Ball joint spacers

[Awz]

I know there are threads already on ball joint spacers themselves but I couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I'm in the process of installing 2 inch spacers, my questions are, how much should I adjust the torsion bars (they're backed off all the way right now, so I could get things apart), and what size am I looking at so far as longer shocks? I'm planning on getting doetsch-tech, but have no idea which ones.
Thanks

 

[fourwd1]

Assuming your t-bars were at the stock setting before you started, it would have been best to count the number of turns you loosened them, then tightened them back the same amount.
Adjusting them past stock setting will get you additional ride height, but you loose the same amount of down travel, and the ride gets harsher.
As for shocks, once you get everything back together, measure the new amount of compression and droop, then get shocks with the correct amount of travel.

 

[Awz]

I measured before I started . I've been told they need to be tightened after installing spacers and was hoping to know how much.

 

[mytyeerinpie]

I measured before I started . I've been told they need to be tightened after installing spacers and was hoping to know how much.

check on 4crawler.com he tells you how much to adjust them. I believe that it is 15.5" from top of rim to the bottom of your wheel well. At least that's what I did. Worked fince for me. I also did my own alignment as he reccomends on the site. Worked great also.

 

[Thurlo76]

I've been told they need to be tightened after installing spacers and was hoping to know how much.

so thats the trick to putting in the bj spacers?........ well i guess i did mine the hard way then....:rant: didnt even think to back off the t bars before trying to get the spacers in.... o well haha there in, they work great

 

[KidVermicious]

so thats the trick to putting in the bj spacers?........ well i guess i did mine the hard way then....:rant: didnt even think to back off the t bars before trying to get the spacers in.... o well haha there in, they work great

No, the trick is to shim between the upper control arm and the frame before you pull the ball joint.

Awz, do you have 1.5 spacers or 2 inch spacers? Everything I've seen advertised as "2 inch lift spacers" are actually 1.5 inch spacers with fine print that the rest of the lift comes from torsion bar adjustment. I'm running 1.5 spacers with no torsion bar adjustment at all, and that's been working fine for me.

 

[Awz]

That's the kinda info I needed thanks. mytyeerinpie. I bought them off a guy on RME, so they don't have any info with them, he said he made them in his machine shop, but they look EXACTLY like everything I find online. I'm pretty sure it's a 1.5" spacer. (I haven't actually measured, but that's what they look like) Looking forward to having it done, and not being stock height anymore.

 

[Awz]

Okay, so I've got the spacers in (sorry no pics yet). But they just pushed the upper control arm up, instead of creating lift. Do I take up the rest with the torsion bars? That would make sense to me, but I don't want to be breaking things.

 

[KidVermicious]

Okay, so I've got the spacers in (sorry no pics yet). But they just pushed the upper control arm up, instead of creating lift. Do I take up the rest with the torsion bars? That would make sense to me, but I don't want to be breaking things.

They didn't create lift? The UCA is tied to the torsion bar - by making space between the knuckle and the torsion bar, they have to create lift.

Are you sure your CV angles didn't change at all? You can pick it up by cranking your torsion bars, but your ride will suffer and you'll lose down-travel.

 

[Thurlo76]

You can pick it up by cranking your torsion bars, but your ride will suffer and you'll lose down-travel.

i thought he would loose up travel?

 

[KidVermicious]

i thought he would loose up travel?

I'm no expert, but the way it was explained to me is the suspension can only droop so much before things start binding. When you crank the torsion bars, you basically pre-load droop, leaving less available when you need it.

Uptravel is probably affected too, by the higher spring rate, but it's still technically available.

 

[Awz]

It doesn't appear to have given any lift at all, logically it should. When I look at the lower control arms and their relation to the cross member, they just go straight out, like they did before I put the lift on. Guess I'll crank on the torsion bars a little and see what happens.

 

[KidVermicious]

It doesn't appear to have given any lift at all, logically it should. When I look at the lower control arms and their relation to the cross member, they just go straight out, like they did before I put the lift on. Guess I'll crank on the torsion bars a little and see what happens.

Didn't you say you relaxed the torsion bars to get the balljoint out of the control arm? If you didn't crank them back the same number of turns you relaxed them, that's probably why.

If it's not that, I got no clue. Maybe you got magic balljoint spacers.

 

[Awz]

Magic, I knew there was something strange about that guy.

I didn't crank them back up, I had read somewhere that people left them down for the ride, but I probably miss-read it. I'll post up pics when it's all done. Still got the rear to do.
Thanks

 

[KidVermicious]

Magic, I knew there was something strange about that guy.

I didn't crank them back up, I had read somewhere that people left them down for the ride, but I probably miss-read it. I'll post up pics when it's all done. Still got the rear to do.
Thanks

That would explain it. When you relax the tbars, it's just like changing to a coil or leaf spring with a softer spring rate. You're gonna ride lower. Guys that want a soft ride do that and then install the spacers to make up for the lost height. If you're looking for lift, put them tbars back where they were.

 

[T?@\7]

The spacers should have given you 1.5" of lift, with tbars at ZERO, stock setting...... I have mine uncranked, with bj spacers and I got the advertised 1.5" of lift. You should not need to recrank your bars, I don't understand it