So I have a 1999 GMC Yukon that is the perfect (almost) vehicle for me. The few drawbacks it has (besides fuel economy) are it sits too low. I have in the plans to get a 4" lift and unlift it a bit. Most lifts prescribe some torsion bar cranking to get the total lift, and that is hell on the ball joints. But for right now, I just want to crank the torsion bars just enough to make the truck sit level, as it's a little nose down at the moment. How's it done?
Like I said, I just want to get it up for now, as I'm hopefully going to lift it this fall, prolly 3" max and no bigger tires then it has now. I want to buy a quality 4" lift with the diff drop subframe, ect. and bring it down until the ball joints are sitting like they should, then put shackles and blocks in the back,(or new springs) to level the ride. I know that a lot of people crank their bars, some a little, others alot, with mixed results. My older brother cranked his a ton, and wheeled the piss out of his Isuzu Rodeo and never had a problem. Other guys can't go 15,000 miles on the stock ones, but that's just their luck. I recently replaced the upper and lower joints on my Yukon, (at 120,000 miles) and don't plan on wheeling this very hard at all, as this is my mallcrawler. The 81 is my real 4x4. Sorry it's long. Thanks for your help.
UPDATE: if you look closely at the pics, you'll notice the angle of the lower control arms is different, and the gap between the tire and fender is now bigger too. The ride is not that much different, but the hood now takes up more of the view and it feels more "trucky" I like it. After wialing on the torsion bar bolts, I took it over to the next bay and re-did the alignment, so now it also steers better then it used to.
Like I said, I just want to get it up for now, as I'm hopefully going to lift it this fall, prolly 3" max and no bigger tires then it has now. I want to buy a quality 4" lift with the diff drop subframe, ect. and bring it down until the ball joints are sitting like they should, then put shackles and blocks in the back,(or new springs) to level the ride. I know that a lot of people crank their bars, some a little, others alot, with mixed results. My older brother cranked his a ton, and wheeled the piss out of his Isuzu Rodeo and never had a problem. Other guys can't go 15,000 miles on the stock ones, but that's just their luck. I recently replaced the upper and lower joints on my Yukon, (at 120,000 miles) and don't plan on wheeling this very hard at all, as this is my mallcrawler. The 81 is my real 4x4. Sorry it's long. Thanks for your help.
UPDATE: if you look closely at the pics, you'll notice the angle of the lower control arms is different, and the gap between the tire and fender is now bigger too. The ride is not that much different, but the hood now takes up more of the view and it feels more "trucky" I like it. After wialing on the torsion bar bolts, I took it over to the next bay and re-did the alignment, so now it also steers better then it used to.
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