Muc,
Thanks for your comments. I don't really want a tonka truck, I just want to lift the guts up a bit as I'm sick of dragging it over everything. I take onboard your comment about caster on the rear. The tyre size gives me the max diameter for QLD (well a bit over), without going to high in the profile. To obtain the same overall diameter for a given rim you must either increase width or profile.
I was under the impression that if you fitted modified torsion bars (say rock crawler bars) that are sold as specific 50mm lift then you would gain the height without sacrificing you downward travel. If this isn't the case why would you retrofit them instead of just cranking your standard?
Just my thoughts, I'm not an engineer, but won't the bigger re-set torsions provide more twist before reaching the maximum torque to bar can stand.
higher strenth torsion bars are simply stiffer and since they are stiffer it takes less turns on the adjusters to get them to factory ride hieght and due to there extra stiffness they dampen less under load and less likely to hit your bump stops . they do not create extra lift. the adjusters do the height adjustment . fitting heavy torsion bars then winding up the adjusters to were the old ones had the adjusters set will give you lift but this is not how your manufature recomend torsion bars be fitted at all.
the reason people should fit heavier springs or torsion bars is to carry more load . Remember adjusters do the lifting and with standard torsion bars in good conditon the adjusters are still capable of getting it wrong ,giving max lift and taking all down travel away and stressing the cv joints. 4x4 retailers sell a lot of torsion bars on false pretences. You dont need new torsion bars unless your overloading the ones you have be it too much wieght for stock or stock ones have faded. The adjusters are there to acomoadate torsion age and the adusters need adusting first as the very first part of a wheel alighnment , the reason why you pay more for a 4x4 wheel alignment than say a car.
after market torsion bars marketed for raised suspention have less tortional twist and more resistance to flex to the load you carry so you dont buy these to increase the flex of your suspension it does the opposite . it reduces it . wieght/spring rate causes flex and adding stiffer springs works against the wieght of your vehicle so in stiffer coils and leaves it lifts the weight higher but not in torsion bars because of the variable adjuster , the posision of the aduster changes hieght. you can have the stiffest torsion bars and still have it riding low on the bumpstops if the ajuster is not set corectly like old hoons in valiants used to to lower there car .
in saying all this unless run fully loaded there is no need to buy torsion bars until you have run out of ajustment .
any change from the factory adjuster setting up is a loss of travel in one direction as the range is governed by bump stops (upper and lower). increasing the hieght with heavier torsion bars will not give you more compression unless vehicle wieght can overcome the strenth of the torsion bar to do so and often leads to a firmer ride with less travel now in both directions . ok for beach driving to get the belly up but no good for the glasshouse mountain tracks were suspesion travel is required on un even ground to give traction on all 4 wheels just to get up the hill. You never see a pro 4x4 vehicle set up with stiffer springs , they allways set them up so the cars wieght can use all of the range of movement . travel is traction and traction is eveything a 4x4 needs. The second the springs are too stiff and overcome the vehicle wieght on a un even surface a wheel comes off the ground and traction is lost.
So regaurdless of what 4x4 you have spring rate afects how good your vehicle is off road . too many get it wrong by going to stiff. personaly i would rather a 4x4 that wallows around a roundabout and excells on trails. dont over estimate wieght when buying springs .
