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Torsion lift, switching to green keys

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
I’ve had this truck for about 10 years and I’m just now starting to do any real modding, next up on my to do list is torsion lift.

I have no interest in doing the truxx 2.5 Fr, 1.5 Rr lift as the rear sits higher now that I’ve removed the air suspension for coil springs and I don’t want it any higher. Essentially I just want to raise the front ~1.5 inches.

My goal is to get the truck close to level, but, critically without sacrificing ride quality, I’m happy to have the rear slightly higher (but closer to level) and keep my ride comfort; hence only going 1.5 inches instead of 2.5.

Now my question is, for those that have swapped to green keys, or the truxx kit, **how much lift is gained from simply swapping the keys and leaving the adjustment bolts untouched(or at the same factory height)**. This lift amount should be consistent with every truck. If just swapping keys can get me where I want to be without touching the adjustment bolts then I will make that move.

iirc my Bilstein 5100s are meant for 0”-2.5” so I shouldn’t need stock extenders.

So my main question here is how much lift do the green keys give the truck independent of the adjustment.
 

Zach

Mall Crawler
Messages
4,812
Location
So Cal
I’ve had this truck for about 10 years and I’m just now starting to do any real modding, next up on my to do list is torsion lift.

I have no interest in doing the truxx 2.5 Fr, 1.5 Rr lift as the rear sits higher now that I’ve removed the air suspension for coil springs and I don’t want it any higher. Essentially I just want to raise the front ~1.5 inches.

My goal is to get the truck close to level, but, critically without sacrificing ride quality, I’m happy to have the rear slightly higher (but closer to level) and keep my ride comfort; hence only going 1.5 inches instead of 2.5.

Now my question is, for those that have swapped to green keys, or the truxx kit, **how much lift is gained from simply swapping the keys and leaving the adjustment bolts untouched(or at the same factory height)**. This lift amount should be consistent with every truck. If just swapping keys can get me where I want to be without touching the adjustment bolts then I will make that move.

iirc my Bilstein 5100s are meant for 0”-2.5” so I shouldn’t need stock extenders.

So my main question here is how much lift do the green keys give the truck independent of the adjustment.

You should be good with just swapping to the green keys. Running the same Bilstein shocks as you, but with the cognito upper control arms. Plus extra weight in the front, winch, heavy UCP. With all that, the green keys brought me up about an inch. For the price of them compared to kits out there. It’s a no brainer
 

MilamJR

Well-Known Member
Messages
805
Location
Alabama
You should be good with just swapping to the green keys. Running the same Bilstein shocks as you, but with the cognito upper control arms. Plus extra weight in the front, winch, heavy UCP. With all that, the green keys brought me up about an inch. For the price of them compared to kits out there. It’s a no brainer

About to buy some new shocks for my H2 trying decide between Bilstein or Fox. What are your thoughts after running the Bilstein? Happy or regrets?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
Thanks Zach, that’s exactly what I wanted to know, the keys are cheap enough I’ll just buy a puller and put the green keys on.

Easy decision to just replace with the re indexed keys rather than trying to crank the stock keys.

I only have my receiver winch and factory double hoop grille guard on the front so mine may come up slightly higher.
 
Last edited:

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
Milam,

I know you asked Zach but I’m happy with the bilsteins, I’ve probably had them for 30-40k miles and they ride very well, hopefully I don’t lose that bringing the front end up.

I would buy them again.
 

MilamJR

Well-Known Member
Messages
805
Location
Alabama
Milam,

I know you asked Zach but I’m happy with the bilsteins, I’ve probably had them for 30-40k miles and they ride very well, hopefully I don’t lose that bringing the front end up.

I would buy them again.

I didn’t just want Zach’s feedback. I want as many data points as possible. Fox 2.0’s are about $240 more so trying to determine if I should spend the extra money. This is helpful.


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Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
My truck is fairly stock, I have the version 1.0 KO2s in 37x12.5x17 size for reference and I find the bilsteins do a better job smoothing out imperfections on-road and take abuse off-road better by not being nearly as harsh hitting ruts and diving in and out of holes, creeks, etc.

It’s very dependent on the driver but I find them a little floaty like an old school BOF car, which I love.

I don’t have experience with any other shocks outside of the factory original and these 5100 bilsteins. So I’m sure there are probably better shocks available but for the money I am very happy.

