Since JJ got me all spun up about how I leveled the front end of my '02 4x4 DMax, I wound up doing all the research I did last year over again. I have come to the same conclusions. Here is what I have found.

You can tighten the adjusting bolts on the torsion bar keys and raise the nose of the truck. This does not add any more stress to the torsion bars, it just "re-clocks" where the zero point is. Factory keys seem good for 1-2" of additional lift. Replacing the keys with after market units can give you up to 3" of nose lift.

Many guys think lifting the nose of a truck this way is bad and will cause CV joints to wear out prematurely. JJ has pointed out this has been an issue with Toyota IFS. Several guys who post on The Diesel Page have lifted their trucks by tightening the torsion bar keys--its a very common thing to do. No one has yet reported any CV joint issues--at least that I can find.

A friend of mine who lives locally has 295s on his Dmax. The dealership cranked his factory torsion bars almost all the way up to clear his tires. This is at least a 1.5 to 2" lift. My truck has 285s and I need about 1.75" of lift for my tires to gain the same clearance as his. He has run his truck for 67,000 miles with the big tires and cranked torsion bars. He frequently hauls a 16K dozer over some rough and rocky terrain. He has had no problems with his CV joints, ball joints, or even the girly-man little tie rods GM put of these trucks.

The company that sold me the leveling kit has been selling these kits for several years and they have had several trucks go 30, 40, and even 100,000 miles with the front ends leveled without any major problems.

I personally have had mine on for 15,000 miles and have no front end issues. All this leads me to believe raising the nose of a 2500HD a couple inches with the torsion bars is not a problem.

Hill Country says there isn't a problem with the 2500 HDs because the CV joints are not in a bind when the front end is leveled by 2" or so. Even with my nose raised, my truck has still has quite a bit of droop remaining in the front suspension.

Initially I had 265s on stock rims and a factory front bumper. From the stock setting, I raised the nose about 1.75", measured at the wheel wells and had the front end re-aligned. Later, I added a front end replacement (integrated bumper and grill guard), and needed another turn in the keys to keep the nose at it's 1.75" height.

Last week I installed 285s on 16x8 rims, and added another turn to the keys. The ride started to get a bit choppy. Then all the fuss about the lifting an IFS came up, so I got out my old measurements and played with the adjustments. Long story short, I am back at 1.75". Yes, I am accounting for the extra 1/2' in height the larger tires are giving me. The ride is very nice at this level. Any higher at all--even one turn, and the ride gets very choppy. Above 1.75", each turn gives me more and more lift. The folks at Hill Country told me that is where I need to stop to get the best ride.

I was considering a lift kit eventually, but now I'm not so sure. Many lift kits drop the rear torsion bar crossmember and the torsion bars themselves back down to stock height. So the 4-8" of lift you get is negated by having the torsion bars and that big torsion bar crossmember back down at stock height. I would only consider a lift kit--if anyone makes one--that kept the torsion bar mount and the torsion bars high. Such a kit would probably have to have longer front axle shafts and/or extended spindles to make everything work.

For Ol Toot: The fender wells are a good place to measure for the total lift on each side, but they are not necessarily even from left to right. To get the truck even from left to right, I measured from the concrete to the bottom of the frame rail just behind the aftmost vertical bracket just behind the wheel well (near the parking brake cable on the left side). This is the point where the frame slants down then turns level with the ground. My measurement--with 285/75-R16s at 50 psi--is 13.5" from the concrete to the bottom of the frame rails at this point. However, the center of my right side fender measures 40.25" and the center of my left side fender measures 40.625". A level placed across my bumper shows my truck to be level side to side. My concrete driveway also happens to be level at this point. After adjusting the torsion bars, you need to settle the suspension to get reliable measurements. I have found that starting the truck and simply turning the steering wheel from stop-to-stop then back to center settles the suspension nicely.

Blaine