# Timbrens VS cranking TB's?



## wicked85 (Nov 15, 2009)

I want your guys opinions. Is it better to buy the Timbrens or crank the torsion bars? The truck sags a bit with the plow on it. 92 Chevy 1500 4x4, with 235,000 miles. The truck is not a daily driver, but does get its share of miles in a week. If I do crank the bars, how many turns on the bolts is safe? New to this and dont want to make any mistakes or be dangerous on the road. Thanks again guys


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## gearhead (Nov 30, 2004)

I did both


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

gearhead;907367 said:


> I did both


Absolutely... Do both.


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## bersh (Dec 12, 2003)

wicked85;907155 said:


> I want your guys opinions. Is it better to buy the Timbrens or crank the torsion bars? The truck sags a bit with the plow on it. 92 Chevy 1500 4x4, with 235,000 miles. The truck is not a daily driver, but does get its share of miles in a week. If I do crank the bars, how many turns on the bolts is safe? New to this and dont want to make any mistakes or be dangerous on the road. Thanks again guys


When I had my 94 I cranked the bars two turns and installed timbrens. You could get by with the timbrens alone, but a couple turns on the bars isn't going to drastically alter the geometry or change the ride too much so it's worth doing.


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## RichG53 (Sep 16, 2008)

I did 2 turns ...Just a couple is enough to stiffen up the front end...Which is kinda what you want to do..
Check the air pressure in the tires ,if you have load range E you can do up to 80psi..
The fuller tires help also..(less side wall bulge)..

Add some weight to the back helps too...


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## SkiJohnnyB (Jul 25, 2009)

Timbrens only, no change in T-Bars here.

Front end of my 1/2 Ton Tahoe drops about 1-1/4" with the 7.5ft pro-plow lifted.


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## rayzor32 (Dec 11, 2009)

Don't go nuts with the torsion bars, 2 turns would be plenty, if you change the torsion bars you will change the alignment.. Whenever the plow is on the alignment changes anyway so make sure you be exact with the turns and set them back in the spring. I set my torsion bars how I wanted them with the plow off and I aligned it and now I dont touch anything or use timbrens, it sags a little when the plow is up but its not bad, when you drive with the plow on you will affect alignment angles anyway so just rotate the tires in the spring. If you pump up E range tires to 80psi on a half ton youll be bouncing off the road, I set mine at 65.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

"2 turns"? 2 turns wouldn't even be worth getting under the truck. Our 00 1 ton has a 8ft Fisher with wings and a metal snow deflector, I had Jerre turn them up at least 10 turns. The truck doesn't squat an inch. Now the ride is a bit rough without the plow on but with the plow on it runs and drives just fine. 10 turns might be a bit too much, the front end is higher than the rear. I did our shop truck 2 years ago, it was a 01 Chevy 3/4 ton extended cab with a 8ft Boss straight blade and I ended up turning the tor. bars 6 turns each. That got the truck nice and level with the plow on and it didn't seem to change the alignment. As soon as the weather breaks I'm going to back them down a few turns.


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## wicked85 (Nov 15, 2009)

The truck squats about 1 1/2 inches with the plow raised and no ballast in the bed. I think I will go with the 2 turns and timbrens and see how it looks, I do have load range E tires at 65 lbs now. What would be a good weight to start with in the bed, say 500 lbs? Thanks for all the input guys


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## SkiJohnnyB (Jul 25, 2009)

I gotta question the whole "turns" thing. When adjusting the torsion bars, I measured from the base of where the bolt goes into the frame bracket up to the head of the bolt. Turning the bolt in 1/4" got me roughly a 1" lift on the front of the truck (measured at the center of the wheelwell)....it probably goes up in proportion from there. 

Seeing how the timbrens fit, I decided to back the torsion bars down to the original setting and let the timbrens do the work.


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## rayzor32 (Dec 11, 2009)

Brian Young;908126 said:


> "2 turns"? 2 turns wouldn't even be worth getting under the truck. Our 00 1 ton has a 8ft Fisher with wings and a metal snow deflector, I had Jerre turn them up at least 10 turns. The truck doesn't squat an inch. Now the ride is a bit rough without the plow on but with the plow on it runs and drives just fine. 10 turns might be a bit too much, the front end is higher than the rear. I did our shop truck 2 years ago, it was a 01 Chevy 3/4 ton extended cab with a 8ft Boss straight blade and I ended up turning the tor. bars 6 turns each. That got the truck nice and level with the plow on and it didn't seem to change the alignment. As soon as the weather breaks I'm going to back them down a few turns.


Whenever you change ride height you change alignment angles.


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

I turned my Tbars 3 turns the first year I had it, did another 7 to get the unladen ride height as close to level as I could wihtout buying a lift kit. Had it aligned and its good now. The front end does squat down about an inch, inch and a half (measured at the top of the front tire to the fender lip) when I put the plow on, but when I watch the front bumper go down it seems like an awful lot more than that. Someday I'll spend the money on Timbrens or those Sumo helpers.

10 turns on my truck left about 1-1 1/2 full turns worth of thread left on the shortest bolt, so I reasoned that I wasn;t maxing out any travel or adjustment. IIRC 1 full turn is good for 1/4 inch of ride height at the axle.


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## JustinD (Jan 14, 2008)

Guys like Ready lift, and others who sell lift kits sell a "leveling kit" which usually comes with different keys to raise the front of the truck, I have GM green keys in my 2500HD it levels the truck even without the plow on, so when you do hook up to your plow it would probably go to where it normally sits now. Most of the GM trucks have a slight rake to them anyhow, with those type of keys you would be level with no plow and slightly raked with. It helped my truck alot, I used to bottom out the blade going into some lots, not anymore.


