jackaroo torsion bar

With torsion bar front suspension on jap 4wd's you have a top & a bottom bump stop & if you wind the torsion bar up to raise the ride height you will increase the up travel of the suspension but you will decrease the down travel by the same amount

Also under full compression the torsion bar will have twisted more than if the ride height was standard as the rear of the bar is anchored to the chassis & the front of the bar turns with the control arm plus the inital extra twist in the bar to increase the ride height in the first place

Aftermarket torsion bars are normally thicker or have a heavier spring rate and will carry more weight for less deflection (for example if a bull bar & winch is fitted the ride height will not drop as far) but will not increase wheel travel at all

You may know all of this already but i wanted to give you the basic information just incase you did not

Regards Don

Just thinking that the same amount of force is needed to hold the mass at the same height - existing bar or replacement. however the replacement if higher rated would not need as much preload on it and hence would have more available torsional movement . If you have a front bar only then the standard would be ok, if you have bar/ winch/ spare cables etc, then you will need the higher rated bar.

But yes if you crank it up you will lose downwards travel ( not that we have a lot to begin with ) Standard ride height has 17 mm clearance on the upstop. check this first as they have a tendancy to sag a bit over time .
Personally, i wouldn't crank a jack front end higher than 1 - 1 1/2 inches over standard. exept if you go the whole hog with the calmini front kit..Moo... everyone knows what a Jackaroo looks like :-)

A nice way to get your mind around how a Torsion Bar works is to think of it as a straightened coil spring. They work in the same manner.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to the gentleman (details not provided at this stage or commercial reasons) who set up Peter Brocks "Round Australia" Jackaroo, and also the Jackaroo support vehicle, about this. He recommended to me that in his experience a heavier torsion bar set to standard is the way to go.

Calmini in the USA make kits for Jackaroo (Trooper) & Rodeo's (Pickup).

The local importer has a fairly big mark up on them, in Jul 03 I priced the kits for my Rodeo.

Cntrol arm kit (to correct the steeering geometry for big lifts) - $885.

Suspension kit, 2 inch lift - $1000

Suspension + control arm kit + new crossmember, 3 inch lift - $1995

Prices MAY have dropped now that our $ is worth more than a struck match.

With a light front end winding them up and a good pair of shocks would be the best solution.