boat rollers for body lift

[jlove1974]

I am looking at various ways to do a cheap 2" BL on my B-II.
Since the factory body mounts are cracked cheapo 22 year old rubber, I was thinking about going with something like this:

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/T-D-86289/Poly+Vinyl+Non-Marring+Trailer+Bow+Roller.html

I figure this sandwiched between two large washers would do the trick. The factory ones are 1" so this being 3" would be a total lift around 2 inches.

I have found cheaper rollers made out of black rubber, but I don't trust black rubber on anything except sway bar bushings anymore. Esp something like this that tapers down. I was going to use Polyurethane but I do want some vibration isolation, so this polyvinyl stuff looks to be the heat.

Does anyone recall how many would be required on a 1st generation B-II or ranger? I am thinking 8 or 10...

 

[B2Guy]

you can get some body lift blocks off ebay for little more than a dollar. thats what i did. then i went to lowes and got all my grade 8 bolts, nuts, and washers for around 60 bucks. still have to put it on though haha...

 

[jlove1974]

you can get some body lift blocks off ebay for little more than a dollar. thats what i did. then i went to lowes and got all my grade 8 bolts, nuts, and washers for around 60 bucks. still have to put it on though haha...

I see some for around $3 each, which is why I went back to looking at boat nose rollers for around the same money. I want something that will give just a little and give some vibration damping, since this is a daily driver. But not alot of body flex.

Plus some of those ones on ebay look a little flimsy, whereas I know these poly rollers are resistant to salt spray and UV rot (marine grade).

Anyhow, I was basically looking for how many I need since I am too lazy to crawl under there and count (at work).

 

[jlove1974]

Also, the reason I am not buying an off the shelf body lift is:

1. I'm frugal and because I want to get a set of 'lift lips' to cover the gap front and rear.2. I don't want a solid nylon block due to the afforementioned vibration
3. I like to do some things myself (the hard way)
4. I can pick out my own grade 8 hardware (most of which I probably have at home)

Just like I plan on building my own rock-slider bars, and painting a set of steel wheels instead of some overpriced aftermarket jobs that will just get damaged.

Oh, also I paid less money for the Bronco II than I did a name-brand body lift lol

 

[B2Guy]

the ones i got off of ebay are polyurathane 3" blocks which i cut in calf for about a 1.5" lift. if your replacing the bushings to I would think that would make it a softer ride even with the harder polyurathane lift blocks.

I've never put a body lift on a mazda truck but I have done a 01' explorer and my 89' BII. Both of those require 10 blocks. I may be wrong but with the bed of the truck should there be i think 4 metal square type blocks to lift the bed? I remember getting those in my Performance Accessories kit I orderd for my explorer which was actually a ranger kit.


forget the last part i said. i forgot your putting it on a b2... i sometimes tend to be a retard!! haha so yea, 10 blocks and your good to go man. I mean, some people use stacked hockey pucks, and ive actually heard of people using boat rollers. They wont compress as you go to tighten down your bolts will they?

 

[jlove1974]

the ones i got off of ebay are polyurathane 3" blocks which i cut in calf for about a 1.5" lift. if your replacing the bushings to I would think that would make it a softer ride

forget the last part i said. i forgot your putting it on a b2... i sometimes tend to be a retard!! haha so yea, 10 blocks and your good to go man. I mean, some people use stacked hockey pucks, and ive actually heard of people using boat rollers. They wont compress as you go to tighten down your bolts will they?

I don't think these will compress as much as polyurethane. Polyurethane would make a great replacement body mount, but on a lift I want something more solid. This is almost like a skateboard-wheel material that is rated for marine use. Still has a minor amount of shock absorption, but much less than rubber (a good thing when going two inches higher) and more than something solid like aluminum, plastic, or hockey pucks. I would probably use some type of metal pipe spacer inside the 5/8" inch hole in case of catastrophic failure. The washers and pipe would still function as a spacer incase the poly cracked or degraded until I fixed it.

besides I don't want to cut and drill anything, this already has the correct size (3 1/2 diameter x 3" width) and a 5/8" hole drilled. Only thing I have to buy is washers and bolts.

At first I was looking at these but decided against black rubber
http://www.etrailer.com/Boat-Trailer-Parts/Redline/404800.html

 

[B2Guy]

yea, id go with the first link you posted over the rubber ones. so when do you plan on getting this project started? any pics of your b2? im in the process of rolling on some bedliner right now.

good luck with your body lift man!

 

[jlove1974]

here's my CD page:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3883907/1988-ford-bronco-ii-midland-nc-us

I have had this thing for 2.5 years and I am gonna get started on it asap this fall/winter.

Funny that you mention bedliner. I plan on using black DuraBAK at least on the bottom 3rd of the rig. I went out
and bought a cheap ceiling/undercoating paint spray gun at Harbor Freight for just this purpose.

 

[jlove1974]

yea, id go with the first link you posted over the rubber ones. so when do you plan on getting this project started? any pics of your b2? im in the process of rolling on some bedliner right now.

good luck with your body lift man!

here's the MFG page where they test these vs Polyurethane.
Even though the UV exposure would be limited, I still feel like the PVC ones would be a bit stiffer and tougher. PVC boats suck, pvc pipes rock!

 

[B2Guy]

looks good man. cant wait to see it sittin higher!

i just fineshed up my bedliner project and im sweating to death even though its the first official day of fall today...

heres the link to the thread. http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91953

 

[jlove1974]

welp if you are ever down towards URE give me a shout. Once I get my front diff fixed I am ready to go wheelin again. I will never trust a Dana 28 TTB again

 

[strvger]

cheapest i did was hockey pucks on my geo tracker trail rig. bought a bucket of them for about $12. worked well and still holding up very well after nearly 4 years. no complaints whatsoever even with all the flack i'm sure to get on this post.

 

[B2Guy]

ive never been to ure but id love to go sometime.