what is the best way to get a few inches of lift on a ball joint baja? cut n' turn? lift spindles? weld in adjusters?

any thoughts? or experience? and how is the ride effected?

I just did a cut and turn. Best part? It's free..... but a pain. And it's a s stiff as a board.

how do you do a cut and turn?

In a nutshell: You use a 3 or 4 wheel pipe cutter (rented it for $8) and cut the center section of the torsion tubes or beams. I'm not sure hwat they're called. You rotate them up a 1/4 or less and weld them shut.

I jacked up the front of the car under the pan and I measured 3" out from the center "dimple" each way and cut there. I made a line across the tube and then measured 1.25 " up (I think) as a reference. Then I rotated the center section to the mark and had my buddy tack it. Repeated it for the bottom. It really helps to clamp a piece of angle iron on the torsion bar to align the cut pieces. They'll resist everything you do to make them straight.

After they were tacked together I stitch welded the cuts. Let them cool and finished the cuts, ground and painted.


I didn't go quite 1/4 turn cos it was getting pretty tight so I backed off a little bit.
You need a big pipe wrench and a cheater bar.

How soon are you looking to do this? I'm going to be replacing my front end that has less than a 1000 miles (mostly street) on it.

Ball Joint lifted about 3 - 4 inches with adjusters.

well i want to do this soon, i am just wondering about the ride quality, between cuting and turning, a spindle lift, or weld in adjusters...or is it pretty much all the same ride? STIFF!

If you cut and weld or wild in adjusters do one tube at a time.


The raised spindles should keep the ride pretty close to stock but cost alot more.

The ride is actually pretty good, I'm running some inexpensive coilover shocks I got from Chirco and they also built the front end.

so cutting and turning, with some decent shocks...the ride wont be too bad?

Well it's pretty freekin' stiff. And it's more responsive when I turn the wheels. It used to just slide and drift. Also the 1st time I tried to launch my rail it nosedived into the dirt. Now the front doesn't come down so soon, but it's still stiff. Even without shocks it beats me up.

Jimmyjack wrote:

Well it's pretty freekin' stiff. And it's more responsive when I turn the wheels. It used to just slide and drift. Also the 1st time I tried to launch my rail it nosedived into the dirt. Now the front doesn't come down so soon, but it's still stiff. Even without shocks it beats me up.

So it is really stiff then? My '66 front is cut and turned (not by me). I have only driven it around the block at 15mph max, so I didn't really notice the ride yet. It does have those cheap coilover shocks though.

You Sample from Wheeling Az? If so I'm the same JimmyJack. I sold my blazer tho....

I weigh 240 lbs and I jump up and down on the front end and it barely moves. I aired my tires down to compensate.

Jimmyjack wrote:

You Sample from Wheeling Az? If so I'm the same JimmyJack. I sold my blazer tho.... I weigh 240 lbs and I jump up and down on the front end and it barely moves. I aired my tires down to compensate.

I am the same person. I too no longer have a blazer, good to see you.

so when cutting and turning, will i need any new parts to make the front end work? or should it be ok with all the stock parts?

cperry2704 wrote:

so when cutting and turning, will i need any new parts to make the front end work? or should it be ok with all the stock parts?

Possibly longer shocks.