To T-Bar or not to T-Bar for 1 inch of lift?

[Adam R]

I need to get rid of the stink bug look on my LC. Currently I'm running 33 inch tires and I just put on the bilsteins two days ago. Pretty nice improvment to the overall ride BTW.

I'm planning on putting in the diff drop, but not sure if I should order the T-bars now, or just crank the factory bars up 1 to 1.25 inches to give me 1/2 inch of rake.

Do the OME T-bars negatively affect the ride (will the wife notice). I saw a post where someone thought it was a good improvement to install the OME bars, but I wanted a few other opinions before I pull the trigger.

Long range plans do include fitting 35's, bumpers, etc., but that will be atleast 4 or 5 years down the road after the LC is passed back to me.

Thanks,

Adam R.

[macneill]

35s eh? Grande!

IMHO, I'd crank the stock T-Bars until you got the OMEs, but that's just me.

I think a few Mudders here have done it so far with success and it'll get your front end up to a nice height.

Me, I'm on a mission to get a 70 Series if it means moving to NZ!

[Trunk Monkey]

You can crank up the stock torsion bars now, but as we've said in other threads, be prepared for CV leaks. So, plan on the diff drop to help with that. All you get with the OME is torsion bars that are thicker and can take the additional wind of being cranked up for the lift. There's no real difference in ride, your old torsion bars will have lost some of their spring by now, so you may see some difference. Yhe shocks help with that too.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by Trunk Monkey

You can crank up the stock torsion bars now, but as we've said in other threads, be prepared for CV leaks. So, plan on the diff drop to help with that. All you get with the OME is torsion bars that are thicker and can take the additional wind of being cranked up for the lift. There's no real difference in ride, your old torsion bars will have lost some of their spring by now, so you may see some difference. Yhe shocks help with that too.

Not to nit pick (OK I guess I am )... Just one clarifying point: The larger diameter t-bar has an increased spring rate ("stiffer") compared to the smaller diameter t-bar. Much the same as a coil spring that is made from larger diameter 'wire' corresponds with a higher spring rate ("stiffer"); all things being equal of course.

Unless you have a corresponding increase in the load over the front end you may just end up with a 'firmer' spring feel by going with the OME. Generally bumpers with winches are good reasons to move to a larger diameter t-bar like the OME.


Double Mac's comment on the 70-series!

[Jim_Chow]

Originally Posted by spressomon

Not to nit pick (OK I guess I am )... Just one clarifying point: The larger diameter t-bar has an increased spring rate ("stiffer") compared to the smaller diameter t-bar. Much the same as a coil spring that is made from larger diameter 'wire' corresponds with a higher spring rate ("stiffer"); all things being equal of course.

Unless you have a corresponding increase in the load over the front end you may just end up with a 'firmer' spring feel by going with the OME. Generally bumpers with winches are good reasons to move to a larger diameter t-bar like the OME.


Double Mac's comment on the 70-series!

This is what happened to me on my '86 4runner..went from a 22.8mm 4-cyl stock t-bar to a 26mm when lifting the rig 2" and going from 28" to 31" tires. After adding the ARB winchbar (no winch) and driving around a while, the ride became finally tolerable although 80K mi later, it still is overly stiff (you feel every little bump and imperfection in the road thought the added stiffness lets you corner fast). So to me, a "firm" suspension=harsh ride on bumpy paved roads (In retrospect, I should have gone w/ the V6 OEM t-bars). OTOH, I can drive fast offroad and not worry about bottoming out. So you sacrifice one for the other. Toyota OEM truck suspensions (sold in this country) are all pretty cushy out-of-the-box.