How-to do a torsion rekey / reindex 79-94 pickups

Discussion in 'Suspension/Chassis' started by SD YOTA, Oct 28, 2013.

  1. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    yea, the older ones had a master slot in em so they could be realigned if they were taken apart. ive come to find you can either a) tap the keys back in with a mallet and it will gouge in the slot so the tooth clears, or just simply grind down the slot with a cutoff wheel (thinner than a grind wheel) and it will allow the teeth to slide in just as easily.

    the 4wd bars are longer and wont fit... although i havent confirmed by how much or spline count, i just know they are different enough to where they wont work..

    the torsion rekey gets rid of the issue of sacking out your front suspension and having it too soft because of cranking down the torsions to lower your ride height.
     
  2. standardbyker88

    standardbyker88 Grand Toyotaholic

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    I understood the point, just didn't know about the key details. Nice to know 4w bars don't fit. Again, nice write up dude.
     
  3. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    thanks man. i appreciate it.
     
  4. yotarip

    yotarip Veteran

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    I wish I thought to measure the diameter of the torsion bars on that junked 1990 uhaul truck last weekend. I'll check it out tomorrow.
     
  5. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    yea... if its a 90 chances are its got the bigger 25mm torsions. if you havent already, snag them and the sway bars!
     
  6. scoob.

    scoob. Member

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    Would an 87 box truck have larger torsions?
     
  7. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    if its the dually 6 lug truck then yes. if its a 5 lug dually it might have 23mm bars though.
     
  8. 52mini80

    52mini80 Newbie

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    BUMP! so for the 3" drop im trying to get should I do this OR just do the BJ flip and re adjust the torsion bar/keys?
     
  9. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    do both. bj flip helps with preload adjustments.
     
  10. 52mini80

    52mini80 Newbie

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    Will do! Thanks
     
  11. RUBY82

    RUBY82 Newbie

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    Ill have to soak my nuts in pb blaster or wd40 to get them ready to come off.
     
  12. VikingHill

    VikingHill Newbie

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    awesome i will be doing this on sat. i saw a partial of your write up and it only had pics of the b/j before the flip and i was like uhhhhhhh
    but now i get it
    valuable info
     
  13. Boone81mini

    Boone81mini Newbie

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    no no no no no!

    ToyotaOffRoad.com - Torsion Bars Explained
    or
    zhttp://forums.nicoclub.com/torsion-bar-lowering-t375794.html

    you cant change the ride. just the ride height. reindexing just gets the rear keys sucked back up in the crossmember for clearance purposes. still completely necessary, but does not "stiffen" the ride.
     
  14. Central Scrutinizer

    Central Scrutinizer Member

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    Photos!

    Any chance you can get those photos back up there??!?!!?

    :brickknock:
     
  15. Gerardo Arroyo

    Gerardo Arroyo Newbie

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    Any way I can see the pics?
     
  16. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    Yes I can... give me a min.
     
  17. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    IMG_20151107_144838487_HDR.jpg IMG_20151107_145013939.jpg IMG_20151107_145023563.jpg IMG_20151107_145055567_HDR.jpg IMG_20151107_150007984_HDR.jpg IMG_20151107_150142666.jpg here ya go fellas
     

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  18. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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  19. SD YOTA

    SD YOTA Grand Toyotaholic

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    So... starting from the first picture.
    1. After lifting the front of the truck and fully supporting it with stands. Undo your torsion bolts completely and take them out.

    2. Pry the torsion bar down far enough where the key has room to slide off the back of the torsion.

    3. Tap the key with a mallet till the key is removed from the torsion.

    4. Remove the torsion key.

    5. Take a jack and raise the wheel up into the wheel well to the desired amount of drop. By this I mean lift the wheel till it tucks as much of the wheel as desired.

    6. Reinsert the key into the torsion parallel to the frame contour as shown. This will give you enough preload to ride at a stiffer rate once the torsion bolts are in.

    7. Push the key into the xmember and into place. Install torsion bolts and thread then in until they snug up by hand. Tighten and adjust untill desired ride height is achieved.

    8. Make sure you have enough travel for you to install low profile bump stops, or at least enough room for the suspension to cycle without harsh bottoming out.

    9. End results, you should have a better preload tension while still being at a lower ride height than you last started. This modification gets rid of the old "loosen torsion bolts" method to drop your truck. Loosened torsion bolts render a soft and unstable ride quality in order to achieve a lower ride height.

    My method gives you near factory ride quality of not better preload WITH lower ride height achieved.
     
  20. jblaust

    jblaust Veteran

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    If the torsion's are keyed one way, can you just tap it back on and make a new groove for the keyed slot? I know some are slotted to only fit one way like mine are and some are not.
     

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