im 16 and just got my first truck, an S-10 4wheel drive. i plan on takin it offroad alot but its also going to see lots of pavement since its my dd. i was considering a suspention lift kit till i saw the price tag. now i think im going to add a 1 1/2" ad-a-leaf in the rear and cranck the torsion bars in front about an 1 1/4".the problem is i dont know any of the effects this will have on it other than a stffined ride and less articulation.What are the long term effects?anyone?  

in the long run it would be cheaper to put in the lift kit.  turning up the front wears on the cv axel joints as well as the sealed bearings and the ball joints take a beating.  

even if im just cranking them about 1 1/2" or less?  

any time you change your suspension from the origional design from the factory your going to wear things out in the long run.  But - if you run with alittle tire pressure the tire will take some of abuse away from the suspension.  if you tell what size and load range tires you currently have on you truck i can tell you a safe pressure you can run your tires at.  By safe I'm also talking about so you don't get uneven tire wear.  I run my k2500 with the torsion bar turned up mostly because I due alot of plowing.  Yes, it has been hard on my front end but its taken 4 years of the extra abuse.  I currently run 285/75 R16's, 10 ply tires on my truck.  By the tire it says I should be running 65lbs of air in them but I run between 35-40lbs in them.  It really helps soften the ride. I do have to put air in them when I have to plow.

1.5" or less is for full size trucks. I wouldn't go over an inch on a mini.  

right now im running the stock 235/70/15 but the reason im cranking the torsion bars to fit 30/9.50/15 and also to compensate for a westin grill guard.im also going to add some rancho RS5000 shocks if that makes any difference.  

most tire places will set the tire pressure at 40 to 50lbs on a 30/9.50x15 tire.  you can run as low as 28lbs without getting uneven tire wear.  Remember, that if you are going to haul something to put the air pressure back up to 40 to 50lbs.

later

Grill guard is insignificant weight wise. The shocks just dampen the suspension cycle and do nothing to help the cv angles or joint wear.  

Stay under an inch of crank for an s-truck.

I just cranked my k1500 1.25" and the ride has changed signifincantly, operating angles appear OK for all suspension and front driveline parts.

The most noticeable difference is the loss in down-travel of the suspension.

Make sure somthing other than your shock is the limiting factor for max droop, as you will reach max droop alot faster as the suspension cycles once you have cranked.

You need an alignment after you touch a t-bar bolt as you camber will be wrote off. If you crank too much, camber will be stuck positive (look like this \ /  from the front) and you may not be able to get it back into spec.