2" body lift complete, shifting is horrible

troupp

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Ok, so the 2"body lift is done. I had to lengthen my 4wd shifter, now it works fine. But I can't seem to make the zf's shifter work for squat on any of the back 3 gears. I've clearanced the floor as per the lifts instructions, to no avail. Ive cut the lower shift boot, to allow it to flex more as I thought it was binding the shifter up, and I removed the upper shifter boot and left it loose from the floor, still 2nd, 4th and reverse don't want to shift decent... had no problems before lift..

Any thoughts or proven fixes?
 

lotzagoodstuff

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Any chance you can move the cab back on the body mounts? I put a 2" body lift on my truck and didn't modify the floor at all. I did have to rebend the transfer case stick, but not that much. I made a point to push the cab as far rearward as possible to avoid any interference with firewall and exhaust manifolds (I had a small amount of interference).

Good luck
 

DragRag

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That's all you can really do is trim the floor pan. I really do hate body lifts, and I always try and discourage people from using them.
 
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troupp

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Sorry, but the body lift is on and it's not going back!! Did it to facilitate easier turbo install(soon coming). Was going to move the shifter boots back, but they really didn't give you much extra on the carpet, and although it is a truck, I didn't want to make it look too horrible.
 

Agnem

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In the Night Moose, we machined a 2" body lift for the shift lever. LOL It was easier than bending and cutting stuff, and fixed the problem perfectly. Just made it out of a piece of stock and cut threads in it so there would be no need for nuts. I'll probably have to do the same for the Moosestang. The problem is, when you do the body lift, your fulcrum point for the shift lever is lower, consequently the swing of the lever is greater. We found that the boot had a tendancy to "bunch up" and keep the lever from moving adaquately. The lever lift solved that problem.
 

Fordsandguns

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In the Night Moose, we machined a 2" body lift for the shift lever. LOL It was easier than bending and cutting stuff, and fixed the problem perfectly. Just made it out of a piece of stock and cut threads in it so there would be no need for nuts. I'll probably have to do the same for the Moosestang. The problem is, when you do the body lift, your fulcrum point for the shift lever is lower, consequently the swing of the lever is greater. We found that the boot had a tendancy to "bunch up" and keep the lever from moving adaquately. The lever lift solved that problem.

I was wondering if that could be done. I don't have any plans for a body lift but this thread had me thinking.
I haven't looked through all the pics of the Night Moose build, did you get shots of the extension?
 

TWeatherford

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You will be happy with your lift when you go to put that turbo on. A few hours of fighting with an up pipe will make anyone mad. Shift boots are easier to deal with in my opinion. I considered making a shift lift like Agnem describes, but ended up making my own shift boot. I used the rubber from the original one, and some diamond plate aluminum, some silicone sealer, and self tapping screws. I will try to post pics if I get a chance. I did a lot of checking to make sure things would fit (and cut the floor back as well, the diamond plate was large enough thought to cover the whole hole in the floor), and it took a few hours to get it right. But it works well. You definitely want it to fit well, and seal out all the noise and heat coming off that engine. I drove mine from Colorado to KY, 1400 miles, with no shift boots except towels that I would periodically dip in water to help them seal better. Miserable to say the least, windows down the whole way, eyes watering because of the exhaust (had an exhaust leak too), and not very safe either.
 

Agnem

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Sorry. No pic of the extension. I used a piece of 1/2" thick alluminum and machined it into the shape of half a ******** for lack of a better description. That way the lever lined up with the original vector it was on.
 
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