What's Next?

So, as most of the regulars on XOC know, last year I cranked the T-bars, installed the 2" SLR shackles, and put on some serious rubber. Woohoo!

As anyone that's done some mods can surely attest, you'll always want one more... One more...

I've already noticed that the stock T-bars have sagged down a touch, and I have nothing but a Safari bar and some KCs up front. This is from normal on-road and some off-road driving. I'm thinking of replacing the stockers with the aftermarket Sway-A-Way bars and possibly the anchors (might as well while I'm in there, right?) to raise the front not only back to where it was, but even higher - to level the truck more.

As for the rear, there's no other option as far as I'm concerned - the shackles are for sh*t and they're coming off, to be replaced with AALs.

So, this much I know already. I have a few questions though, for folks that are more in the know:

- Re-indexing/installing aftermarket T-bars. It's not that bad, right? Pretty straightforward?
- Should I get new A-arms? I know it's more than likely a good idea, but I don't plan to crank the things through the roof, nor do I off-road that much... Of course it depends on the ball joint angles and all, but...
- AALs raise the rear 2" and that's that. I suppose I could get shorter shackles than my 2" ones (or leave 'em) if I want to go any further than that, right?
- Finally, I have Bilsteins all around with the rears 2" longer (I believe) for the shackles already. Do I need to replace any of 'em with these new mods? Don't think so, but...

I think that's about it. I basically want to add another inch, maybe two to the overall height and lessen the stock rake a touch, leaning more towards level, but not quite. Does this sound like a reasonable approach?

The trick is, after my last (first) alignment the dealer f*cked it up so that the steering wheel isn't truly level when going straight - so I've got to take it back for them to fix. Normally I wouldn't care, but they f*cked me over and I had to pay two hours worth of labor instead of having it done under warranty, and I'll be damned if it's anything less than perfect for that price... Anyway, the point being - I can do these new mods quick before I bring it back and not have to get yet another alignment when I'm done...

I only have a few answers.

Re-indexing the front torsion bars is much easier then I thought it would be, and replacing them would be easy too.
With the front wheels off the ground, all you have to do is take out three bolts where the torsion bar connects to the lower control arm, and slide the connector back about 3 inches.
Then that end is disconnected and you just slide the other end out of the anchor.

As for AAL's I have the Calmini ones (~$150, two leafs per spring) and they work great.
They corrected the sag I had developed plus added 1.5" of lift, and the ride is much smoother than before, not stiffer.

For the T-bars , I replaced mine during the lifting process, easy. I did nothing to the front mounts on the a-arms. All I did was release all weight and load from the t-bars and slid them back a tad(enough to get out of the a-arm mounts) through the cam,then push em back through the front of the cam crossmember.
As for the AAL's I have AC(Rancho) and have had no problems. I installed them via Mosis' instructions on PNWX. Without a doubt the multi leaf AAL's are probably better.