Here is another cheep way to get some lift out of your 4x4. I found this on another forum and will be putting this in the FAQ2.

The Idea is to Cut some strips of 1/8 or 1/4" steel plate and layered them across the top rounded part of the Torsion bar key (anchor) and tack weld them on (2 or 3 strips per side). Add around 3/4" to the key and you should have plenty of lift up to 2in. There should be a wedge shape when placing the strips. The wedge end towards adjusting bolt. When you make the initial welds to the key (which is cast steel), it may be a good idea to slightly preheat the key, then make your tack welds quickly, then bury the key in sand or some type of insulation (non-flammable please!). This will assure that everything cools slowly and evenly and your welds do not crack out. From there on out just tack weld the 1/8 or 1/4" thick strips together like you would normally do. It's as easy as that!

The key to what is lifting the truck is the additional rotation that you can put into the key, by forcing it to turn more with the welded spacers, and therefore turn the torsion bar, to get more lift. A good idea is to use junkyard keys. Just incase it didn't work or the welds break for some reason (They have been holding up for several people who have since modified it.)

This forum and I are not responsible for any personal or property damage occurring due to the use of this information. This is meant for informational purposes as to what I have seen done. If you are not comfortable with your welding abilities, please have a professional do the welding! Or simply DONT DO IT! Do not hurt yourself and others because of a simple foolish decision!





Parts: One pice of 1/4" steel purchased from home depot ($15).
Cut into 6 pieces, 2 pieces each (for both sides) at the following leingth : 4", 2", 1"







Drill 1 hole in the 2" pieces and two holes in the 1" pieces. This allows the shorter pieces to bend around your key easier and these holes will be filled when the pices are welded together.






Place key in vice, weld one end of the first pice of steel to the key. beat the steel down so it bends along the key. Then weld the sides up.






Once a key is done, it will look something like this (first pic). You will want to step the welds so each steel piece has a little ramp welded up to the next piece of steel. Once ground smooth, this will give you a nice smooth ramp up allowing your keys to smoothly adjust up.

Yea it looks rough.. Dont worry. You will need to grind the edges of the added steel flush with the orginal key width (2nd pic)








This is what it looks like. Time to do this took just over 1 hour.
I had the truck re-aligned after the modded keys were re-installed.
Sorry for this pic being so blurry.



As a side note. Insted of welding spacers on some have just placed a thick pipe on top. A few other have put the spacers on the frame side.

This one done by our member Blue12. See post on page 3.

 

nice!
the only question is will my 115 volt welder hold the plate if i tack it or do i need a 220 volt to hold it. my 115 is at the probably above the limit with 1/4 steel.
thanks crazy.

 

No Problem.
I Dont think 115 would be sufficient, but if your welds are properly done it may be. I would say its better not to risk it. Even with a 220 volt in the wrong hands can be worse than 115, so its best to have a professional welder do it, with the best equipment. Or go ahead and tack it together with the 115 then take it to a shop. I would also suggest to do more than tack weld each plate, The more you do the stronger. You dont want a plate to come lose on you when your driving down the freeway.

 

Since it's on top and just resting against more metal I don't think it will wreck..

 

The thing to keep in mind here is the overall quality of the weld. There are plenty of factors that come into play when making a good weld, penetration, shielding, prep ect. Given that a 115v welder is probably at its limit with a 1/4 in. steel, there are many factors that can prevent the weld from being its strongest it wouldn't be advised unless you are an experienced welder. Can it be done? Yes, definitely, if done correctly this could end up no different than doing it with a 220 volt.

While looking for an article i found a while back about how some of the Lincoln 110v migs somehow had a larger capacity with flux core wire(which was a little confusing to me) I came across a pretty in depth discussion about this very issue.

http://www.yotatech.com/f88/welding-...welder-128582/

hate to link to other forums in a forum but I found it very informative.

 

i can fix just about anything, but welding is a problem for me, i don't know why but i suck at it. the 115 would probably work in the right hands, but it is at it's upper limits.

 

I know that feeling. Sometimes I get to play around in a full machine shop. I could pick up a TIG and go at as if I was paid to be a welder or something. The mills and lathes are another issue all together... I can free hand it on both a manual mill and lathe, but I don't know crap about cnc. Not to mention my caliper reading skills aren't where they should be...

</>hijack

 

For me Im not to bad at welding. I just dont have the proper equipment to keep praticing at it. All I have is a 115 120 amps mig. I love stick tho. And I havnt tried my hand yet at TIG, yet. I have done a few welding classes so I got the tecnique down. As for machinning That I can do in my sleep. JK there is nothing like turning those handles on manual machines. But the CNC is where I shine. A few min on mastercam x and I can turn out anything. Just work dont let you do personal projects on their machines. If I had my chance I would just cut new reindexed keys it would only take like 1hr for programing and cutting. But oh well I already bought some.

 

oxyfuel for life bitches! lol j/k my buddy made type that... dang thats a sweet idea but I think i still rather go with the forged keys. but still cheap lift to do as long as the weld is good. TIG is awesome recommend you try crazy prestine clean welds and fairly simple to operate. Only thing that sux about tig is setup and the expense.

 

Ill will learn TIG one day!

I Posted some more pics and a "How To"