Need torsion key help

I was doing a torsion key and shackle lift on my 97 blazer 4x4. The shackles were fine beside one bolt that did not want to come out. I went to do the torison key's. I took out the old. And slid the new ones in. Before i went to tighen them. I put all new Moog ball joints in. The ones that were on there were orginals so they were riveted ( That was real fun---- by they way the car has 130,000 on it w/ org ball joint)so i did that and put it all back to gether and when i went to put the tosion keys up i had nothing put problems.

When i took them out. i used a pully puller to take them out. I really did even need them to take them out there was almost no stress on them. When i put them in it was hard to crank the puller and the ends of the keys hardly went even in the cross member. so i knew i was in for a treat. while being realllllllllly safe when cranking them i got them up key up to where the you put that metal thing though. When i went to put it in using 2 foot plillers SNAP. The puller i bought snaped, the wrech that was on it flew up and got me right in the eye. it hit more of my eye socket and nose but man did that feel good. Not good enough for stiches but it will be sore tomorro. I was reaaaaalllllllllll lucky that could have been real worse. as for the wrech. well i have a real short temper and i think that wrench is in space right now on the count of how hard i threw it.

Once i cooled off and got my sight back i went to see what happen. The center part of the puller that spins as u tighen was cutting in to the key. As the key leveled out the center part ate though its little dent on the key and slid off.

So my question is i dont think a puller till stay on that now once it gets level it will slip again. any one know what i can do to get it in or if a shop will do it for me even though its a lil messed up. Also there was a HELL of alot of tension on that thing way more then the stock. I just want to be able to level of the front w/ a 1.5" shackle in the rear. I was told to get torsion keys to do it. but somthing just did fell right on how tight they were. suggestions/comments are welcomed thanks.

did you jack up the front to take the tension off the bars

yup. I had the front off the ground and tires off. I was doing the ball joints.

Recently replaced the ball joints, control arm bushings, sway bar bushings on my '97 AWD. Although I used the special torsion bar tool for removal, it wasn't until reassembly that I figured out how to relieve all the tension - with the frame of the vehicle safely on stands, remove the sway bar end links AND the top front shock bolts - this should allow the lower control arm to fully drop and relieve enough tension that the torsion bar key, retainer, and bolt can be reset without any special tools. In some cases, the steering knuckle may need to be seperated from the lower control arm as the upper control arm may limit the travel.

My problem is not the stock one. its the new one. The new one as a differnt index to it. W/ the stock on and the front off the ground and the tension off so the torsion bar can slide out, the bottom of the key, where the bolt that pushes it up for adjusment it already flush with the bottom of the crossmeber. It just needs to get pushed up about 2" so i can slide that plate in. The new one when in the same sencario the top of the key is about a 1/2" from the bottom of the crossmeber. So it has to travle about 3-4" to get seated correctly. even if i would lower everything i think it would still be a pain to get the new ones in. And if i do get them in im worried that theres gonna be to much stress on the torsion bars and ill have a reallllly rough front end. Im not sure I would hate to not use them i paid for them id to put them in. when i was trying to put them in i did pop the top ball joint to let the bottom controll arm drop lower and that still didnt help.

With the lower control arm "free" and at its maximum drop angle, I was able to replace the retainer, and bolt with my fingers. In fact, I could rotate the key so easily, I thought bar was not properly aligned in the control arm!

Again, on reassembly, the lower control arm was hanging free and the lower control arm bolts were not torqued to their final setting - I was able to "bottom out" the stock key with only my fingers. On disassembly, the sway bar end links were still connected on both sides and the lower control arm bolts were still torqued in place and torsion retainer removal REQUIRED the use of the torsion tool.

Have you tried loosening the lower control arm bolts to allow the control arm to drop even further?

no i only had the upper ball joints off when i tried i didnt know how much more the bottom arm could go down. so i sould try to take off everything off the bottom arm to get it to bottom out all the way preety much. as far as the tool my only free day in a while where i can devote the day to it is 2-morro. So i may try to find a bigger c-clamp and try that. I just dont want that to slip again. and i want to get it done

Definately free the lower control arm from the shocks, sway bar, and steering knuckle. With the lower control arm bolts loosened, the arm should rotate enough to almost touch the ground!

Edit: Disconnect both sway bar end links to rotate the sway bar down and out of the way. It will probably be easier to disconnect the upper ball joint only, leaving the steering knuckle with tie rod connected to the lower control arm. Use a jack to relieve pressure on the shock and remove the upper shock mount bolt. Now the lower control arm should pivot down enough to reassemble the torsion bar, key, and retainer by hand - if not, loosen the rear lower control arm bolt and remove the sway bar completely to access and loosen the front lower control arm bolt - now it should rotate down enough for easy reassembly.

