BSER Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 How about just ordering the ground force shackles and lower the truck the inexpensive way; then if you have problems you can always order the entire kit and return the unused shakels for a refund. Just slide the unused ones from the kit in the orginal shackle box send em back; ive never had a problem with returns to summit. You will be out a coulpe of bucks for shipping at the most Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremeredss Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I'm glad you had luck with the C-clamp. I bent 2 and cracked another!! Think I need to buy some really good clamps. A two jaw gear puller will work too. Rico, You must be doing something wrong when unloading the torsion bars. With the front end of the truck jacked off the ground, remove the two 18mm. headed bolts to the torsion bars. With these removed, now use the C clamp to unload the torsion keys just enough to remove the stops. This took very little presure. Make sure you place the C clamp as close as possible to where the bolts were. The Ground Force keys need very little unloading to install, infact, I didn't need the tool for one side. (I am a GM tech. and did use the factory GM "J" tool for unloading the torsion bars.) It only took me 40 min. one morning to install the torsion keys, shocks and cut the bump stops. Ground Force wanted 3/4 of an inch. (starting point) between the new key to the bottom of the bolt head. With this measurement, my 03 was too low in front and did have a harsh ride, even with the front bumper cut to their specs. I don't have their instructions in front of me but they wanted something like 1 1/16 clearence from the front bumper holder to lower control arm. This is very important for a good ride. The truck comes out being level front to rear (the kit claims it is a 1-2 drop but mine was more like a 2-2 drop). Also, I did not flip the rear overload spring since I do need to carry some loads at times. The ride in the front is softer and feels the same in the rear as stock (which is OK to me), No vibrations up to 100 mph. , and handles great. Of course I aligned the front end myself. Oh yeah, With the front end too low, the front end is hard to get into alignment specs. Once raised to the proper clearence at the bump stops, the alignment came into specs. easily. XtremeRedSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico750sxi Posted December 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Well, the first time I had the one side unloaded when my clamp cracked. It is very easy but I think I am just buying cheap C-Clamps. They were all I could find at the time. I attempted mine in the same manner that you did yours but I had the front tires off of the truck and I used the other set of dipples molded into the key as the placement point for my clamp. I thought that was what the dipples were for. Are you saying I should be further inward on the key? I will try that but I think I will be waiting until the spring to try it again. Too cold now!! I appreciate your help though. One more thing, what is your front ground to fender measurement? I'm at 34" up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSilverad03 Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Oh yeah, With the front end too low, the front end is hard to get into alignment specs. Once raised to the proper clearence at the bump stops, the alignment came into specs. easily. The dealership had problems getting mine aligned also. He show it to me on the rack and on the computer that it was .01 from being within GM specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremeredss Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 One more thing, what is your front ground to fender measurement? I'm at 34" up front. The front fender lip to ground is at 33.5" and that is with the Ground Force torsion keys installed and the bolts almost cranked in all the way. I think I had about a 1/4 inch. of threads left on the bolt. I compared the factory key with the Ground Force key before installation, and it didn't look much different. I guess just one or two degrees where the hex is machined into the key makes a big difference at the wheel. XtremeRedSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico750sxi Posted December 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 Thanks for the measurements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSminneapolis Posted December 20, 2003 Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 alright...i have decided to lower the truck...going with the ground force kit...just a few things that i want to clear up...first of all i am not going to install myself, so i need to know what to tell the guys that are going to do it... the kit comes with everything - keys and everything? right... and i need to tell them to flip the load spring? the bottom one - correct... thanks guys...and gals... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdrumright Posted December 20, 2003 Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 alright...i have decided to lower the truck...going with the ground force kit...just a few things that i want to clear up...first of all i am not going to install myself, so i need to know what to tell the guys that are going to do it... the kit comes with everything - keys and everything? right... and i need to tell them to flip the load spring? the bottom one - correct... thanks guys...and gals... If your taking it to an experienced mechanic they shouldn't have any problems. The ground force kit comes with pretty clear directions. Also make sure you have an alignment shop in the area that can align 20" wheels before you lower it. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSminneapolis Posted December 20, 2003 Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 thanks drum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico750sxi Posted December 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 The kit does come with everything and if they follow the instructions there is no way they can forget to flip the spring. The instructions are very straightforward. I also had a problem with finsing an alignment shop for 20"'s. The third one I went to could do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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