Hey guys, I have some newbie questions about t-bar cranking and adding shackles.

I've read over a bunch of stuff and both seem easy to do, but I still am wondering about a few things.

First off, why do you need an alignment from a t-bar crank, and also, what needs alignment?

Second, do you need any sort of adjustment after putting on 2" shackles in the rear?

Third, when installing the shackles, do you have to worry about torque?

And fourth, do shackles/t-bar (if done correctly) increase the chance of things wearing out faster?

Thanks. <3

 

There are several threads here addressing most of these already:

1) yes, you will need a wheel alignment because you are changing the geometry.
2) not that I am aware of.
3) Yes, but I don't know the value to torque them too off the top of my head. Also, avoid the cheap shackles, several here have discussed how weak they are.
and
4) Yes, you are changing the alignment of the front end components away from stock, they will wear out faster.

try searching around the forum, there is ALOT of advice posted about the different methods of lifting and their pros and cons.

 

Thanks for the reply, and I've done a bit of searching and figured out quite a bit of stuff, just had a few other questions I didn't feel like searching for.

 

Oh, one other thing. I was wondering if you can get 2" lift from the stock keys on the t-bar.

Someone in school said that I wouldn't be able to do that but I could've sworn someone on here said that I could.

 

It's best not to go over 1.5 with the t-bars. It exponentially increases wear on your parts.

 

So then is it bad to have a 2" lift in the rear and 1.5" lift in the front?

 

It'll end up just about even. You actually only get a little over an inch in lift with the 2" shackles. This is because you're only lifting one end up the leaf spring. To answer your earlier question about what changes with the torsion bar crank, it's the camber. Because of the short/long arm setup, your tires will lean in at the top when the control arms move downward.

 

Thanks for the reply. If I got the shackles put on a while before I did the t crank and got an alignment, would that be a problem?

Also, thanks for answering my question about what needs aligning.

 

It won't hurt anything. The truck will sit up higher in the back and your headlights will be shining too low, but other than that, it'll be ok.

 

Thanks mister!