Bodylift help

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I haven't been on for sometime now.( Blew my motor up ) Anyways, I got a 3" body lift given to me but I need hardware. What length of bolts will I need for these? Obviously I will be going with gr8 bolts before anyone says anything.

I can't recall what I did with this information; I did document it somewhere that will turn up long after you don't need to know anymore.


I do remember that all of the bolts on my 1985 were 7/16" .


Do you know all about those hateful sleeved bolt/washer/nut gizmos that are at the very front ??

I could not see just what I was dealing with; and, after removing what I thought was the only nut, still nothing would give.

After exhausting all possibilities, I discovered that I had to hold the sleeve of that second nut-thingie with Channel-locks while wrenching the bolt out.

Of course, those second bolts were only put there for assembly-line use, so I sent them to the bottom of the pond.

 

[Redneck]

Well bring your tall truck up and I'll take ya out to wheel it. You'll soon understand why guys who run trails don't lift their trucks any more than necessary.
And yeah, I can see how you'd think that a cheap functional truck would look cheap. Dunno about unsafe...lower truck means lower COG, which means less chance of rolling.
I can kinda understand though I you've got the jeep thing, it can really effect your brain in some terrible ways. One of my buddies had it pretty bad, but a good dose of Toyota grease cleared it right up, maybe it could work for you?

 

[Rollin Coal]

You're making Canadians sound retarded. Thanks...
Right now I only want the body lift so I don't scrub my tires (38.5s) an inch or two would take care of that. I'm undecided of how long I'll be keeping the truck for. It's long and takes up a lot of space. That being said...the truck is like 22' long....it's not meant for "wheeling in the woods" I'll play in the mud with it but as for smashing it off trees. Not gonna happen. I want bushwhacker cut outs but I don't like the "bolt holes". I'm certainly not taking a sawzall to my fenders...sorry.

A body lift on a Ford isn't like a chev...the frame doesn't have a huge gap like them.

Annnnyways. I haven't been on here since spring...glad to come back to this. For those that actually helped, I appreciated it.

 

[MUDKICKR]

Well bring your tall truck up and I'll take ya out to wheel it. You'll soon understand why guys who run trails don't lift their trucks any more than necessary.
And yeah, I can see how you'd think that a cheap functional truck would look cheap. Dunno about unsafe...lower truck means lower COG, which means less chance of rolling.
I can kinda understand though I you've got the jeep thing, it can really effect your brain in some terrible ways. One of my buddies had it pretty bad, but a good dose of Toyota grease cleared it right up, maybe it could work for you?

you must live on daves farm, and i guess we have another member here that is always right. but i guess us WV boys dont know anything about 4 wheeling since WV is so flat without any hills. also after owning a jeep i wouldnt own another one, and toyotas round here in these parts dont do any better then a danged old dodge.

 

[MUDKICKR]

You're making Canadians sound retarded. Thanks...
Right now I only want the body lift so I don't scrub my tires (38.5s) an inch or two would take care of that. I'm undecided of how long I'll be keeping the truck for. It's long and takes up a lot of space. That being said...the truck is like 22' long....it's not meant for "wheeling in the woods" I'll play in the mud with it but as for smashing it off trees. Not gonna happen. I want bushwhacker cut outs but I don't like the "bolt holes". I'm certainly not taking a sawzall to my fenders...sorry.

A body lift on a Ford isn't like a chev...the frame doesn't have a huge gap like them.

Annnnyways. I haven't been on here since spring...glad to come back to this. For those that actually helped, I appreciated it.

body lift will serve you well with what you want to do, and will help you with more space around the engine/trans/transfer case.
for some reason the bushwacker fender flares for the 92-96 body style dont have bolt holes, they look like the ones you have, only bigger. i have a set and was disappointed cause i liked the bolt hole design. now if you find a set with the bolt holes id trade you real quick.

 

[sle2115]

Yes; it is highly advisable to replace the stock unit with either a Borgeson or Flaming River.

When you get the stock shaft out and lay it beside the Borgeson, you will wonder how on earth you held it between the ditches as long as you have.


With two-inches, the stock shaft is scary-close to being too short.

With three-inches, it is only holding by a thread; the least little twist and it would separate.

If you ain't already up-graded the shaft, you need to anyway, whether you lift it or no.

I'm not sure what years this refers to or where the info came from, but i've got at least 6 inches inside the slip joint on my steering shaft, even more in the column! The 2" lift kit I have states that the 2" lift will cause a 3/4" lengthening of the steering shaft and the 3" says 1" of stretch. Not sure if the info is an advertisement or personal experience, but I just changed my steering column to a tilt one and measured the slip joint, not going to be a problem on the 87!

 

[BrandonMag]

Rollin Coal, I think the reason you want a body lift is the reason they're made. If you're not going to take your truck extreme off-roading, the body lift looks pretty good.

I think these results speak for themselves:

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=42655

 

[subway]

Well bring your tall truck up and I'll take ya out to wheel it. You'll soon understand why guys who run trails don't lift their trucks any more than necessary.
And yeah, I can see how you'd think that a cheap functional truck would look cheap. Dunno about unsafe...lower truck means lower COG, which means less chance of rolling.
I can kinda understand though I you've got the jeep thing, it can really effect your brain in some terrible ways. One of my buddies had it pretty bad, but a good dose of Toyota grease cleared it right up, maybe it could work for you?

i can agree with that on a rig that is going to be used off road. my 4door F350 needs an acre to turn around there is no way that thing will wind up some windy trails like my Jeep.

the reason i am looking to put a body lift on is not to clear tires or really make my truck taller but for engine clearance. a body lift can make a world of differance working on the turbo and clearing a larger down pipe. i am also in the beginnig stages of making a dump bed which will require more room in the rear. that will also dictate a lift of my cab to match the body lines back up.

i understand a large body lift is a cheap and undesirable thing off road but that is not the focus of most of the people on this site.

 

[Agnem]

Well I think body lifts are GREAT! I don't go wheeling, and since we have the counterpoint, I can offer my opinion (cause we all know they are like A-holes, everybody has one). I happen to LIKE the gap between the body and the frame. I LIKE the way my bumper looks and I don't have any problems with any of the ones that I've done. They make maintanance easier, you have more pipe and plumbing routing options, you can keep an eye on things better, it's easier to paint stuff, mount stuff, and clean stuff. SEE... not everybody's requirements for what makes a truck great are the same as yours. Let's keep that in mind when offering opinions.

 

[Rollin Coal]

Thanks for the input guys! Mel, you make great points. I've never really been a fan of body lifts but my suspension is getting to the point of being pretty maxed out without getting into driveshafts etc.

I think a body lift will get my little truck to fit under haha I also have a little side project for it. It will be laying frame here very shortly haha

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[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I'm not sure what years this refers to or where the info came from, but i've got at least 6 inches inside the slip joint on my steering shaft, even more in the column! The 2" lift kit I have states that the 2" lift will cause a 3/4" lengthening of the steering shaft and the 3" says 1" of stretch. Not sure if the info is an advertisement or personal experience, but I just changed my steering column to a tilt one and measured the slip joint, not going to be a problem on the 87!

I gleaned that information from an old school called personal experience.

With the factory-original tilt-column shaft on my 1985, the shaft had maybe 1/4" of engagement with the 3-inch blocks; the least bit of frame flex and it would have came apart.

I sawed them down to 2-inch and it had about 1/2" engagement = still no where close to what I consider safe.