TROUBLE WITH 3 inch torsion key lift

Amhopper07 · June 17, 2012

I got a 03 sport trac 4x4 and put 3 inch keys in and bigger rear shackles and can't find a way to bring my a arms off my frame and it has my ball joints in a bind! I've spent too much money to lower it back down

mounty71 · June 17, 2012

What do you want us to say? The fact is, torsion bars shouldn't be cranked that much. And you didn't need to spend money on new keys at all, you could have just tightened the bolts with the stock keys all the way and lifted the front for free.

05dakotatrac · June 17, 2012

yeh 4X4 explorer, sport, sport trac, and mountaineers shouldn't be torsion twisted beyond 2" cause it can cause the issue you have with binding and/or destroy the half shafts

YoungMounty · June 17, 2012

Like both OPs above me, you shouldn't crank the torsion bars past 2" on any 4WD version of our trucks. I hate to say it but it looks like you wasted your money. Might as well drop it back down but crank the torsion bars up 2" with the torsion bar bolt and try and get your money back for the keys.

CDW6212R · June 17, 2012

Amhopper07 said:
I got a 03 sport trac 4x4 and put 3 inch keys in and bigger rear shackles and can't find a way to bring my a arms off my frame and it has my ball joints in a bind! I've spent too much money to lower it back down

Not all Explorers can obtain the same lift or drop with each torsion key. Often one side will go up or down much more than the other side. It may thus require a new key for one side to go the direction that you want to.

To replace the keys, support the truck frame on jack stands. Support the LCA with a floor jack, disconnect the upper ball joint pinch bolt, and lower the floor jack. With the UCA not connected to the spindle, the LCA should drop far enough to make the torsion bars loose. Remove the adjustment bolts of course.

The key is the angle of the front CV axles. Excess wear comes from those being too far from level(ride height). You can go up or down as much as you like, but know that the CV wear increases as it gets away from level.

Sedition · June 17, 2012

I lifed my truck 2" with a torsion twist. At the moment I have the engine out because I'm rebuilding it so at the moment the front end is way up in the air. Now with the engine out the distance between the center of the wheel to the bottom of the fender flair is 550mm. On my truck there is still plenty of clearence from my A arms to the frame although the half shafts are on a wicked angle.

Post a pic of what your concerned about and I'll see what I can come up with as far as a solution goes. Like I said before I got my engine out at the moment so I got plenty of space to have a look around. My dream is to one day have 38" tires on my truck with IFS so I'm more than happy to help you out.

OffTrac · June 17, 2012

I've spent too much money to lower it back down

You'll spend a lot more if you don't lower it and you'll be spending it every month until you do. Sorry, but you were sold something you don't need and used it incorrectly at that. I'd take all of the above advice.

What size tires are you running that requires that much torsion twist? Your ride must be awfully bumpy. Let us know your ultimate goal and we can help you figure out the best lift for your money and goals.

01STrunner · June 17, 2012

Just look around here especially at the 4x4 lift options thread. And don't be afraid to ask questions. Everyone on here is more than willing to help you do whatever you want.

mounty71 · June 17, 2012

CDW6212R said:
To replace the keys, support the truck frame on jack stands. Support the LCA with a floor jack, disconnect the upper ball joint pinch bolt, and lower the floor jack. With the UCA not connected to the spindle, the LCA should drop far enough to make the torsion bars loose. Remove the adjustment bolts of course.

I've never had to unbolt my UCA to get the key out. All I do is take the 13mm/ 1/2" bolt out, take off the cover, put a jack under the key positioned so that the horizontal part of the key is lifted off the torsion key stopper thing that the bolt pushes on, then remove that piece, and slowly lower everything.

Sedition said:
I lifed my truck 2" with a torsion twist. At the moment I have the engine out because I'm rebuilding it so at the moment the front end is way up in the air. Now with the engine out the distance between the center of the wheel to the bottom of the fender flair is 550mm. On my truck there is still plenty of clearence from my A arms to the frame although the half shafts are on a wicked angle.

Post a pic of what your concerned about and I'll see what I can come up with as far as a solution goes. Like I said before I got my engine out at the moment so I got plenty of space to have a look around. My dream is to one day have 38" tires on my truck with IFS so I'm more than happy to help you out.

Good luck with that, you'll be replacing bearings monthly.

CDW6212R · June 17, 2012

mounty71 said:
I've never had to unbolt my UCA to get the key out. All I do is take the 13mm/ 1/2" bolt out, take off the cover, put a jack under the key positioned so that the horizontal part of the key is lifted off the torsion key stopper thing that the bolt pushes on, then remove that piece, and slowly lower everything.
...

That's interesting. The key is under a lot of pressure, and the space in there is fairly tight. How easily did you get the jack foot in there to raise the end of the key?

corkey · June 17, 2012

bad story made short,
guy i met cranked his t bars too high on a Ranger , 1/2 way home on a 125 mile trip, his cv axles were so hot , the grease sprayed out all over the front end, and his truck caught fire , and burned to the ground , as he stood there watching ,

Turdle · June 17, 2012

Don, I use a small bottle jack with a waffle foot on top. It is about 1.5" diameter. I place it just outboard of the dimple as far as it will allow to get the greatest "leverage" on the key. Sometimes the frame will lift up off the jack stand before the key raises enough, in this case have someone big sit on the bumper while you jack up the key. Once the key is raised high enough the adjuster block will slide right out.

Caution!!!!! This is a very unsafe method. The jack could go into a sideways bind and flip out on you. If the jack slips out while your fingers are up there sliding out the adjuster block you might loose a pointer --gesture tool.

You are also changing the "loading" of the jack stands!!
!!! Use this method at your own risk!!!

CDW6212R · June 17, 2012

A bottle jack is very unstable, that's scary. I might do it in a pinch, but I'd avoid that.

mounty71 · June 17, 2012

It's super easy to do, takes just a couple of minutes to get each torsion bar out. But yes, be very careful doing it that way. I only use a traditional rolling style floor jack to do it.

Amhopper07 · June 18, 2012

I ended up lowering it down and putting factory keys back in it because the 3 INCH KEYS ARE ALMOST TWICE THE SIZE! So my a arms are back right and now have to replace axles and a tie rod end. She looked good riding high but I'm glad to not be spending so much money on a bad idea!

Amhopper07 · June 18, 2012

Oh and I used a ball joint press and put under the key and lifted it up an had somebody brace the torsion bar and hope like hell all that pressure didn't kill one one of us

OffTrac · June 18, 2012

You can still ride high but the 3 inch torsion twist just isn't the way to do it. I am in full support of all lifted Sport Tracs. :thumbsup:

01STrunner · June 19, 2012

OffTrac said:
You can still ride high but the 3 inch torsion twist just isn't the way to do it. I am in full support of all lifted Sport Tracs.

As are almost everyone on here!

got 1.75-2" on the TT. then do a body lift and you'll be extremely happy with the results

05dakotatrac · June 19, 2012

yeh i calculate it like this... stock height=31" wheels, with every inch of lift you can increase approxamately 2" in tire size. soooooooo..... do a torsion twist and add-a-leaf to proper heights of 2" and you can comfortably fit 32" do a body lift on top and 35" is a good chance

01STrunner · June 19, 2012

You can fit 33s with just a TT/Shackle (or add a leaf) lift

TROUBLE WITH 3 inch torsion key lift

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