Body lift or not?

[ckblum]

I have a 3 inch body lift with 31" also. It sounds like a popular choice there must be something good about it. And it isn't even ugly, what I think is ugly are those sick suspensions that criss cross all over the place and probably don't even drive that well.

 

[baadboy11]

I have a 3 inch body lift with 31" also. It sounds like a popular choice there must be something good about it. And it isn't even ugly, what I think is ugly are those sick suspensions that criss cross all over the place and probably don't even drive that well.

+1

I'd say its fine for what you will use your truck for, but as you can tell its a personal choice...with one or two different views on the subject

 

[Evan]

i had a 3 inch body lift on my 99 and ran 33/12.50/16. the only draw back is that i think the BL was part of the reason it rolled instead of just skidding

The BL would have made it roll easier, but a 3" suspension lift would have been even worse.

 

[hitech_hick]

There is a lot of BS going on here. First, people saying you shouldn't make your own body lift. It's like any other type of fab work; if you do a good job and don't cut corners, it will be fine. My body lift made from hockey pucks and threaded rod has proven itself time and time again. I did have a mount pull through the body before the body lift.

Next, people saying that body lifts are for street queens or are unnecessary. Did you know that on many RBVs you need a body lift in order to run a doubler? That's a good reason right there, and I have not seen many street queens running doublers. BLs are a great way to fit a larger tire under a truck without raising your CG sky high or creating steering problems. If you already have enough suspension lift and/or just want to run larger tires, a BL is a great option.

And as far as BLs looking unsightly, some trucks are built for the trail and not built for eye candy. I like looking at my rig and others and seeing framerails, driveshafts, coilsprings, etc.

What state are you from and what roads do you drive on? I definitely want to be sure that I steer clear of you on the road, or even the trail for that matter. As for making as apposed to buying one; yes, you can make your own that is as good or even better than a production model (PA), but it won't be cheaper, that is for sure. And if it is cheaper, then it definitely isn't better.


hick

p.s. If I were on pirate, I would make that statement my sig line...

 

[Evan]

What state are you from and what roads do you drive on? I definitely want to be sure that I steer clear of you on the road, or even the trail for that matter. As for making as apposed to buying one; yes, you can make your own that is as good or even better than a production model (PA), but it won't be cheaper, that is for sure. And if it is cheaper, then it definitely isn't better.


hick

p.s. If I were on pirate, I would make that statement my sig line...

Why would you want to steer clear of me on the road? Do you really think that 10 lengths of 1/2 inch grade 5 threaded rod are going to simultaneously shear off and my cab will disconnect from the frame while I'm driving down the road??

Regardless of the theories you may have, I have been running this setup for years both on and offroad, with no problems. The mounts are still tight and look like new.

 

[reddog5]

I dont think this thread should even be in the "extreme suspensions" forum.....

 

[BIIprospector]

I dont think this thread should even be in the "extreme suspensions" forum.....

X2
although i replaced all of the stock mounts on my BII with hockey pucks because mine were blown, and while i was doing it i added a 2 inch PA body lift. i also put pucks below the frame mounts so there was a sort of absorber. i found big flat washers the same diameter as the pucks so when it was done i had:
body, washer, lift block, hocky puck, washer, frame mount, washer, puck, washer, and a bolt going through all of it.

i wheel the crap out of it in mud, rocks, everything and have not had one problem. i did the explorer springs in the rear, and spacers in the front running 33" boggers and have not had to trim fenders.

 

[ckblum]

I think Im gonna take my body lift out and cut it down to 1" instead. 3" is a pretty high body lift and I think its part of the reason my box shifted to one side, there is a lot of leverage on the bolts and mounts to shift under stress. I want my truck to be lower anyways. Im just gonna cut the rear fenders and buy some fiberglass front ones for clearance.

Down the road I may even put some 1.5" lift coil springs in the front.

