Since winter is no longer a factor in Wisconsin (47 degrees right now?!?!) I draged myself out to crank my bars up today in preperation for some new rubber comming next week, site pretty darn close to level now. Got some brand new 285/70R17 BFG AT KO's going on next week, should change the look a bit more, but heres a few pics for now.

Ive done a few things such as, Line of Fire LED tailgate bar, Access Roll Top Tonneau, T-bars cranked, and 285/70/17 BFG All terrains next week. Hopefully my tax returns give me ennough cash to do a lift this summer, I've got some plans for that provide funds are availible!

Let me know what ya think, snaped a few quick pics after washing.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/snowbrdr360/silverado010.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/snowbrdr360/silverado008.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/snowbrdr360/silverado007.jpg

You might wanna get it realigned now, it looks like you cranked the piss out of them and the tires will wear badly on the outside edge.

Looks good though! :D

When getting it realigned is there any particular place to take it or will any alignment shop be able to do it and know what to do?

what the hell does ceanking your bars mean?

This web site was a Godsend for me.
http://www.offroad-tech.com/tech/tb401/

When getting it realigned is there any particular place to take it or will any alignment shop be able to do it and know what to do?

Most any alignment shop should be able to do it. But I would recommend picking a shop that routinely does a lot of truck and 4X4 work. There's some shit about an access hole and a knockout cover or something on late model GM trucks and some have it and some don't. I don't remember all the details. A couple shops were absolutely scared to death of my truck. :uhoh:

When getting it realigned is there any particular place to take it or will any alignment shop be able to do it and know what to do?

:swear: :swear: :swear: :swear: :swear: :swear:
Son of a cow, man. I had an alignment done at NTB on 12/18/2005. I drove from Atlanta to Houston on 12/26, and then back on 1/04. The truck pulled to the left the whole time. So, I took it back to them on 1/6, and they told me it was way out of spec and supposedly fixed it. On 1/07 I drove from Atlanta to Chattanooga, and it pulled to the right. I took it back in today, and it was way out of spec, again. Now, I was told, again that they fixed it, but I haven't driven much since I took it in. But, damn, you think they coulda got it right the first time.

You might wanna get it realigned now, it looks like you cranked the piss out of them and the tires will wear badly on the outside edge.

Looks good though! :D

Cranked em this morning, drove about 125 miles to see a friend, and got the allignment when I got home this afternoon! These tires are comming off for the BFG's anyhow. Nice ride BTW!

Cranked em this morning, drove about 125 miles to see a friend, and got the allignment when I got home this afternoon! These tires are comming off for the BFG's anyhow. Nice ride BTW!
wtf is cranking bars?

what the hell does ceanking your bars mean?

Turning up the torsion bars.

Turning up the torsion bars.

Which only applies to 4wd models

wtf is cranking bars?
increasing the tension on the torsion bars, which raises the front
end on 4*4 trucks (recent GM versions).

does my 04 Z71 have this? how do I find it
sorry for being so dumb

Hey man, looks awesome! I'm all for cranking those bastards. Makes one hell of a difference. How does it feel to drive what actually appears to be a 4x4 now?

Most any alignment shop should be able to do it. But I would recommend picking a shop that routinely does a lot of truck and 4X4 work. There's some shit about an access hole and a knockout cover or something on late model GM trucks and some have it and some don't. I don't remember all the details. A couple shops were absolutely scared to death of my truck. :uhoh:


wtf?? silvy's arent even that hard. I do alignments every day at work and its the older ones you gotta be worried about just because everything is rusted and seized up.

does my 04 Z71 have this? how do I find it
sorry for being so dumb

Under your truck towards the frame rails on both the passenger and drivers side, look for the long tube looking bar that runs from the front suspension assembly all the way back to the cross member that connects the passenger side frame rail to the driver side frame rail. This is your torsion bar and there is one on each side of the truck. Where the torsion bar meets the cross member, look under the cross member and you will see a bolt. These are what you crank to lift the front of your truck.

Before you do anything, you need to take measurements from the center of the hub on each side of the truck to the fender. Write these down. You will then need to jack up the front of the truck and support it with jackstands or a hydraulic jack. Once this is done, you can start cranking these bolts. If you don't jack up the front of your truck, you risk breaking the heads off these bolts which is, I'm sure, something you don't want to happen. Once you've cranked 'em 4 or 5 revolutions, lower the front of your truck and take new measurements. Keep doing this until you reach your new desired height. You then want to drive around a little and then go back and take new measurements and adjust as needed as the bars will probably settle a little and throw off your height a little.

I recommend not going more than 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 inch higher in the front, or you run the risk of causing bad suspension angles and breaking stuff. 1 3/4 inches of lift in the front will make your truck look completely level. Once you are happy with your front end height and all your adjustments are final, a front end alignment is a must as you will probably throw off your camber a little and your front tires will wear very quickly if you don't have this corrected.

