body lift?

[mcghan]

I'm thinking of doing 4" lift kit and 2" body lift on my 87 4x4,you guys with body lifts how did you do it?I was thinking of spacing the motor mounts 2" which would take some angle out of the drive shafts,which Im thinking would help with angles from lift kit and keep the radiator shroud where it should be or are you lowering the radiator and the shroud?i really dont want to hack up the shroud and call it done,or what else are you doing?thanks in advance for any advice

 

[dunk]

No body lift, they are hackjobs. No reason to screw with your motor mounts or radiator. 4"-6" is not enough to worry about driveline angles. Depending on the lift you may need to shim your rear axle for pinion angle, but that's it. Shackle flip gets you 4" in rear, shackle flip and add a leaf gets you 6". If you do a shackle lift consider boxing your shackles. Don't use lift blocks, hackjob. Front will be springs or for best ride a shackle reversal and Super Duty or other longer springs. 6" may require modifying crossmember for driveshaft clearance but it's minor.

 

[IDIoit]

most of us will knock body lifts. IMO they are ugly, and a unorthodox fix to a problem that should be addressed.
heres me chiming in.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to dunk For This Useful Post:

IDIoit (05-29-2015),sherwin johnson (05-29-2015),snicklas (05-29-2015)


sounds like another banned user got back in.
welcome back!

 

[freebird01]

the only reason to do a body lift is tire clearance... with a body lift you end up having to mess with shifters...brake lines...e-brake cables... potential wiring issues (not always)...

ive seen cabs shift due to body lifts...an not tall ones either. on one occasion i seen a chevy shift enough to smack the dizzy on the back of the motor and kill the truck.

myself id prefer to go all springs. shackle reversals work well if your into fab work. new springs can be stiffer when you go lifted springs....your analogy on ride quality vs fuel efficiency is not a very good one.

the big thing with any lift is the devil is in the details.... shocks...brake hoses....steering... driveshaft lengths...

whats your goal? pavement princess? mud bogger? rock crawler? all-purpose rig (compromises will have to be made here)

with an F250 you will end up either doing a SFA conversion or using drop brackets for the TTB. Drop brackets have been known to bend...crack...work bolts loose due to the stresses involved if not installed properly using the correct fasteners.

blocks in the rear are a bandaid and will cause axle wrap. which is even worse if your towing.

 

[freebird01]

it wasnt a random truck... a hockey puck lift is only 1 1/2" at best. the general rule is dont go over 3" for a body lift. stacking blocks is not a good idea either...

either way...unless its for a good reason i never recommend a body lift. (typically c6 trucks are a linkage and not a cable btw). all the weight of the cab...occupants...etc are all putting force on the bolts when you come to a panic stop. a short body lift this isnt much of a concern... but at 3" your at the hairy edge of safe. thats why body lifts over 3" are illegal in a lot of states and no company out there sells a commerical kit over 3".

not to mention you get that aweful gap between the body and the frame....

 

[sjwelds]

sounds like another banned user got back in.
welcome back!

Hmmmmm... Agreed. Why does this guy ring a bell????

 

[IDIoit]

because its that jay22 character.
hopefully he gets his head on straight and quit acting like the proficient internet ranger he once was.
but according to another post, its most likely too much to ask.

we shall see how long the admins let him stay this time.

 

[snicklas]

sounds like another banned user got back in.

Hmmmmm... Agreed. Why does this guy ring a bell????

I also agree, I will be watching this closely.

 

[IDIoit]

"An Unorthodox fix"

Here's a picture of the conventional cab commercial trucks which ford designed with an all steel STOCK BODY LIFT Ford used the simplicity of body lifting to lift the conventional cabs so that they would fit it onto the commercial chassis.

You must be registered for see images attach

So IDIoit what your saying is that your, im sure "professional" opinion, is that you know more than the FORD ENGINEERS that built these trucks? That ford uses "UNORTHODOX" methods when building there commercial vehicles?
Btw its not a "fix" its a "modification". So what is so "unorthodox" about it and why didnt ford catch onto the fact that there engineers were, by your definition, cutting corners and designing things in an "unorthodox" manner?

i have NEVER claimed to be a professional on these trucks.
I KNOW FOR A FACT, that some engineers are pretty retarded.
if you would have READ my post, you would have caught the "IMO"
incase you do not know what this is, this is "IN MY OPINION"
do not mistake an opinion for fact.
thanks for this reply,now back to not seeing anything you type again.
have a great life.