I will say I have heard that the 4600 bilstein shocks, which iirc are for towing are quite a bit harsher and not recommended for these trucks.
 
Last edited:

MilamJR

Well-Known Member
Messages
805
Location
Alabama
My truck is fairly stock, I have the version 1.0 KO2s in 37x12.5x17 size for reference and I find the bilsteins do a better job smoothing out imperfections on-road and take abuse off-road better by not being nearly as harsh hitting ruts and diving in and out of holes, creeks, etc.

It’s very dependent on the driver but I find them a little floaty like an old school BOF car, which I love.

I don’t have experience with any other shocks outside of the factory original and these 5100 bilsteins. So I’m sure there are better shocks available but for the money I am very happy.

I will say I have heard that the 4600 bilstein shocks, which iirc are for towing are quite a bit harsher and not recommended for these trucks.

Thanks. This is very helpful.


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Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
Alright looking around the green keys GM part number is 15592573, I’m going to order these and a removal tool. Need to check the front end to see if anything has play, no sense in getting an alignment only to find out a couple thousand miles later I need to replace something and get another alignment
Could be an excuse to get bigger tie rods...
 

MilamJR

Well-Known Member
Messages
805
Location
Alabama
Alright looking around the green keys GM part number is 15592573, I’m going to order these and a removal tool. Need to check the front end to see if anything has play, no sense in getting an alignment only to find out a couple thousand miles later I need to replace something and get another alignment
Could be an excuse to get bigger tie rods...

[emoji848]

I have the Dmax tie rods and after almost 2 years no complaints.


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Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
The dmax tie rods are the ones I believe I’m going to get, the Kryponite rods are a bit rich for my blood, though I definitely respect them.

I’ll never go any bigger than 37s or maybe smaller 38s so I believe the Dmax rods should suit my needs well.

We’ll see.

My truck still has the OE - 3 of the 4 (Inner, outer, left, right) tie rod half’s, at 169k miles, either I’m not off-roading hard enough or I’m really good at greasing them haha.
 

MilamJR

Well-Known Member
Messages
805
Location
Alabama
They are significantly thicker so you will be able to see why they are stronger than OEM.


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Zach

Mall Crawler
Messages
4,812
Location
So Cal
About to buy some new shocks for my H2 trying decide between Bilstein or Fox. What are your thoughts after running the Bilstein? Happy or regrets?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On my second set of Bilsteins. Way way happy with them. They allow for the extra little raise in the front end too. First set, the bushings at the ends fell out. Oh well.
 

Zach

Mall Crawler
Messages
4,812
Location
So Cal
Alright looking around the green keys GM part number is 15592573, I’m going to order these and a removal tool. Need to check the front end to see if anything has play, no sense in getting an alignment only to find out a couple thousand miles later I need to replace something and get another alignment
Could be an excuse to get bigger tie rods...

[emoji848]

Check the hub assemblies, they do tend to go out. On my sixth set, although I have beat them and 37’s do take a toll on them.
If you are going with Dmax tie rods, also run them. They are stout and happy with them. Also get the Cognito reinforcement kit for the idler and pitman arms.
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
Update:

Change of plans, after a pretty decent wreck, that hopefully won’t total the truck, I’ve went ahead and adjusted the torsion bars myself since I’m already paying insurance for an alignment so I may as well take advantage of the chance. Other than a sheared tierod everything under the front end feels very tight.

My understanding is that each full revolution of turn on the torsion bolt is equal to 0.2 inches of gain on the front end.
I have one of those wonky torsion bars that was almost fully cranked to make the truck stock height from the factory on my passenger side. So I was able to get 4 full revolutions out of the torsion bolts on the passenger side, since my truck has always sit higher on the driver side (even with full tank of fuel and myself) I only gave the driver side 3 full revolutions. (They’re marked of course).

The bump stops have apparently failed again, so that will be a cheap fix I’m going to go ahead and order.

I think I like how the truck sits now, it’s a very slight rake but I prefer that over extreme squatting when towing so I don’t plan on doing green keys for the additional 0.2 inches I originally planned. The trucks clearly taller when getting in, I was at the max upward travel of my legs on my 6’2” frame before and I can definitely feel that extra height getting in and out.
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
As I expected I filled the tank today and the driver side came down a bit.

