adding buckstop bumper?

I will be adding a buckstop bumper that weighs ~240lbs to my 2003 silverado Z71. Can I compensate for this by adjusting the torsion bars or should I use a lift? Anyone with suggestions.

That is very popular down here with Ranch Hand and Tough Country Bumpers. People do crank up their torsion bars to make up for it. Be warned though, A) It will make your ride stiffer B) it is very hard on all suspension components in the front end. It may make your torsion bars wear out faster. and C) You need to have you alignment done afterwards.

I've heard many bad things about putting steel replacement bumpers on IFS trucks. I don't think they were engineered with that weight in mind.

Also you should know that the amount of adjusting you can do depends specifically on your truck and how much the torsion bars were pre-loaded at the factory. I have a friend who's bars we cranked as far as the stock bolts would go and it just barely leveled off(without a replacement bumper) My front end sits as high as his and mine is from the factory with room to turn up the bars.
I haven't decided if I'm going to turn mine up or not. From my experience with friend's trucks it hasn't seemed to make the ride too bad, but also both of them have 70+ thousand miles on their torsion bars.
Sorry for the long post, trying to get everything in there. PM if you want more. Also, this is just my experience tinkering with the bars and hearing things from other people who have adjusted theirs.
Jeb

the quadrasteer is something simple for these new trucks and should of been an option a long time ago. and every make should have this option. there is nothing extreme about it except for some more wires and a fiberglass bed. it has good capabilities with just driving but great advantages with trailering. since trucks are at points out selling cars im surprised the big truck companies dont ad these options to there bigger hd trucks. and hell id love to see a dually that could turn as sharp as a car.

Measure your ride height at the front wheelwell both sides before mounting bumper. Then mount bumper. Measure ride height at wheelwell. Adjust torsion bars a little at a time until you get the same ride height as before. This will not cause any excess or accelerated wear on your front suspension. Winches and larger bumpers are mounted on trucks all the time and GM takes this into account during the design process. If you still have the factory shocks this would be a good time to get Ranchos or Pro-comps all the way around.