I was all for lifting my truck with torsion key lift as well as a 2" body lift, BUT my buddy told me doing this would mess up my ball joints and make them go bad sooner; causing me to have to replace them more often. Is this true?

 

Yes cranking up the torsion bars will put more stress on the ball joints. But they are not going to be failing every year or something like that. It will be safe to lift it up. If they are original ball joints they are already old and probably will fail even if you don't lift it.

Try cranking up the stock bars and do a 2in body lift. Check to see if that is enough lift for you.

Here is a how to on it. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1979009-post2.html

 

My torsion bars have been cranked to the stops for 3 years, running 31's and a snow plow and the ball joints have no play. Pretty sure you'll be fine just keep them greased.

 

+1 to everything said. While it will put slight extra wear on the ball joints you are still within factory specs on the suspension overall. If the balljoints are old it is probably a good time to replace them. Don't cheap out on this job. Moog are expensive but worth it. Using them will result in it more than likely being the last time you have to do them.

 

ya i have the body lift and cranked keys... no problem

 

I recently did get all 4 ball joints replaced because they were all shot enough that I wouldn't have passed inspection. I need to know this because they are NOT cheap, and I do not want to spend that amount of money for the same exact part I just replaced a few months ago.

 

Torsion crank and a 2" body lift.
So, for the concerns you have, you can throw the 2" body lift out, since it has no effect on the suspension.
Leaves us with the torsion crank. And you've got almost nothing to worry about, stuff will wear out "faster," but it almost doesn't matter.

Now, if you're going to put blocks on the rear (or, already have blocks back there), and than attempt to level the truck using the STOCK torsion keys, than yes, I'd be concerned.

 

Are there just torsion keys in the front? And what would I do? Buy different torsion keys to put on if I would put blocks in? How much do they run?

 

As you can tell, I have no CLUE how the torsion keys even work or the torsion bar or anything like that. lol

 

If you would have read the post I provided you would know how they work. Also in the FAQ2 in this section there is a link for a kit with them. You can look up the price.