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vicelores big 2in Body Lift write up. lotsa pics.

Tech Talk for Suzuki owners.

Moderators: lay80n, sierrajim

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Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2004 3:58 pm
Location: Victoria, Australia

vicelores big 2in Body Lift write up. lotsa pics.

Post by vicelore »

VICELORES
91 sierra 2inch Body Lift Install write up.
Hello all give you a bit of background of my project I’m a 21 year old computer student now working in logistics as a category planner. With no prior knowledge about cars, except what I had read on the net. I Just bought a 91 WT sierra. Love it wanted a little more tyre clearance so decided to do this body lift. The kit I used was a superior engineering 2-inch lift. Cost me $370 shipped to vic. http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/p ... category=5
Thought I would put some words down on my experience with the process.
Was a extremely enjoyable process that took me and a mate who both had very little experience with cars about 16 hours total over a few days. But if I did it again now could get it done in about 5 hours.

Inspect the bolt’s location

Not too much to explain here. Theres 2 up front 2 in the back and 6 under the car in the middle. 4 just behind the front seats and 2 under the front of the doors.
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Remove front grill

All you need to do here is unscrew 5 screws out the front of the grill and give it a little pull from the middle of the grill.

Remove backlights loosen back bumper

Ok you don’t really have to remove the lights but it makes it allot easier (and I highly recommend it). There is 8 screws holding in the back 2 light’s take them out.
This will allow you to check alignment at a later stage when lowering the body.
Also I would remove the 6 main bolts that hold the back bumper on as when I was raising the body, my bumper caught up on the number plate light brackets and lifted the back wheels off the ground and then eventually snapped off one of the lights and bent the crap out of the bracket. if your careful with this you may not need to remove the bumper but I would advise it . Made it allot easier.
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Remove front bolts

Pretty explanatory, just screw the 2 bolts up from the top. Be careful with the ratchet if u haven’t taken out the front head lights. As I didn’t.

Remove back bolts

2 back bolts are pretty much the same just attack them from the top, kinda hard to get to the bolt head so use a ring spanner until u get it up past the rubber.

Remove 6 middle nuts and lower bushings

There are 6 bolts under the car will be quite obvious how they come off remember to keep the factory rubbers and the steel washers and bolts.

Remove fuel filler bash plate

ok in the back right wheel arch there is a guard to protect the filler hose from stuff hitting it . has 3 bolts 2 into the chassis and 1 into the body. take them all off and remove the guard. ( I only used the chassis bolts when I placed the guard back on.) top one is pretty useless IMO.
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Remove fuel filler guard (inside car)

ok in the back of the car there is a steel guard over the fuel filler hose. has 3 bolts holding it in it needs to come off. Do this by pulling the trim off over it and removing 1 bolt that was holding a little bracket on over the trim. Ounce that’s off get the steel guard out.
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Loosen cable ties on fuel filler hose

Ok there's a cable the top of the fuel filler hose and one at the bottom ( in the wheel arch) both need to be loosened. I couldn't move the hose much until I actually started moving the body up. so I left that until the lift.

Remove handbrake bracket

Easy peazy this one 2 bolts under the back tray. Probably directly under the back 2 seats, remove them and let them hang.

Remove brake line bracket

For this step you need to undo 2 bolts going into captive bolts welded onto a bracket inside the engine bay.
The bracket is under your battery, see pic. You need to undo the 2 bolts that go into the bracket, You can get to them from inside the front right wheel arch.
Ounce they are off let the bracket hang.
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Remove steering column

Ok fun stuff now. There are 2 bolts that go through the rag joint. (Rubber circle just before the steering box.) These need to come out and then there is a clamp up near the u joints (some dog bone thing up near the fire wall) see pic lol. Ounce that’s loose pull her out. Might be a little tight so don’t be scared to yank it out the clamp. (You will have to pull the bolt fully out the clamp to do this (well I had to).
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Drill steering column plugs

ok in the steering column there are 2 little plastic plugs that go about 3 mil into the shaft. they are around the middle of the shaft (on the square bit) see pic.
I just drilled the plugs out and lubed it up with some WD40.