You will need to jack the lower control arm back into position to reattach the ball joint and shock. After reassembling and torqueing all bolts (except sway bar), you can adjust the torsion bar while front end is still in the air. Then drop the truck to the ground and reattach the sway bar and end links. Finally, get an alignment performed.

i called a freind whos done them as well. he said the easiest thing to do. is to the T what u said brian. So i will give it one last shot 2-morro morning and hopefully i should be alive and the my blazer sitting right. He said everything u said just get everting off the bottom arm and it will almost hang up and down and will give u all the room u need to do the torsion keys. nothing to it but to do it. Thanks alot brian u were a huge help. Ill let u guys know how it turns out 2-morro thanks again

Eslhockey92g, glad I could be of help :p ! Note, if you still have the OEM sway bar end links, you'll most likely need to cut those out (grinder works quickest) and replace with MOOG thermoplastic bushing kit ~$10.00.

Droped the arm. and the keys slid right in :grinyes: put them both in droped the car and :banghead: the suspension didnt budge. The upper arms are sitting on the bump stops when the weight of the car is on them. So i have 0 suspension travel. I have no choice but to take them off :disappoin So i have the keys and it would look funny to have the back end lifted w/o the front so the shackles are worthless at this point............... any one have any idea on what my options are. Can i get new aftermarket upper contoll arms. it seems most of the 2" kits have new upper arms and the keys. Im half way there. Would it be as simple as finding a set of just the arms???? If so where do you think i could get them for cheap. or is there another way????

sorry to hear the keys did not work out for you - unfortunately I have no experience with lift kits for the Blazer so I cannot comment on the problem with the upper control arm. i did find this link http://www.offroad-tech.com/tech/tb401/ that my give you some ideas.

Ive been looking for just a set of new upper control arms that will allow me to lift my blazer correctly, but i can find them any where. I "ass-u-me" that replacing the upper controls arms will let the suspension hang down more. the way it does in the 2" suspension kits. does any one know where i can get just the arms or what would work in the blazers frame? or if the arms are not what i need

Eslhockey92g,

Here is a link that OverBoardProject posted in another thread
http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/GM_S10_4wd.htm

The 2nd Paragraph on that page sounds exactly like what you are experiencing with the keys only. Perhaps you can contact them about purchasing the upper control arms only??

Just curious how this turned out. I am putting my Superlift on this labor day weekend and I am dmn glad I have this forum to learn from.

Since I am replacing all of the ball joints I am going to take off the steering knuckle and do what you said Brain to get all the stress off the T-Bars. Hopefully all will work out ok and I can jack the lower control arms up and get them rigged. Installing the new T-Keys is what has me most paranoid, but from how you described taking all the tension off, should hopefully be ok.

I have new upper control arms so the issue with 0 suspension travel should not effect me.

Thanks again all for the valuable info.

Just curious how this turned out. I am putting my Superlift on this labor day weekend and I am dmn glad I have this forum to learn from.

Since I am replacing all of the ball joints I am going to take off the steering knuckle and do what you said Brain to get all the stress off the T-Bars. Hopefully all will work out ok and I can jack the lower control arms up and get them rigged. Installing the new T-Keys is what has me most paranoid, but from how you described taking all the tension off, should hopefully be ok.

I have new upper control arms so the issue with 0 suspension travel should not effect me.

Thanks again all for the valuable info.


I took of the keys, the car looked perfect but it wasnt safe. i called superlift, i think it was about 350 for just the UCA. At the time i didnt have the money so i just left it alone............... for now. Once this year of school its done im gonna try to get my hands on a new set of UCA during the summer. Yea deff drop that LCA, u can take the stock key out w/o a compressor. U may need it to get the new reindexed ones in. Buts its cake. compared to w/ having the LCA still connected to the UCA

I bought the complete Superlift 2" so it came with everything I need, including the new indexed T-Keys and Upper Control Arms. The complete kit cost me $525 and that includes shipping. Bought it at Rocky Mountain Suspension. So far they ahve been extremely good to deal with.

My only beef is that the kit did not come with new shocks. After talking with their techincal department they reassured me that the ZR2 Rancho Shocks I have on now will be more than adequte. Of course I'll know when the shock bottoms out...lol. They told me if that was the case they would cut me a deal on new shocks.

I am hoping to take pics as I go and maybe put together a little pic tutorial for future use by others...return the favor if you will.

I hear ya about school and money. I'm out of school, but I remember the days, "Do I want to eat and live, or add that really cool component to my mustang!!!???"

Thanks for the hlep.