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lift or not to lift


rangerman84

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ok i just got a 85 bronco II and i found someone that is gonna give me a 3 inch body lift and i was just wonderin if it would make it more top heavy or not. i got a set of 31 10.50s i can put on it and most of the trails around here are pretty steep so any feedback is greatly appreciated
 


TheOne

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lift it!

i threw a 2 inch BL on my ranger and managed to stuff 35 inch tires on it :D

add a grinder and now i can fully flex my 35 inch tires with a 2 inch BL :D

iv had people tell me that suspension lifts were a bad choice and that a small body lift with cutting is DEFINITIVELY the way to go. much lower center of gravity.

think about this with a 3 inch BL u can fit maybe 33's kinda nicely with little flex. to make the 33's flex decently or move up to 35's ud have to add around a 4 inch suspension lift. well ur center of gravity is atleast 7 inches higher then stock 3 BL 4 SUS

now take my ranger for example. i got a 2 inch body lift and fit 31's easily. i managed to stuff 35's without any additional lift. no flex tho. i cut 4 inches out of the fenders and now my 35's flex freely. center of gravity change 2 inches. same result different avenues.
 

UrbanRedneckKid

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I say just trim the bottoms of the fenders a little and run the 31"s on stock suspension.

If you want a little more, sell the B/L, and buy Skyjacker leveling coils, and a 1" rear block kit. That sounds perfect for what you need.:icon_thumby:
 

88_Eddie

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i wouldnt lift it but that's cause i hate the way BL's look, you can see almost all of the frame and the bumpers look like they're falling off. if you get the brackets to fix it, your bumpers are weaker, plus you dont improve your flex b/c it's still the stock suspension.

i'd do what straycat said and get the leveling coils and do a 1 inch block out back
 

lil_Blue_Ford

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Any type of lift will increase your center of gravity. Of course, there are ways to combat that problem such as chopping the top and moving weight to a lower point on the vehicle (Rookieshooter's BII was a perfect example).

It's all in what you want though. I did a 2" body lift on my choptop partly just because the price on it was right and I suspected it might help me with some clearance issues when I build my winch bumper (of course, now I'm not so sure my idea will work anyway, but that's another story). I don't really care for the gaps that BLs cause, but a 1-2" BL does give you more room to work without looking too crazy. I saw a lifted chevy the other day that must have had about a 5" body lift... looked terrible... I didn't get close enough to find out how he did it, but when you can see cars between the gap from the body to the frame.... it's not good.

Now, another little thing I found with my choptop.... when I built it to it's current height (2" body, 5" suspension), I put some 33x12.50 bias ply tires on it. It was surprisingly stable like that too. Then I stuck some 31x10.50 radials on it for awhile because I didn't want to chew up my 33's while I was DDing the truck... after about a week of that I put the 33's back on... it was scaring me trying to drive it with those lil tires. I believe the wider tire was adding stability.
 

rangerman84

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alrighty thank for yalls help. i need to trim the fenders a little because of the rust any way. but yall think a 2.8 will be able to pull 31s? i got a 5 speed transmission i can put in it if that will help and i plan on dura sparkin it
 

bonedoc

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I have an '85 Bronco II with a 2.8L, headers and a 2 and 1/2 inch exhaust. I have 31's on it, 3.73 gears and the A4LD trans. My motor isn't durasparked yet, just finished getting all the parts and waiting for a good long weekend, but when it is running right it cranks those tires just fine.
 

TheOne

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my 4L and 3.55 gears will turn my big 35's aswell...i get right around the same mileage i did with my 31's (when u take into account the change in the speedo and trip meter).

just gotta keep the rpms up to between 1600-2200 rolls nice around those rpms
 

deemac

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I ran 32x11.5 mudders on mine with just fender trimming...it flexed out too. I agree with keeping it low for stability, but i think anything under 4 inches of lift is still pretty stable. I personally dont like body lifts...suspention is the only way to go if your gonna lift it imo.
 

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