JRider is correct. All that you are doing either way is just turning the torsion bar a little further. There is ABSOLUTELY no difference between cranking them up or installing another key to raise them up.

I had a 2003 Avalanche 2500 8.1L for 8 years put 110K miles on it , never had an issue with it.
The best way to level any 4X4 is to lower the rear, not raise the front.... IMO
Just get a set of 2in Lowering shackles from Belltech for $100 that move the rear leaf springs further up toward the bed. Very easy install and cheap.
Also had 2in Hubcentric Aluminum wheel spacers for the rear to make the rear track equal to the front. Looked much better.

It will ride like $hit because the upper control arms are bottoming out on the frame stops even with extended shocks or extended shock brackets. The only way to restore factory ride is with different upper control arms. I went with Cognito control arms and the truck rode like factory. They also allow you enough camber and caster adjustment to get your alignment to factory specs. Unfortunately their upper ball joints don't seem to last so well as the truck has been through two sets of uppers since the control arms went in. The boots allow water into the joint. and it rusts the ball and socket.

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weather you change the keys or crank them up you are doing the exact same thing, raising the spring rate of the bars, any change in suspension height will need the alignment redone, doing it the "cheap" way without some way of relocating the controls arms to gain lift you must raise the spring rate. Now great thing about this setup is you can try it easily and see if you like the ride, if not return it back and roll on, just count the # of turns that you give the bolts..

Still not changing the rate of the spring, the only way to do that is to change the spring/bar. A better word for Cranking the bars is Adjusting.

sorry, you are wrong, when you crank up the adjusters you ARE changing the torsion(spring) rate.

Check out offroad unlimited. I used the ORU leveling keys on my 03 8.1. What I liked the best was the keys came with new proper length Bilstein shocks, instead of cheezy drop brackets. My crewcab hd, sat pretty level with the level kit and the boat on behind. Had I kept the truck I would have put air bags on the rear but that is because all my trucks rear springs have a tendancy to slowly loose how well they "handle" weight, because they are constanly overloaded hauling things they shouldnt be.

Good luck with the 8.1. I miss mine, especially everytime it comes to repair my ford 7.3 diesel. Something I found that was nice for the 8.1, find the quicky lubes that offer free top offs between oil changes. My 8.1 ate 1 qt every 1500 miles. When I hit 3,000, it was time to get it changed anyway. They are beasts. Have fun

This pic does not show it very well, but I had the wrong height hitch on the truck, once I raised the hitch the truck sat level with the boat on behind. The tires/ wheels were 285 goodyear duratracs, on some 16x8 aluminums that were on my plowtruck. They were not my first choice in wheels but I had them left over from another truck. They did widen the stance a bit over the factory wheels. another plus is the bolt pattern is still the old school 8x6.5. Those wheels on that 8.1 had been on 87 chevy 3/4ton, my 95 gmc 3/4 ton (with ford axles) , my 88 gmc 1 ton, and my 86 3/4ton.

Another decent looking wheel that can be had pretty cheap is the factory alumn. ones that came on the 95ish-97 f250, f350 fords (pre superduty). I want to say they are forged alumn alcoa wheels that were 16x8, and the same 8x6.5 pattern.

You are changing the position of the torsion bar and A-arm respectively, you NOT changing the rate of the spring (bar). It is physically impossible to change the rate. I am all ears if you can explain it but I paid attention in physics and have special interest as I tune my own sled shocks.

https://www.google.com/search?q=spri...utf-8&oe=utf-8

http://www.gmfullsize.com/tech/torsion401.html