 

[Can30Diesel]

Getting back to the OP, I have heard good and bad about body lifts and both have their arguments.

Generally people do a body lift to gain space between the body and the frame to allow for
-larger turbo down pipes
-bigger tires (trying to avoid the suspension lift for concern about drivetrain angle changes)
-more access to stuff that would be otherwise hard to reach (fuel sending units, bolts on the top of transmissions and transfer cases etc)
-room for a taller or longer engine (Cummins swaps)

Reasons why you don't want a body lift are usually
-less contact surface between the body and the frame can lead to excessive frame flex and puts more strain on the mounting points in the event of an accident.
-may need to extend several lines and other components to accommodate the lift (steering linkage, brake lines, transfer case shifter, and so on..) adding possibly unexpected cost and time
-can look goofy if the bumpers are not lifted or changed to line up with the rest of the lift.

I am sure there are many others.

I have run a 3 inch body lift in my IDI for about 5 years now. That truck has done everything from haul and pull heavy loads to bombing around in all kinds of uneven terrain for wood runs while camping and general 4x4 fun. The lift has never left me stranded or in any danger. However I do notice the body/frame flex and honestly if I was to do it again, I wouldn't go with a body lift. In fact it may be leaving the truck in place of a better suspension lift once I get to that point in the project. I like having more structural stability on something so big and heavy, even if its maybe only perceived stability.

 

[typ4]

I used new poly cab mounts on the dually, made some 3.5 inch diax1"thick aluminum spacers for the "lift" . Cut aluminum bar for the bed spacers, drilled the ones for the bolts, tapped and bolted the others on where the bed touches the frame normally.
the reason for cab lift, turbo clearance, the bed to line up the body lines.
With a 1inch the rear cab bolts can be used in the front and new 7/16 x 7.5 purchased for the rear cab, and some heavy flat washers to replace the factory flange on the bolt.
core support studs are plenty long.
Just my work.

Oh and I used 5/8 bolts to fasten the bed as my bed bolts were siezed and spun a nice round hole in the surface. With 5/8 bolts the bed doesnt slide around.

 

[franklin2]

I see someone mentioned a rear shackle reversal for rearend lift. I have heard this throws the pinion angle off in the back and can cause a little vibration. Anyone run into this? If it's true, I think it should be mentioned and or the people that make the kits should include the proper shims to correct the pinion angle.

 

[IDIoit]

when one says RSK, i automatically think of reversing the shackles from the rear to the front. ( on SD front spring swaps)

but i think in this case being its for the rearend, i would think that having the rear shackle mount flip floped and from one side to another is what is being described here.

if you use the stock shackles, the pinion angle should not be an issue, if you use longer shackles, then yes this does come into play.

using a longer rear shackle on the rearend will actually give you more positive angle on the pinion.
all depends on how much you lift it,
for arguments sake,say if you give it a 12" shackle lift, youre going to need to reposition the front spring hangers too,
pinion angle would be haywire without, not to mention you driveshaft.

i think a 3" rear shackle lift will not cause you much trouble,
as my truck is stock, the rear driveshaft rides pretty close on the splines to the carrier bearing, a 3" shouldnt move it too much.
6" would be a different scenario

 

[freebird01]

its more of a shackle flip and not a shackle reversal....a shackle reversal is moving a rear shackle to the front or vice versa...

this takes a shackle and points in in the opposite direction thus pushing the one side of the spring way down. you will need to adjust your pinion angle by either cutting and rewelding the perches or by using shims. the company's do not include them because there is no way to predict every setup out there.

 

[Can30Diesel]

I used new poly cab mounts on the dually, made some 3.5 inch diax1"thick aluminum spacers for the "lift" . Cut aluminum bar for the bed spacers, drilled the ones for the bolts, tapped and bolted the others on where the bed touches the frame normally.
the reason for cab lift, turbo clearance, the bed to line up the body lines.
With a 1inch the rear cab bolts can be used in the front and new 7/16 x 7.5 purchased for the rear cab, and some heavy flat washers to replace the factory flange on the bolt.
core support studs are plenty long.
Just my work.

Oh and I used 5/8 bolts to fasten the bed as my bed bolts were siezed and spun a nice round hole in the surface. With 5/8 bolts the bed doesnt slide around.

Nice work!

Now if only body lift kits came that way instead of just pucks, lift brackets and some extensions, the body lift wouldn't have such a bad rep.