Im installing a keyway lift on my 03' 4x4 1500. Im trying to figgure out how exactly im going to get the torsion bar off without killing myself. Im thinking if i jack the truck up and put the chassis on jack stands ill be able to remove the front shocks and let the control arm hang low, thus unloading the tension out of the torsion bar....hopefully. Then i figgure i'd take out the adjusting screw, and hopefully that will unload all the tension out of the bar and i will be able to just slide it out of the keyway and go from there. Is this idea going to work?? I already have the new bilstein 5100 series shocks coming in the mail. I just want to do this without losing limbs because I know those torsion bars store a massive amount of strength.

 

Save yourself the time and trouble and tighten the torsion bolts a few turns. You will get the same results without losing any limbs.

 

like he said you can acheive the same results with a few turns on the adjustment screw. but if you insist on using the lift then get yourself a torsion bar removal tool. i know they had one for my chevy, i am sure they have the same for dodge. sometimes you can get away with doing it like you said but its not entirely safe. good luck!

 

sucks I gotta toss the idea of the new keyways...spent 90$ on them things. Oh well. It aint worth as much as my teeth or my arms lol. So I'll just tighten the screws and put in the new shocks. thanks guys

 

Don't listen to those other guys. I put my new keys a few weeks ago. Its a very simple install. Disconnect your front shocks, and put some jack stands under the front crossmember. Then get a ball joint style c-clamp. A normal size c-clamp won't help you here, especially on installing the keys. The way I did it, was turn the bolt in at least half way up, then use the clamp to apply the pressure, so you can remove the adjusting bolt. Once the bolt and nut (the piece that the bolt threads into) slowly release the c-clamp pressure, and the key and t-bar should just relax. At this point there is no danger of the t-bar hurting you. My t-bars came out easy.I just had to give them a slight wack of a mallet to free them, and they slid right out. Then reverse the direction for install. I'm sure you can handle it.
I personally bought mine off of ebay that included a 3" add-a-leaf for the rear. I bought some Bilstein 5150 (resevior shocks) for all 4 corners. The truck rides very well with the stock tires, but now I have much larger and more aggressive tires so thats a different story. Good luck with the install.

 

Yeah, what he said . We used to change the keys on an Avalanche to aFord key (don't remember which part number)and gain a couple extra inches in the front to level the trucks.

 

You get the same results using the keys or just turning the bolts.

 

I did mine a few months ago. Not that difficult really. All I had to do was disconnect theshocks. Easy DIY project.