 

[mhughes165]

I think Im gonna take my body lift out and cut it down to 1" instead. 3" is a pretty high body lift and I think its part of the reason my box shifted to one side, there is a lot of leverage on the bolts and mounts to shift under stress. I want my truck to be lower anyways. Im just gonna cut the rear fenders and buy some fiberglass front ones for clearance.

Down the road I may even put some 1.5" lift coil springs in the front.

the reason it shifted is every so often u have to make sure the bolts are still tight as everything settles after u set the body back down, says it in the instructions, they work there way lose as they settle and cause shifting, aslong as u make sure its all tight itll never shift

 

[Todd]

body lifts are for street queens period. no one with any kind of off roading or performance in mind uses a body lift-period. ther are other cheap ways of clearing big tires, fender flares, fiberglass, and trimming. bodylifts increase high center of gravity with excesive body roll. NOT A GOOD COMBINATION.

Oh ya spot on

Look at my street queen that has a BL. Not off road performace there at all

What state are you from and what roads do you drive on? I definitely want to be sure that I steer clear of you on the road, or even the trail for that matter. As for making as apposed to buying one; yes, you can make your own that is as good or even better than a production model (PA), but it won't be cheaper, that is for sure. And if it is cheaper, then it definitely isn't better.


hick

p.s. If I were on pirate, I would make that statement my sig line...

Pirate is full of dicks that love busting on others, Pirate sucks.

I have been running pucks for years. Still running some of the same pucks I had under my BII body. After having them on there for 5 years I saw nothing wrong with them for me not to use them agian under the Ranger cab. Go a ahead and call me dumb but you have no experiace with pucks as I would guess.

So you know what my rig looks like, and by all means STAY CLEAR.

 

[canyoncritter]

all depends on what you using the truck for......

all but maybe the most hardcore tube frame rock crawlers and the desert trucks are the only ones that really need to shy away from off the shelf body lifts.

in desert trucks most tend to shy away cause of the fact they can puncture threw the sheet metal,and have more of a chance to shear off cab mount bolts.but there has been a few nice desert trucks with body lift's. But not your off the shelf kit.

For something like todds truck, junkie bronco etc, they work just fine.And I bet for junkie it worked out even better.keeping the stering in shape as best he could and still clear 35's.

for 97% of every other use of a truck,if the body lift is installed right(lots of little things to be done when installing a body lift that make it or break it),and you matian your truck.Check the body mount bolts time to time.REPLACE a bolt if it starts to strech.that person should have no problems with a body lift.

If you hauling heavy loads in the bed of your truck, you could end up with a problem. your bed floor may start to sink.

Making your own,would be fairly simple to do right.And great I think if you have a all out trial truck and have a need to build some better than off the shelf. but for most people to be done right, in the end its cheaper to just buy a kit.

And this is coming from a guy who dont like bodylifts.

 

[spdcrazy]

well these pages were amusing....

 

[hitech_hick]

Oh ya spot on

Look at my street queen that has a BL. Not off road performace there at all



Pirate is full of dicks that love busting on others, Pirate sucks.

I have been running pucks for years. Still running some of the same pucks I had under my BII body. After having them on there for 5 years I saw nothing wrong with them for me not to use them agian under the Ranger cab. Go a ahead and call me dumb but you have no experiace with pucks as I would guess.

So you know what my rig looks like, and by all means STAY CLEAR.

I think that perhaps you need to reread my original quote. It was not the hockey pucks that I was busting on, it was the threaded rod that concerned me. I know that there is high grade (grade 5 and grade 8) threaded rod available, but that is not what most shade tree "fabricators" use. They get the cheap stuff from Ace hardware, and use it on every thing from shifters, to u-bolts, to the previously mentioned body lifts. I am not saying that you cannot make a quality body lift without a kit, I am merely saying that it is not economically feasible. You can make it cheap, but it won't be better, and if it is better, then it won't be cheaper.

If you some how took offense to a statement that was not even directed to, that is your problem, not mine. And yes, as previously stated this thread doesn't belong under "extreme suspensions".


hick