I have a 94 4x4 dakota and I'm looking to properly lift my truck. Indexed torsion keys would be fine if the didn't put so much stress on my steering components. Lifting the rear is easy with extra leafs flipping shackle and all that fun stuff but I'm looking for the front end. I know there is a solid axel and then lift but I don't know a whole lot on swapping axels. Is there other ways to lift the truck with out making my steering components all stressed out? Is there steering components that you can replace after the torsion keys? Any help is appreciated

 

How much of a lift are you looking for? And inch by cranking up your torsion bars shouldn't be an issue. It is more your cv joints to worry about.

Otherwise you are looking at doing a body lift.

 

I guess I should of specified that. I want to put my 31 inch tires back on with out having to worry of then rubbing my frame. Plus I'm tired of getting high centred so I guess 2-3 but if one inch will clear my tires I could deal with that. Tools isn't a problem for me it's a little of the capital and mainly time she is my Daily driver.

 

if you don't want the tires to rub on the frame with the wheel at full lock, you need to look at a different wheel offset, wheel spacers, and tire width. If you have one tire on top of an obstacle and have to turn the wheel hard, you will still rub 75% of the time with the extra lift. With 31x10.5s and a set of 1/2" wheel spacers, I doubt you will ever rub. Use bump stops to limit up travel and it could also help a little bit with high centering due to that corner of the truck not being able to go as low as it used to. crank your stock keys as high as they can go and you will get an inch or two and won't have to worry about cv angles. Without big tires or some serious lift, high centering will always be a problem with any long wheelbase vehicle.

 

When you crank your torsion bars does that throw of camber or caster I can't remember what one. I know when you crank them you can't ever get it to where its suppose to be with a wheel alinement. How much of an offset should I get? I tried looking for rims a while back but I didn't have much luck on actually finding what I need. I also want to lift my truck just for the sakes of lifting it aha. Is there any suspension lifts that work for these trucks with a little modifications?

 

It's camber. If you don't go crazy, you can get it within specs after cranking the t-bars. But it's going to change a lot more than it used to as you hit bumps, etc., which may cause a bit more tire wear. Also, toe-in seems to be a little harder to keep in spec with the bars cranked. Just my experience.

 

Is the torsion bars worth it?

 

Sure. As long as you don't go more than about 2", it's fine. When you try to crank them up like 3", that's when you start to have problems.

 

Should I get indexed keys or just turn my bars? Basically the only lifts for these trucks are torsion bars or a solid axel swap?

 

Body lifts are pretty popular, too. A body lift will give you a true 3" of lift without affecting your ride or shortening the life of your front end components.

Try cranking your stock bars first. If you can get 2" out of them, there's no need to buy aftermarket ones.