im new to the idea of lifting a vehicle i am trying to do everything on a very cheap budget i am having custom shackles made for the back to raise the rear end 3 inches. I was playing around with the torsion keys and discovered that if i was to remove a small section out of the top of the cross member that holds the keys i would be able to gain about 3/4 of an inch extra travel. my plan is to weld a u shaped piece of 1/4 inch thick flat bar over the hole to add back the strength the hole had taken away. Will this idea work? any insight would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, Brad

 

I hope you have lots of money set aside for ball joints & CV shafts because you are going to need it. You can tweak the torsion bars so far with no modifications to blow through those items, why would you want to go even further?

 

my goal is to run 33s will tweaking the stock keys give me enough lift so tires wont rub? I already have a 3inch body lift and planing on custom shackles

 

Rather than cutting the crossmember to raise the stock key further, you'd be better off replacing with aftermarket keys that rotate the bar as much as the stock keys do while maintaining the stock position of the key itself. It would allow you to crank them the highest.

You will wear out CVs and balljoints like swartlkk said however there are some available with lifetime warranties (although operating outside of factory spec ride height may void the warranty). Also due to the design of the control arms, the higher you go, the harder it is to align the wheels/tires. If it can't be aligned properly, you could also wear out your tires quickly.

If you're willing to cut/trim the fender to help make room, you might fit 33's. I know of two or three members that have 33's on the tbar crank/body lift combo but I think it's a pretty tight fit.

 

ok 31's it is lol thanks for the insight guys!