If yours rides great, that is awesome. But it's not a risk I'm willing to take. As far as your factory warranty, if you have a good relationship with the dealer, they would probably cover the IFS with cranked torsion bars. However, service departments are notorious for screwing people over. I can imagine cranking the bars, having a problem, and the first thing the service guy will say is "it is a result of modification to the torsion bars."

As far as the "performance" shop, it is one of the best here in San Diego. They didn't try to sell me a suspension lift, the guy just said, "Its $200 including alignment, but I'll warn you, you'll probably need new shocks, the ride will be stiff, and it will not completely level it." Obviously, they have more experience with modifying 4x4's than me or anyone else on here. So I took his word for it. In the past, I've asked the same thing of other offroading shops, and they've told me the same thing. A few even said cranking the bars has no adverse affects - meaning they just want $200 to do the job. It goes both ways.

Again, I'm not knocking what you did. But the risk/benefit are too murky for me.

 

well I have decide that I am going with the 3" body lift and cranking the bars, if it seems off or to different I can always turn them back down. I really do not see and issue with doing this. My mechanic says no matter if you turn them or not at some point front end parts need replacing, of course as a result of normal driving.

 

Well. OK. LOL

I have only done about 30 lifts. So they probably have done more. LOL.

But it looks like they only warned about shocks and possible ride problems.

I also dont know if their version of a turn is the same as mine, most shops I have witnessed use an impact wrench to turn them, I used a breaker bar and did one revolution as one turn.

I dont think the service department can dispute the torsion bars, on the lot mine was in a row of identical outfitted 4x4s and they all sat different, I dont know how they could say they werea altered later when it doesnt look like they have any real standards set for factory loading. Mine with 5/4.75 turns doesnt sit level. It is still a little lower in the front.

I would advise against cranking to the point where you need to put an add-a-leaf in the back to level it back up, you can check the drive line angles too. Common since will tell you that you dont want the cv joint looking like this \ even though I have seen this on a toyota.

I will probably do the 3in body lift once I sell my camper, thinking about some 315-70-17 swampers, check the link below for some wicked pricing from interco....
I dont know how often they update it but here it is....

http://www.intercotire.com/site.php?pageID=55&newsID=7

Sandiego, check the link in my sig for a few of the trucks I lifted, most of them in the driveway of my house - pre garage days.

 

Of course front end parts will need replacing eventually. So will an engine, but it wears out quicker with a supercharger. Any modification, whether it's cranking the torsion bars, doing a suspension lift, etc will make things wear faster. My only point is that if my front end is going to wear out faster (with mods), I want a 6" lift and some 35's when it does!

"I dont think the service department can dispute the torsion bars, on the lot mine was in a row of identical outfitted 4x4s and they all sat different, I dont know how they could say they werea altered later when it doesnt look like they have any real standards set for factory loading. Mine with 5/4.75 turns doesnt sit level. It is still a little lower in the front."

- Phatboy, service departments are notorious for nitpicking on things. It just depends on the particular dealer, and what type of mod we are talking about. Were the 4x4's you saw new or used? From my experience, the only ride height difference in a NEW vehicle is between the 1500's and 2500's (and 4x4 vs 4x2). The half tons all sit with the front end lower. The 2500's are level. The other thing is the brand of truck. The Chevy Z71 sits lower than the Ford, which sits lower than the Dodge.

 

I turned my 2 turns and got just over an inch. Ride is fine, angles didn't change enough to make a difference.

 

I had to replace my shocks after turning mine because they bottomed out too much. No problems since then and the Bilsteins give me a better ride. No more bouncing in the rear end either when riding over bumps.

 

The ones on the lot were all new 1500 Hemi 4x4 QCs. 2005s. I was curious cause I have noticed differences on ones in town too, some you couldnt tell were 4x4s by the ride height. And then some looked like 4x4s because they sat higher. I dont know what they do at the factory, it looks like they align it at whatever height it comes off the line.

If I worked for DC I would engineer the 4x4s to sit closer to level with no torsion bar pre-loading. Well actually I would have left the live axel and told the people who wanted a 'car like ride' to get a car. Sorry, had to vent that. LOL.

2 turns for an inch of front end lift, I wish mine would have done that easy. Maybe mine was just ultra low in the front end.