There you go, quick and cheap lift.

cool, thanx, might just try that

Hey man, looks awesome! I'm all for cranking those bastards. Makes one hell of a difference. How does it feel to drive what actually appears to be a 4x4 now?

Rides great now, took a lot of the body roll out of it! I'm planing to lift it this summer, but this and the 285 BFG's will do for now. Right now I'm looking at a 10' Cognito lift, just need to get a bit more funding in line. Hopefully my tax returns take care of that :biggrin:

The only negative effect it has is it takes away from the downward travel of the suspension which will make the truck ride rough in large bumps and such. In wother words, the tires will only move up to absorb bumps, not down to compensate for potholes and such.

After cranking my bars, my front tires were toed in 1/2"! I went straight from the hoist to the alignment rack.

I'd post a pic, but haven't figured out how on this site yet. Some other forums have an attachment and brouse option that you click that will automatically insert any of your photos.

Rides great now, took a lot of the body roll out of it! I'm planing to lift it this summer, but this and the 285 BFG's will do for now. Right now I'm looking at a 10' Cognito lift, just need to get a bit more funding in line. Hopefully my tax returns take care of that :biggrin:

Yeah I noticed that, too... it firmed the suspension feel a bit but not to the point of being uncomfortable, I thought it actually made it feel a lot better. I hated that mushy ride I had before.

I hope you meant 10" lift and not 10' lift :smokin: Either way, a 10" lift is pretty massive. Those crew cabs look awesome jacked up like that. I wish I woulda saved a little more and went with the crew...

I like the looks, but I'm still skeptical of the effects on the ball joints and cv shafts. Maybe someday I'll get around to doing it. Looks good.

I had a 97 Ext. cab Sierra and a 98 Ext Cab Silverado both Z71 4x4's and cranked the bars on them. Not once have I had a problem resulting from it

I think you should let it down a little. It looks too high in the front to me..but thast just me.

I also think that the front looks a little high. You should only have problems with ball joints and cv axles if you get extream with cranking, or put the new key kits and crank them to much.

My 2500 needs this badly. My axle shafts actually go up from the diff and the front is much lower than the rear. I was concerned about handling if I crank it up but you say it took out body roll. Did it stiffen the ride too?

Which only applies to 4wd models

Or better said..... 4x4 frames... Turned mine down and got rid of body roll and now I don't "Slide" out of the seat and shock the shit out of myself! :loser: If you go down be caredul not to let hte body rest on the bump stops, they affect the spring rate and practicly bounce down the road.

Now the stock 17" rims will look better under the Sleeper. :evillol:

My 2500 needs this badly. My axle shafts actually go up from the diff and the front is much lower than the rear. I was concerned about handling if I crank it up but you say it took out body roll. Did it stiffen the ride too?

OGG, when I did my OBS '95 K2500, the ride stiffened up alot, to the point of being harsh. However, on my NBS 2500HD, I raised the front 2 1/2" and I feel no difference in the ride. Must be the different suspension geometry. Be sure to get the alignment redone. Changing the height affects mainly the toe in, but the caster and camber may run past of their parameters also.

That looks good. I haven't gotten around to cranking mine YET. I did my 02 Xcab, not quite as much as yours, and I never did get it aligned. I traded that truck in with 9/32 tread left on the Michelins that had 30000 miles on them.
According to the spec sheet the aligner printed out, if you got one, how far was it out?

That looks good. I haven't gotten around to cranking mine YET. I did my 02 Xcab, not quite as much as yours, and I never did get it aligned. I traded that truck in with 9/32 tread left on the Michelins that had 30000 miles on them.
According to the spec sheet the aligner printed out, if you got one, how far was it out?

Didn't get a print out, but thats likely becuase it was done free by a buddy of mine. I've got no complaints so far, Like I said, it took out some of the body roll, took some of the mush out of the ride, and almost leveled it out. The pics were taken on a goofy angel and it makes the front acutaly look higher than the back. When in reality, the front measures 37.25 and the rear measures 37.45

I've got an 05' Silverado Z71 & have been wanting to crank the bars, but was also told it would make for a pretty bad ride quality. Any truth to this?

In my opinion the ride is quite a bit better now that I have done it. Like I said before it does stiffin up the ride a bit, but I felt it was too mushy from the start. Takes a lot of the body roll out of the truck too!

I've got an 05' Silverado Z71 & have been wanting to crank the bars, but was also told it would make for a pretty bad ride quality. Any truth to this?

I agree with the above. Ride quality is BETTER. Not even close to the point of being harsh. I seriously couldn't even notice much of a difference after cranking. I say go for it... you'll be very happy.

I like the ride of my truck better also after cranking. It is more of a secure ride, not as much nose dive or body roll.