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Suspension settling questions

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Unit453

Unit453

Cruises comfortably at 140...
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My front end has gotten a noticeable rake back to it. It seems it's dropped substantially over the past year or so. I do realize that my tires are no longer 285's since they're worn down pretty good but I'm wondering if its normal that the suspension settles over time?

My t-bars are (were) maxed out when I put on the Cognito leveling kit, pretty much 2 years ago this month. I cant believe its been 2 years already. Anyways, do the bars stay maxed out and the suspension settles or can I crank them more to get them back where they should be to retain my front end height? Do I need keys?

My next set of rubber is gonna be 295's, unless I win the U.K. lottery again and I can get a Cognito 6" and roll on 35's. Should I be considering a set of keys?

Here's the day it was installed.
 

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And here's 2 years later:

It appears I've lost a solid inch of ride height.
 

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Nick, that's about where mine was at around 9 turns up when new and I lost an inch of height when the tires were worn out at 75k. When the new tires were on I had only lost a total of 1/4" (3/4" was tire wear or 3/8" radially).
 
wow...

I see the problem...

right here in this picture...
attachment.php


you don't clean the wax off the plastic valence.
















):h
 
I would put some more adjustment on the t-bars to be back where you started. Just keep a eye on the UCA to frame and you are fine. If the adjustment if maxed out at this point then yes you can add lift/indexed keys and that will allow you to turn the bars further to gain the height back.

I am out of here tonight till tue. but let me know if you need my help.:thumbsup:
 
My bars were maxed out before. Obviously they settled over time so that means I'm gonna need keys right? Or when it settles down over time, I can crank them more?
 
btfarm said:
Once you're out of threads, you're gonna stay out of threads...
Click to expand...

That is kinda what I was thinking. Nick, if by "maxed out" you mean you tightened the t-bar adjusting bolts up as far as they'll go then that is all you get out of the stock setup. New keys that reindex the bars would be the next step.
 
i did the keys and up to this point all the extra height i gained from them i have taken back out, the ride was so ruff that it wasnt worth it. at first it was okay and i just got more fed up since. save your money and get the lift when your ready.
 
Unit453 said:
My bars were maxed out before. Obviously they settled over time so that means I'm gonna need keys right? Or when it settles down over time, I can crank them more?
Click to expand...

btfarm said:
Once you're out of threads, you're gonna stay out of threads...
Click to expand...

x2. Adding lift keys will allow for more twist out of the torsion bar, so that will help you get the front end back up. On the HD's I have never really seen the bars settle any large amount that a set of lift keys could not fix. On the older trucks we used to see them keep sagging and we would have to replace the torsion bars to a heavier load rating but that was back then when they had different torsion bars available. Now GM just uses a couple bars and all the HD's have looked to be the same but they will use different "keys" to offset the truck over all weight. These is why they make about 6 or 8 GM "keys", they range in different colors that signify there indexing witch will allow for more or less twist of the torsion bar. Most people talk about the Green Keys because the index of those are more than what the trucks come with factory (Purple) gaining more height.
 
Lol...alright Jay..


Nick, thanks. So in your opinion, which keys would I need? Green?

I figured since I was out of threads since they were maxed out before that my stock keys are worthless at this point. I just want to retain my ride height back. My next set of rubber is gonna be 295's here within the next month or two and there's no way they'd clear right now the way I lost the ride height.
 
After about 1 1/2 years my suspension has settled 1" front and rear also.

I think after this coming deployment I will get some green keys and probably go with 315 75R16's
 
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