Extend steering column spine

Ounce the plugs where out I gave it a bit with a hammer to move it in, and to move it out I inserted a screwdriver into the inner side of the shaft and hit it on the ground. Pushed the inner tube out fairly well. ( don’t be soft with this it can be quite stiff.)
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I have also read about people just putting a spacer on their rag joint. Or making another rag joint of the same size and using 2 to make up the extra length. I went away from this info because I didn’t have enough info on it.

Remove boot from around both gear sticks

Simple bit here 4 bolts around the main stick, 4 screws around the smaller gear stick.

The lift itself

The lift itself wasn’t the hardest thing to do. Though I was working in a garage with 2 normal car jacks and a bunch of blocks. If trolley jacks where used I would say it would be allot easier. I used a piece of wood each side under the sill and the jack under that. You have to be careful you don’t catch the bracing next to the sills that connects to the chassis as u will lift up the back tyres with the body (like I did lol).
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Take it slow when lifting and check for any tight cables or anything that could get pulled to tight.
I have herd that people only lift one side at a time. Install the blocks and do the other.
My blocks didn’t fit with just one side up in the air. So I had to lift both (probably not advised, as I had been told not to, but I saw no other option.)
The only thing I saw getting tight was the brake lines. But this ended up having enough stretch to get the blocks in.
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Screw on captive bolt extensions
Ok you just screw on the female bolts onto the captive 6 bolts under the body. i used lock tite on them (as i was advised to from the people who make the kit.)

Place rubber blocks onto the captive bolts

Just press all the blocks on the captive bolts coming down from the body then lower a bit to take the tension off the brake lines.
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Place in front and back blocks

After this I re positioned front and back blocks with the bolts just sitting in through the holes. Without screwing them into the chassis captive nuts.

Place factory rubber bushings on after the blocks

Then I focused on the bushings that came off the car on the 6 middle bolts coming down from the body. I used a little lube on them and cleaned them off. The seemed to be in good condition so decided not to replace them (though I have heard it’s a good idea.)
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I pressed them onto the outside of the block. Was a tight fit but got them on. If they are too hard try lower the body onto them and they should squeeze on.

Lower body

After all 6 bushings are on lower the car a little more.

Check alignment

On its trip down keep checking alignment using all bolts. This would be easier fixed if u used trolley jacks but I ended up just pushing the body around on jacks. Bit dodgy but got away with it.

Insert front and back bolts

After your happy with the alignment and have check all middle bushings are fitting into there holes nicely. Its time to tighten the front and back bolts. Remembering to use washers. My kit came with replacement washers but they where fairly crappy so I replaced them with the original ones.

Place on factory bushings then screw in screws

Ok so now the cars back down on the chassis and the front and back bolts are all holding the body in place. Place the factory rubbers back on the bottom of the 6 middle bolts followed by the big steel washer things. And finally a bolt to hold it all in.

Tighten up all the removed pieces

Pretty self-explanatory put back on the fuel filler and the cover inside and bash guard. I didn’t extend the handbrake bracket though you probably could.

Reinstall Brake Bracket

Ok this was fun. The 2 holes that you took the bracket off is now way out of reach for the bracket, though there are 2 pre drilled square holes a little down and to the right I used one of these holes to reinstall the bracket and drilled another for the other bolt. ( I was told you can bend the hard break lines to make it reach around the steering column and make its way to the desired holes. ) Which I did. But was also told not to bed up near the master cylinder. Not a brake expert so do not take my word for it if you aren’t sure what you’re doing.

Install steering column

For this part pretty self explanatory , just reinstall the steering column can get a little tricky lining up the holes but a beer buddy will make the job easier as they can turn the steering wheel for you.
Final stuff.
After that’s done pretty much just put the lights back in and install the grill and reinstall the boots around the gear sticks. Have herd that you may need to enlarge the Trans hole a little. I didn’t have to.

Ok so I thought I would put down what I had learnt through the process. Please do not take my word for any thing because as stated I have no experience except this IF YOU DO NOT KNOW PLEASE ASK SOMEONE WHO DOES. Anyway`s I coudn`t find much info on the install so I thought I would put something down to help someone out if they are looking to do it.
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Cheers guys and keep up all the good work Outer limits.

