by geeves » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:25 pm
Most aftermarket torsion bars are too stiff unless you have a lot of extra weight up front.
The torsion bar is just a spring and front travel is controled elsewhere.
If you look at the front end you will see 2 bump stops one large above the lower A arm and a smaller one under the upper A arm. At rest in factory trim the distance between the arm and stop is the same for both. When you lift a wagon the relationship changes so you end up with less drop and more up movement. But the killer is that the up movement is restricted by the spring so you effectively loose travel.
The Isuzu IFS is not known for good travel anyway.
Things that help
Trimming the upper bump stop or replacing with a urethane low profile bump stop.
Ball joint flip. This is where you remove the top ball joint and remount it under the arm instead of on top as it is now. This will require a wheel alignment afterwards and may cause issues at vehicle inspection time even though it is common and perfectly safe.
Sway bar removal or disconnects allow each wheel to move independent of the other giving huge gains in articulation but at the expense of ride quality and road handling.
You also increase the chance of a roll over slightly.
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them