It’s odd because if you look at the suspension geometry the driver side looks like it’s turned down steeper than the passenger side, all the angles look much steeper. It visually appears that the driver side - by looking at the suspension - that the driver side is cranked further and one would expect it to sit higher when a tape measure it put up to it.

However, the tape measure shows that the passenger side is sitting higher than the driver side, the numbers contradict the eyes. I’m inclined to go with the numbers despite what my eyes are telling me.

I’m going to take some more measurements but I expect that I will be cranking the driver side up half a crank. So 4 rotations on Pass and 3.5 on driver.
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
I’ve since taken more measurements that reconfirms my original suspicions, the driver side does in fact STILL sit 1/4 higher than the passenger side despite a nearly full fuel tank. So with that I will be leaving my torsion bars at 4 full cranks on the passenger side and 3 full rotations on the driver.

I accept the 0.25 difference because the driver side is typically heavier in normal use. What is important is that the truck is now sitting closer to level, I can still see a difference in the height on each side but it’s much less noticeable so I am happy.

As I said I still need to replace my bump stops especially now - I can now feel wallowing going through turns and can’t imagine how the truck would feel with the 2.5 inches of crank some people are doing.
 

twinmill28

Spilled Milk
Messages
1,545
Location
El Centro, Mehico (Way So Cal)
I’ve since taken more measurements that reconfirms my original suspicions, the driver side does in fact STILL sit 1/4 higher than the passenger side despite a nearly full fuel tank. So with that I will be leaving my torsion bars at 4 full cranks on the passenger side and 3 full rotations on the driver.

I accept the 0.25 difference because the driver side is typically heavier in normal use. What is important is that the truck is now sitting closer to level, I can still see a difference in the height on each side but it’s much less noticeable so I am happy.

As I said I still need to replace my bump stops especially now - I can now feel wallowing going through turns and can’t imagine how the truck would feel with the 2.5 inches of crank some people are doing.

Might as well replace sway bar bushings, should help with the wallowing as well
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
The sway bar bushings are not that old, probably 35,000 miles on them.
Trucks getting repaired from accident right now but I have my new suspension bumpers ready to get installed once I get my truck back.
 

USMC_315

Well-Known Member
Messages
590
Location
Northern VA
The sway bar bushings are not that old, probably 35,000 miles on them.
Trucks getting repaired from accident right now but I have my new suspension bumpers ready to get installed once I get my truck back.

How does the rig feel on the road after your repairs? Still floating on the road or is it feeling relatively tight again?
 

Iwillnc

Well-Known Member
Messages
236
Location
NC
Those suspension bumpers are wear items you just have to replace them periodically, also turned out that my wreck destroyed one side of the way bar bushings so those were replaced.

I have my passenger side cranked to Max and the driver side cranked about even to the passenger. My torsion bars are not even as they are stock. It still rides fine but with the stock torsion keys your not going to get the truck 100% level, I am very close to level and I’m happy where I am as a trailer brings the rear end down enough to be unlevel in reverse and I don’t want to accentuate that.

It’s very close to level though and the 37s don’t rub at all.

My biggest issue is that I’ve had a clunk for nearly a year now and I’ve replaced a lot of suspected parts that I could make clunk but have yet to find the actual source.
Starting to think the outfitter bushings in the front diff are allowing the diff to move a little under certain situations. I honestly cannot find anything else that’s loose or bad unless my front end is so far off alignment that it’s preloading and unloading.


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jay

Member
Messages
5
Location
texas
You should be good with just swapping to the green keys. Running the same Bilstein shocks as you, but with the cognito upper control arms. Plus extra weight in the front, winch, heavy UCP. With all that, the green keys brought me up about an inch. For the price of them compared to kits out there. It’s a no brainer
I see that you replaced the stock torsion key with the green key. I have an 08 and want to increase the ride height in the front. I’m running Bilstien 5100 all around with cognito UCA’s and 37x12.50Rx18. Can you share how you went about removing the stock keys.
 

alrock

El Diablo
Staff member
Messages
10,442
Location
Scottsdale
Put some lube (like penetrating oil) on the large bolt that runs through the key, then back it out with a socket on an impact or ratchet/breaker bar. The oil will help it turn more easily and reduce the heat from the friction as you back it out.
 
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