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## bersh (Dec 12, 2003)

JustinD;911273 said:


> Guys like Ready lift, and others who sell lift kits sell a "leveling kit" which usually comes with different keys to raise the front of the truck, I have GM green keys in my 2500HD it levels the truck even without the plow on, so when you do hook up to your plow it would probably go to where it normally sits now. Most of the GM trucks have a slight rake to them anyhow, with those type of keys you would be level with no plow and slightly raked with. It helped my truck alot, I used to bottom out the blade going into some lots, not anymore.


Even though they work, _most_ of the leveling kits are a waste of money. The only difference between the "green keys" and stock is that they are indexed slightly different, so they preload the t-bars a bit more than stock. They do allow for you to crank them a bit more, but really just by cranking the stock keys you're doing the same thing. Anyone cranking their bars more than 5 or 6 turns are going to be topping your shocks out more so in addition to needing an alignment, new shocks are in the future as well. Some of the leveling kits come with shock extenders, and for those that crank their bars this is a good thing as it will prevent the shocks from topping out so often. Another option is to get shocks made for leveled or raised trucks as they have a longer length of travel.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

I also have done both, the truck carries the plow 10x better...


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## jayrock (Nov 30, 2008)

i HAVE A 95 CHEVY 1500 ECAB STEPSIDE SO ITS ALREADY LIGHT IN THE BED IAM IN THE PROCESS OG PUTTING 3/4 TON TORSION BARS IN IT WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE OF THE 180 TIMBRENS AND YES THESE TORSIONS DO WORK


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

I went all out and got re-indexing torsion bar keys,but couldnt get the torsion bars out, they were badly rusted in there, so we just cranked them an in or so...


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## Elite_Maint (Nov 23, 2008)

I was thinking of getting the leveling kit for my truck.. it'll raise it about 2 inches


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## 7_below (Dec 9, 2009)

I have an 06 chevy 2500HD and just had timbrens installed on Friday. What a huge difference.! I paid 240$ for the install w/ parts and it took about an hour. Now with the t-bars turned up and timbrens in, I have about a quarter inch of sag. I considered a leveling kit, but not on my budget. My t-bars are cranked up just below topping out and getting an alignment Wednesday. 
The timbrens are a great investment and you won't be disappointed. Also, get about 450-500 pounds in back.


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## ff610 (Jan 9, 2009)

I have been turning my torsion bars up for years. This year I added timbrens also. I have also tried re-key kits. They all work, but honestly turning torsion bars up 6-8 turns is the most economical since its free, but its not without a cost. It will wear your torsion bars out quicker. Timbrens simply bottom ot before the suspension moves that much helping hold the front more stable. I haven't noticed the ride change by adding the timbrens also. My buddy added a A-Frame kit that did all of the above too, but it was like 600 bucks. I was definetly not a fan of re-keying as is made the ride extremely still and didn't allow me to adjust it after the plow season.... Also remember that is adjusts your alignment if you change the torsion bars too much. I have lifetime alignment so that helps.


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## brad96z28 (Aug 21, 2005)

rayzor32;909832 said:


> Whenever you change ride height you change alignment angles.


lol a very minor bit that no one in the world would ever worry about.


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## bersh (Dec 12, 2003)

7_below;916677 said:


> I have an 06 chevy 2500HD and just had timbrens installed on Friday. What a huge difference.! I paid 240$ for the install w/ parts and it took about an hour. Now with the t-bars turned up and timbrens in, I have about a quarter inch of sag. I considered a leveling kit, but not on my budget. My t-bars are cranked up just below topping out and getting an alignment Wednesday.
> The timbrens are a great investment and you won't be disappointed. Also, get about 450-500 pounds in back.


See the notes above. If your bars are cranked that far you're going to run into some issues, but at the very least you should get some shock extenders or replace the front shocks with some with longer travel. Think of it as a preemptive purchase as you're going to need new shocks fairly soon anyway if you don't do one or the other.


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## bersh (Dec 12, 2003)

brad96z28;916739 said:


> lol a very minor bit that no one in the world would ever worry about.


Not unless you're worried about a new set of tires. After spending $800 on decent tires I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to get an alignment after cranking their t-bars. I learned my lesson the hard way a couple trucks ago now.


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## 7_below (Dec 9, 2009)

bersh;916822 said:


> Not unless you're worried about a new set of tires. After spending $800 on decent tires I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to get an alignment after cranking their t-bars. I learned my lesson the hard way a couple trucks ago now.


no doubt about that!! Just put on a set of cooper t/s's 265/75r16's 10 ply for about $900!! I had the t-bars turned up for about a month without getting the alignment done because i wanted to plow a couple times to make sure they were where i wanted them. Now I got the timbrens in and everything is dialed in.... an alignment is DEFINITELY in store. I dont really want to wear my new tires uneven. 
And don't forget to rotate those tires!


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## augerandblade (Jan 17, 2009)

tymusicIn my experience, crankingup the T Bars doesnt cause excessive tire wear. Crank em up to compensate for the weight of the plow. Dont forget to put ballast on the rear and youll find you need minumum adjustment.


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## StormRanger (Oct 15, 2009)

I have 50k miles on my 06 2500HD, and from day one, my t-bars were cranked to the max. Ive never had any problems, and my tires are wearing 100% even. I did not get an alignment after.


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## StormRanger (Oct 15, 2009)

bersh;916817 said:


> See the notes above. If your bars are cranked that far you're going to run into some issues, but at the very least you should get some shock extenders or replace the front shocks with some with longer travel. Think of it as a preemptive purchase as you're going to need new shocks fairly soon anyway if you don't do one or the other.


Prove it. I have one chevy with 130k and one with 50k, both have t bars cranked all the way, i've never had any problems. Someone fed you a line of ****t.


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