zz28zz

Getting tired of sloppy steering so I'm geared up to freshen my 2007 2500HD front end. Looking at doing A-frame bushings, ball-joints, tie-rods, stabilizer bar bushings, etc.

This truck uses torsion bars instead of coil springs for front suspension. Never had to deal with a torsion bar before. Found out I need a "torsion key unloading tool" to release tension on torsion bar. Found they range from $25 on amazon to over $170 from specialty suppliers.

The $25 one had overall good reviews but a few posters stated "the alignment pin didn't align properly" with the hole. I'm assuming this pin is supposed to keep tool from slipping off. It's got me a little nervous.

Anyone been down this road before?

Thx

justintocars

It's been a long time since I did mine. And the tool I used wrapped over the crossmeber. Id assume their all made in the same Chinese foundry just diffrent paint. So it should work the same as the rest. Just jack your truck up first to take the weight off the springs/bars. I recall them not having near as much pressure on them as I was expecting. Oh and grease the treads of the tool good so it dosent try to twist on you. Not nearly as scarry as coil spings.

compedgemarine

go to your local auto parts store that has a tool loaner program. last one I did that is how I got the tool. as for the a-arm bushings and ball joints, dont waste your time. if they are available as new arms with them in them do that. the ball joints go thru 1/2" or so of material and the rivits are a pain in the azz to remove. you can usually buy a complete arm for a couple bucks more than the parts.

zz28zz

I generally speaking, I don't buy cheap tools, but for something that doesn't get used much, I'll sometimes make an exception. With that said, I went with this one:

Reviews are all over the place in regards to it working on my truck. Some say the throat isn't deep enough for the tool to engage a hole on top of cross-member, others say it works great. Definitely want the weight off the control arms, and grease added to threads. Some reviews say the tool bent or threads stripped-out but suspect they hadn't raised the vehicle. No impact wrenches either.. Good thing is this tool is used on the first step of process (after raising vehicle), so if it doesn't look good, I can easily abort and go a different route. There's supposed to be a u-bolt version that may work better?? May have a clearance issue on pass side due to exhaust. We'll see.

Picked-up a new-to-me hyd press last year and was itching to use it on this project, but think I'll go with new control arms with ball-joints and bushing pre-installed as prev mentioned. Should save a lot of down-time. Moog makes a kit that includes almost everything I need, so I'll probably go that route. Kryptonite has some nice stuff, but really pricey and geared more towards heavy off-road use.

DrFeelgood

I didn't use one. I was rebuilding the whole front end anyway, with a hydraulic jack under the lower control arm, undo the balljoint stud, then you can slowly lower it down and unload the torsion bar in the process.

zz28zz

If on the ground that method works fine. I'll be doing the work on a lift. Things can get sketchy when using a jack under a lift, especially with suspension work.