what are your thoughts on torsion key leveling kits for trucks? any alignment problems after installing them? i'm thinking of getting a set for my tahoe. your opinions will be very helpful

 

I put a set on a 2000 Chevy fullsize, and it worked well for fitting the tires he wanted on it.

 

i already have 33's on there right now, with no problems of rubbing. i just want a little lift to make it more agressive and more suspension travel.

 

Thats what I was gonna do....leveling kit (torsion keys) and some new wheels and tires.

 

You buy front end parts twice as much. Other then that its ok.

 

??

 

Well I'll go ahead and chime in here. I purchased my truck and shortly thereafter realize the only lift available was a 3" Body and a 3" Rancho which would've run me ~$1500. So since I felt that $500 per inch was a bit extreme I got a bodylift. I then put longer shackles in the rear (my truck is spring under axle) and turned my torsion bars 7 times (1/4" for each turn). My truck sits with a bit of a rake, about 4 1/2" - 4 3/4" higher than stock, rides fine and tires are wearing fine. Granted I should get an alignment, but I've been lazy and I never drive the damn thing. I believe I have some postive camber though.

Zack does know what he's talking about since he works at ETA, but I'm just giving you MY personal experience. I don't really know how extreme you can go with on Chevrolet. Durango/Dakota guys usually go 6-8 (8 being the max) with no problems.

 

Ritz is correct. It depends how much you crank them. Instead of the angles on your cv axles and tie rods being like this ---- or close to parallel, they become like \ that, hence the decreased service life of the front end parts. The more you crank the less life you get. Main problem points would be ball joints, cv axles and tie rod ends. In some cases the torsion bar will actually bow a little because its maxed out. Torsion keys are just cranking the torsion bars, without the harsh ride because you havent over adjusted the torsion bar due to the key having an offset keyway. An inch or maybe a little more depending on the vehicle would be fine, but i wouldnt go much more.

 

When I turned mine it actually leveled out my CV's