or 800 (torsion bar front end) with junkyard parts mix and match, I'd be as happy as a dog with a new bone!
I may go back and get them tomorrow and see if they fit in my Suburban! My Suburban has the light XL bars.
First and second generation spindles on F150 4x4's and Expeditions are tall, like 20" tall. Ball joints mount the same as Chevy. First gen has a 3 bolt unit bearing and second generation has a big 4 bolt unit bearing with 6 lug bolt pattern. Both have nice 4 piston caliper brakes. The inner axle bearing is a CV not a tripot joint.
My mind is wondering how much work to get F150/Expedition spindles to work in a GMT400 or 800 GM torsion bar front end. Actually the second generation with the coil over may work in a 2007 and up GM also.
Maybe increase front travel from 8" to 12" or more?
It will definitely be a future research project.
If I could get 12" of front travel in a GMT 400 or 800 (torsion bar front end) with junkyard parts mix and match, I'd be as happy as a dog with a new bone!
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justcuz
Explorer
Today with a little research along with the "Torsion Bar 401" thread on GMFullSize.com website, I found some thing to take the mystery out of torsion bar swapping.
Your original torsion bars are listed in the glovebox, My 2000 was 6XL and 7XL. This is good to know because most factory torsion bars loose their tags after a while on the road.
The torsion bar 401 thread has all the part numbers and torque ratings for the bars.
Today I found out that the torsion bars have the last 3 numbers of the part number stamped in the end of them.
No more mystery about GM torsion bars, you can look at the numbers, look at the chart and find the torque rating.
I had snagged some torsion bars from a GMT 400 pickup at the wrecking yard last year. I was going to use them in my 2000 Suburban since it has XL torsion bars in it.
I found out through my research that the bars I snagged are GG bars, the same as the ones in my 1993 light duty K2500 rated at 6707.
My 1993 Suburban has GH bars rated at 7161.
The difference in weight between just the engines alone (about 50lbs) satisfies me that I can run the GG bars in the 2000 and have some acceptable lift and possibly use the stock GM keys.
Armed with the Torsion Bar 401 info and the numbers in the glove box you can go to the wrecking yard or buy used torsion bars and not buy something that will not improve your ride height or weight capacity.
I hope this helps everyone, because personally I would rather install a heavier bar than crank the bars.
I also bought a set of Ford torsion bar keys yesterday for about 15 bucks from pick a part.
The passenger side came out easy, but I had to find a little jack to unload the drivers side a bit to get the threaded rocker out of the crossmember to remove the key.
Read my above post to see what I found out about Ford torsion bars.
Your original torsion bars are listed in the glovebox, My 2000 was 6XL and 7XL. This is good to know because most factory torsion bars loose their tags after a while on the road.
The torsion bar 401 thread has all the part numbers and torque ratings for the bars.
Today I found out that the torsion bars have the last 3 numbers of the part number stamped in the end of them.
No more mystery about GM torsion bars, you can look at the numbers, look at the chart and find the torque rating.
I had snagged some torsion bars from a GMT 400 pickup at the wrecking yard last year. I was going to use them in my 2000 Suburban since it has XL torsion bars in it.
I found out through my research that the bars I snagged are GG bars, the same as the ones in my 1993 light duty K2500 rated at 6707.
My 1993 Suburban has GH bars rated at 7161.
The difference in weight between just the engines alone (about 50lbs) satisfies me that I can run the GG bars in the 2000 and have some acceptable lift and possibly use the stock GM keys.
Armed with the Torsion Bar 401 info and the numbers in the glove box you can go to the wrecking yard or buy used torsion bars and not buy something that will not improve your ride height or weight capacity.
I hope this helps everyone, because personally I would rather install a heavier bar than crank the bars.
I also bought a set of Ford torsion bar keys yesterday for about 15 bucks from pick a part.
The passenger side came out easy, but I had to find a little jack to unload the drivers side a bit to get the threaded rocker out of the crossmember to remove the key.
Read my above post to see what I found out about Ford torsion bars.
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