BigBlue

Alright. I know they can be done on our trucks with a little intercooler work. I've installed two my self now (one on a ford, and one on a GMC). What kind of intercooler work is done? I read somewhere that you have to cut one of the pipe's down or something. I'm not looking for a big lift, just a little more height. What yall think?

y-knot

I do not like body lifts. I never have and most likly never will. They are fine for an off road vehicle, that is a thrasher, or for something that was built to accommodate there presence. The manufacture designs into every vehicle the necessary excess of material, to accommodate the foreseeable movement of components. This movement is caused by road conditions,engine torque,chassis flex, body flex,etc. The items that are effected by this movement are wiring connections from frame to body, body to engine,and engine to frame. Hose connections from engine to body and or frame, hose connections from body mounted components to frame. Also items like fan shrouds have large enough openings to accommodate engine movement
Now come along with your cheap body lift and raise the body up it's 2-3 inches. Your wiring gets stretched tight, and no longer is able to tolerate flex. Before long electrical issues surface, wire short or break. The radiator hoses are stretched and in a bind, the heater hoses the same. The ac hoses are usually bent where they connect to a hard line, and all on the inter-cooler connections are off, the body is three inches higher, and the fist joint in the system is misaligned which can not be corrected (right) and now serves as a choke point where the air has to pass Thur it. The fan is now not able to fit in it's shroud, because it is 3 inches higher then it was designed to be. Most will remove the bottom of the shroud and leave it that way. The transmission lines and in a bind where they transcend from frame mounted to body mounted. All the brake lines are now three inches short and usually they are fixed by un-bolting them from there mounts and pulling at them to gain length. Bad ideal, leaving your brake lines un secured and in a state of tension while at rest. Same goes for all the other line, vacuum lines fuel lines. All the electrical wires that go from frame to body (about all) are now stretched and just waiting for the right condition to leave you stranded. I reckon I could go on, but if you can not see by now bad of an ideal body lifts are, well you probably deserve a body lift. We never even got in to the problems with exhaust systems, clutch linkage,shifter linkage, transfer case and trany shifter problems, and by favorite, the steering shaft. Oh yell, you have to cut a slot in your body for the shaft, sounds great right. BAD IDEAL, BODY LIFTS ARE BAD.

1dslram

I have a 2" body lift and would do it again, only sooner. The pipes to the intercooler need to have the first rib cut off on one end of each that is it. There is no wiring problems. The engine is a lot easier to work on, and you will need good shocks if your shocks are shot you will know it immediately.
Bruce

dodgediesel4x4

Forget the body lift and jack the whole thing up with the RIGHT type of lift...SUSPENSION!!!!

DRM

y-knot, your reply is kinda funny, makes me laugh

I have installed a few body lifts on different vehicles (did one last month to be exact) and it is generally nowhere near as complicated or disasterous as some would have you believe.

Just as some would claim the manufacturer of a vehicle engineers their vehicle to work the way it is, the body lift manufacturer has just as much at stake in making sure their product works like it should - which includes accounting for all of those little trouble spots.

BigBlue - how much lift are you looking for, and what are your intended uses? There are people out there who will custom cut pucks so you can make your own kit, which may be useful if you just wanted say 1" of lift, and that 1" lift may let you get around intercooler work, etc.

I say go for it

BigBlue

I'm not looking for much. I've got a 2" front leveling kit, but I want a little more. I've done 2 body lifts myself like I said and none of them had any of the problems that you stated y-knot. Not trying to bash you or anything, just stating an observed fact from my own personal experience. The steering shafts are all fine on those vehicles. Transmission works fine. All the wiring is fine. The fan shrounds come with a bracket to make them 3" lower so they don't hit the fan. So do the tranny lines and brake lines. And anything else attached to the body. I'm not looking to four wheel my truck at all (thank god I got out of that stage), I just want a little more height for a little more aggressive stance. And a body lift is a cheap, easier way to get it done. Unless yall know of some one who makes a 3" suspension lift that is easy to install and costs as much as a body lift.

DRM

If you are gonna install the body lift yourself - not a chance you can get a suspension kit that cheap. If you are gonna pay to have it installed - a suspension lift is generally less expensive since it is often less labor intensive.

