Changin' T-Bars

partsguy84823 · Aug 25, 2009

Hey guys, My truck has Maxed out "F" T-bars, and I found a set of "1" bars that I want to put on it to try to gain some down-travel/ride quality back by not having to max them out!

How hard is it to change these things? Can it be done without the tool? If not, where can I buy it? Any help would be great!

PS I did search, and didn't come up with exactly what I was looking for, so if there is already a thread about this, just point me to it!

Thanks

-Chris

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 25, 2009

It CAN be done without that stupid tool.

Get the truck up in the air at full droop. Tires off. Get a jack under a lower control arm, put some pressure on it. Remove the torsion bar cover, loosen the torsion bar adjustment bolt almost all the way, then unbolt the top of the shock and unbolt the sway bar endlinks, pop off the tie rod end, unbolt the upper balljoint from the knuckle, hammer it out the knuckle, then lower the control arm. That will give you plenty of down travel in order to get the 'keeper block' out of its holes. the 'keeper block' is what the torsion adjustment bolt threads into. Once that's out, simply lower the key w/ bar, and slider the bar out of the LCA.

Install is reverse. You may or may not want to remove the CV shaft from the hub. On my truck and my friends truck, I didn't not have to do that toget enough droop. You may or may not want to unbolt the caliper as well....the soft line was almost tight when I did it on mine.

Should look something like this...

partsguy84823 · Aug 25, 2009

Is it worth it to do the upgrade? I would imagine it would be, like I said I have my drivers side bar maxxed out, so I would guess with stiffer bars I could run less preload on the bars, and therefore have more down travel, and a better riding truck... Am I on the right track?

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 25, 2009

It may not be worth it to do #1's on your reg cab 3.0. I kinda suggest B grade bars. But you never know....my xcab 4.0 rides AWESOME with #1's. Nice and firm, but not too firm.

With stiffer bars, they help keep the 'lift' you gained by cranking. Also allowing you to run less preload on the bars to be at the same height. Less crank needed = better down travel. Pretty much, you know how they work...you are correct.

partsguy84823 · Aug 25, 2009

Thanks for the advice. I found these "1" bars, so I think I'll just use them, hopefully they work. I do plan to build a winch bumper in the fairly near future, so... overkill for now, but we'll call it being prepared!

I read online that you can use a 2 jaw gear puller in place of the "special" tool. I wondered if that might work instead of disconecting everything? (Not that its a huge deal, just wondering what you think)

Thanks for all the help btw...

kennykenny · Aug 25, 2009

I did it once with a 2 jaw gear puller, and if I had thought it through enough to do what fx4wannabe said I would rather that way. It was SKETCHY with the gear puller, it actually popped off once or twice and was scary as hell.

partsguy84823 · Aug 25, 2009

Thats what I needed to know. One more question fx4wanabe, in that pic it looks like the tie rod end is still in the knuckle. Do you have to remove it? The post says yes, the pic says no...

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 25, 2009

I used a 2 Jaw to pull the first side apart....then the two jaw failed on me. It bent, and the threads stripped out on me, luckily i wasn't near it when it shot out. Plus, it was just so unsafe. I don't reccomend using a 2 jaw or just some old big c-clamp....use either the proper tool or do what I did.

I suggest unbolting the TRE, I just didn't because I didn't have any new cotter pins to replace the old ones. I also didn't have the proper size tools where I was to remove that nut. I did what I could with the tools I had on-hand.

Believe me......with that 2 jaw, it took me about 2 hours with just handtools. And boy oh boy i was whooped. You can get BOTH sides done from tire off to tire on in less than 2 hours. It's wicked fast my way. Plus, it's just unbolt, bolt back up. No risk of a tool failing on you and shooting towards your head and deeming you unconcious.

The problem with using a 2jaw: it want to twist as you tighten it...it wants to aim right at your face and the more angle it's in, the less actual 'unloading' it's doing. The OP understands how the torsion bars work, but i'll say it anyway....you must first push the key up high enough to remove the 'keeper block'. Once that's removed, the keys and bars can just drop right down and slide right out.

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 25, 2009

bump! edited my post a bit.

WNY964x4 · Aug 25, 2009

what is the part number for the #1 bars , i am doing a 4.0 swap and i have explorer leaves and belltech shackles in the rear , so i need enough lift to match the rear

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 26, 2009

WNY964x4 said:
what is the part number for the #1 bars , i am doing a 4.0 swap and i have explorer leaves and belltech shackles in the rear , so i need enough lift to match the rear

You are NEVER going to achieve what you want with just a bar swap. You need a suspension lift. Something like a 4" Superlift to level it out.

Shit...I have LESS lift than you'll have in the rear, and I'm STILL rear tall even with a Superlift and #1's....

Don't know part numbers..... Get the VIN# off a truck with factory #1's, bring that vin with you to the dealer, and they'll get 'em ordered up. Torison bar part numbers are based on VIN#'s...can't just walk up and say you want #1 Torsion bars for a '01 Ranger. They'll ask you for your VIN#. You give them your VIN#, they'll give you your existing bars, but brand new. Find a truck with factory #1's by looking on the sticker on your driver door under SPR. Should say either 11kk, 11cc, 1k, or 1c. Mine factory is BBKK...I'm now 11CC.

partsguy84823 · Aug 26, 2009

Ya, my setup is kinda goofy, I have F bars and whatever the heaviest rear end is... I believe C. So for me to get level requires a helluva crank on those F bars.

tanbuddy · Aug 26, 2009

sport tracks come with the heaviest bars

Fx4wannabe01 · Aug 26, 2009

partsguy84823 said:
Ya, my setup is kinda goofy, I have F bars and whatever the heaviest rear end is... I believe C. So for me to get level requires a helluva crank on those F bars.

Not uncommon for reg cabs to have F's. Kinda weird seeing xcab's with F's though, but they're 2wd. All xcab 4x4's got B's or 1's.

You've got C's in the back because you've got a factory tow package I assume.

PickupMan04 FX4 L2 · Aug 26, 2009

Nice thread...

Changin' T-Bars

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