Hey guys I need some advice.

I installed the new Heavy duty torsion bars that I got from Xterraparts and man does the truck ride rough. I knew that it would be a little stiffer and I am planning on adding an ARB bar and winch shortly but is there anything that I could have done differently to make it a little softer in the short term. I tightened the torsions bars so now I have a ground to frame height of 15" in the front and 15.5" in the back ( SLR 2" shackles). Will loosening the torsion adjustment down to 14.25 inches or so change the ride quality? Oh ya forgot to mention that I have stock shocks up front and RS9000s in the rear. Will new shocks up front help?

Thanks
Brendan

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[This message has been edited by cdnav8r (edited 05-13-2001).]

Holy cow!!! Yeah, you need to lower them a bit. Regardless of which bars you have, you shouldn't go more than an inch or so over stock height anyway. Not only does that make the ride rough, but you can't properly align the front end. I've driven an Xterra with the heavy bars with an inch of lift and Bilstein shocks and they were smooth as butter. If you want to go 15 inches you need to get a lift kit.



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ChuckH
2000 SE 4x4, Aztec Red

Chuck

His measurements are "ground to frame" !!!!!

Which means he only lifted his torsion bar about an inch.

G

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G - Xcalibur and Li'l P-nut too

'01 Khaki XE-V6 4x4 3-pk
SWXC member #35

Not from stock.

The measurement to the front crossmember between the lower a-arms (at the bolt) is about 9 inches.

With the SLR 3" kit and 32" BFG Mud Terrains, I'm only 15.5 inches from the frame to the ground for the length of the frame.


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Regards,
Ian

I can't remember where mine are at, but I went up about an inch and I'm not anywhere close to 15 inches. I think it is more like 10-1/2 inches or something like that with 31" tires. With the SLR shackles the front end should be significantly lower than the back (probably about 3 or 4 inches), even with a torsion bar adjustment, unless your truck is like mine and has sagging springs, in which case the rear will only be about 2 inches higher. If you have good rear springs your truck will actually look really funny even if you give the front over an inch of lift. Schlud has his set about an inch higher in front and with his good springs and shackles in the back his truck is very backend high. At 15 inches without a lift kit, your camber will be way, way off...not to mention the stress on the CV joints and such up front from having to hang down so far.

For comparison purposes, Ian's truck with the 3 inch lift is only marginally higher in the back than a truck equipped with the SLR shackles. So, if you raised the front so it was even with the back, then you essentially adjusted the front end up atleast 3 inches (taking into account that stock it rides front end low), which is about the same as the lift kit, but your A-Arms and other components aren't designed for it. I'd hate to be one of your CV joints right now without that lowered differential!

Update: I went out and measured. At the crossmember below the A-Arm pivot bolt, my truck is at 11 inches, which as about 1-1/4 inches higher than it was stock. It was 10-3/4 after adjusting the torsion bars up 3/4 inches, but hanging the KMA and tire out the back teetered it up another 1/2 inch. When measured at the flat part of the side fram rail just behind the front tire, I'm at 12 inches. Just forward of the rear spring hanger at the frame, I'm at about 15 inches, with sagging springs and 120 lbs of bumper out back.

If you tell us where exactly you're measuring, we can probably help better, but anyway you stack it, you're way too high, as there is nowhere at the front of the frame that could be that high off the ground without excessive lift.

Oh, and the real answer to your question is yes, the ride will improve when you lighten up the tension on the torsion bars.


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ChuckH
2000 SE 4x4, Aztec Red

[This message has been edited by ChuckH (edited 05-13-2001).]

Holy sh!t! With my 32" BFG MT's and a little tweaking to offset the SLR shackles, I'm at 12.75 inches! You have WAY too much torsion lift on there! You risk doing irrepairable damage to you front end components with that much torsion lift, and it is unlikely your warranty will hold up with that much lift. You need to add a real lift kit if you want it up that high.

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"got root?"
Join the Heartland Xterra Owners Club at www.hxoc.net

Ok, this is the only post I could find that got close to answering my question....

What is the highest the t-bars should be cranked? I have the Rancho AAL on my X. I realize that I will have a significant amount of droop without the UCA's (saving the green for 'em) but I'd like to at least try to crank the front up a bit more to not look too goofy toolin' around...

What is a good height to crank 'em to without loosing all down travel? I've been measuring from the middle of the plastic on the wheelwell. (I tweaked 'em a little already and I'm 34" from there to the ground..Where do I measure from to get the most acurate measurements when I'm crankin'? Can anyone post a pic to show where to measure the most accuratly from?

-D

I know this very well, actually - after doing some t-bar tweaks this past week to make up for new SaW sag... I'm at 15" frame to ground, measured right where the body mount is near the front of the front door there. I have about 1/2" clearance on the bumpstops, which is pushing it, but still in spec. All I can do until I swing for the Calmini UCAs. Rides really, really nice (with Bilsteins).

You must leave .50-.75" clearance between the bumpstops, at least with stock UCAs. I can't wait to get the new ones and go a hair higher...

Thanks for the reply BP...I'm right there...15" at the body mount and about .60" between the bumpstop and the stock UCA's...I don't want to push it...Hey, guess that' all we can do 'till we can get them UCA's!! Thanks again!

-D

I tweaked my torsion bars about 6 turns to level the frame a little, and I measured where the frame rail curves to ground at 14", rear frame rail to ground is about 14.5". I did notice something wierd though, the bump stop on the passenger and on the driver side are not exactly the same gap. Passenger side is slightly over 1/2 inch and the driver side is slightly under 1/2 inch. Both sides of the X frame rails measure the same amount within 1/16"

X seems to ride fine. Could this be due to a need for some new shocks/struts? Driver side more worn out than passenger side?

For whatever its worth, I have the exact same phenomena on my truck - the passenger side has more clearance to the bump stop even though the distance from the ground to the center of the bolt through the lower A-arm is exactly the same. I have relatively new Bilstein shocks so I don't think it is shock wear. I was wondering if there is slop on where the upper bumpstop sits relative to the angle of the upper A-arm, so the distance is different. I know that is no answer, but hey - at least you're not alone!