How about you do some searching, contact the manufacturer of the body lift you are interested in,a nd have them fax you the installation instructions. I have done this before for different products and the manufacturer has always been happy to help out

Evildiesel

I have the Performance Accessories 3" body lift on mine and I absolutely love it. It will come with everything you need to do it. Heres a basic rundown of whats involved: Personally, I didn't have to cut any intercooler plumbing, I rotated one elbow on the passenger side, and slid the tube into the sleeves a little more on the driver's side, this way you dont have to cut the tube and lose the sealing ring on it. There are parts included to lower the fan shroud, but I put an electric fan in so I don't know how difficult that is. There is an extender for the steering shaft that takes 10 mins to put in. A bracket to lower the shift linkage on Auto's and the shift rod that you have to remove from the tranny, cut in two, and weld an extension in between it then re-install. For the t-case, just loosen the linkage until the lift is completed then re-tighten. The fuel filler was the biggest PITA for me because they supply a new hose for the vent but a 6" length of pipe for the filler. I cut the filler hose but then the pipe would not fit no matter how much lube I used, so I ran down to the plumbing store with the filler and got a 6" nipple (short threaded pipe) in black steel and it fit perfectly. For the rear bumper you can either buy the brackets separately or drill new holes in the frame and the bumper mounts. It gives clear instructions how to do this so I went that route and am very pleased with the results. The front bumper has new brackets but since I went with an aftermarket custom bumper, I didn't use them. The lifting itself is easy, I used two cinderblocks, a bottle jack, and a cut two by four. All you really need is a torque wrench to put the new bolts in. Also. If you have certain types of nerf bars (like me) where the straps attach to the body, you will need to remove them first. I had to call Westin and get another pair of back straps (longer) for the front. They sent them next day no charge. Other than that I cant think of anything else involved, It took me about four and a half hrs (and I work slow). Check out the pics in my folder or go right to the front page (Feb TOM
) Any other questions feel free to post or shoot me a PM I'll be happy to answer them. Best $200 I ever spent IMO.
John

P.S. Ive been running it on and off road(hard) for almost 20,000 miles and never had a single problem, theres enough flex built into the wires and hoses for at least six inches (but who would ever go that high on a body lift!)

BigBlue

The two I have done have been performance accessories. The first one was very nice. Had pictures with each instruction step. Very clear and everything. The second one, the directions sucked, and it took us 4 hours to get the steering shaft together. We think the extension was to long, so when we tried to put the two pieces together, we couldn't get the angles right. So after a couple of whacks with the halligan tool (fire fighters will know what this is) and some hits on that with a fire ax, it went together. All in all though, we had it done in less than 4 hours. I don't know. Any of yall know of a person that makes a 3" suspension lift for about the cost of a body lift? I'd take that instead.

Evildiesel

No such creature...and would you really want a suspension under your $40k+ truck that was only $2-300?
I suppose lift blocks for the back springs and d25 coils in the front would be close..but then you would be pushing it with the shocks, control arms, steering linkage, brake lines, etc...
I never heard a bad thing about body lifts on newer body trucks, just some of the older body ford's and chevy's. Dollar for inch, the body lift just makes sense. They make a two inch for the dodge if 3" is a little much for you.
John

Rob Thomas

There are much more benifits to having a body-lift, after you install one, you'll see. I love the comment "cheap lift's", yes, they are inexpensive compared to suspension lifts, but have entirely different benfits. Myself, I wasnt looking for the cheap way out of lifting my truck, but rather increasing the room in the engine bay. Among a ton of other benifts a body-lift has, unlike a suspension lift, body-lifts keep the center of gravity lower.

Y-knot's ex-wife/girlfriend must have worked for a body-lift company, would explain the hatered he has for them. As far as y-knot's comments he posted above, they are totally inaccurate, over 40,000 miles on mine without a problem.


Rob

BigBlue

Evildiesel, you said you had to cut part of the tranny rod and weld in an extension? In the two other lifts I've done, I haven't had to do anything with the transmission.

SjLingenfelter

Blue call me today when you get a chance.

wrangler

hope this helps i have an 01 ho with 315 tires had to buy new rims because the stock offset is inward too much i have 2 in leveling kit in front 1 in blocks dowelled and welded to spring pads in rear and a 1 in body lift body lift took about 3 hours (already had spacers made and removed i bolt rom front and rear to purchase new hardware 1 in longer) rear bumper adjusted had to refab front bumper mounts (very easy to do drill and grinder no welding) under 80.00 and no fooling with anything other than what i have listed

Evildiesel

Part of the shift linkage that needs extending. I'll dig out the instructions and post specifically what needs to be done tommorrow morning.