PS if anyone has any changes that need to be done to this please PM me and ill do my best to update it.
Please feel free to add to the bible as its body lift section could use a update lol.
Last edited by vicelore on Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Taff »

nice work .. you have motivated me to give it a go soon :D
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Post by christover1 »

great job and great write up.
people appreciate this sort of help
looking forward to seeing it in da bush :armsup:
christover
4WD SUZUKI CLUB VICTORIA
http://www.vic.suzuki4wd.com/forum/
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Post by vicelore »

yea thanks man i hoped it would be helpfull.
Ev
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Post by Ev »

Good job putting in the time and effort to do write up something cool like this. Complete with pictures and all, sure to help the next guy attempting this.

Good work Vice :) :D
Pep
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Post by Pep »

Well done mate, great write up, i'll be surely using it
when i do my lift ;)
I think this should be in the bible (just my thought)

Cheers Pep
No longer the BIG Man in a Little Car!!

Now in a GUII
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Post by lay80n »

Pep wrote:Well done mate, great write up, i'll be surely using it
when i do my lift ;)
I think this should be in the bible (just my thought)

Cheers Pep


It is.

Layto....
[quote="v840"]Just between me and you, I actually really dig the Megatwon, but if anyone asks, I'm going to shitcan it as much as possible! :D[/quote]
Pep
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Post by Pep »

Oops My Bad :oops:
No longer the BIG Man in a Little Car!!

Now in a GUII
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Post by cjdeane10 »

So, what did you have to do to lift the front bumper up, after the lift?
'93 sierra WT, 2" BL, 3" TG springs, 2" zorst, CD, 235's
To do: xtractrs, bigger tyres, gears, etc
See members for pics/info
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/sutra1368130.php#1368130
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Post by nicbeer »

cjdeane10 wrote:So, what did you have to do to lift the front bumper up, after the lift?
have u got std bumper of a bullbar?

have a look at my thread, i lifted my arb bar with custom mounts that slot into the chassis rails.
[url=http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/viewtopic.php?p=930942#930942&highlight=]Zook[/url]
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Post by chuckwilltalk »

this is a bloody good instruction manual, been wondering how im gona do mine as im doing it on the weekend and will now have the laptop out beside me with this on the screen. cheers mate!
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Post by vicelore »

nicbeer wrote:
cjdeane10 wrote:So, what did you have to do to lift the front bumper up, after the lift?
have u got std bumper of a bullbar?

have a look at my thread, i lifted my arb bar with custom mounts that slot into the chassis rails.
this is the method i used. i can take some pics for u if u like ??. i only did it temp untill i could afford a ARB or tube one.
91 SWB sierra, 2in spring lift, 2in BL 32 simex ETs, Series 4 RH gearing.

[url=http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=110288&highlight=]My build up thread[/url]
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Post by vicelore »

chuckwilltalk wrote:this is a bloody good instruction manual, been wondering how im gona do mine as im doing it on the weekend and will now have the laptop out beside me with this on the screen. cheers mate!
haha thanks mate, good to see its being used. if u got any Qs feel free to ask. ill try be online. also im always on msn so add me .

Cheers
91 SWB sierra, 2in spring lift, 2in BL 32 simex ETs, Series 4 RH gearing.

[url=http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=110288&highlight=]My build up thread[/url]
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Post by cjdeane10 »

excellent thread - used this for my BL.

Only thing to add was i had to remove my gearstick boots (orignals are hard rubber), and replace with custom ones (vinyl), as my gearsticks would hit the boot and not select 2nd or 4th gear or L4.

Also, i have some 'bumper extensions' that are perfect for moving your custom bumper up 2 inches after you have done a BL

i have made some custom brackets, so i dont need them anymore.
Pics are on my members, THEY HAVE BEEN SOLD)
Last edited by cjdeane10 on Wed May 28, 2008 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
'93 sierra WT, 2" BL, 3" TG springs, 2" zorst, CD, 235's
To do: xtractrs, bigger tyres, gears, etc
See members for pics/info
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/sutra1368130.php#1368130
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:58 pm
Location: wollongong

Post by mino11 »

hey mate my name is alex ive got a 98 modle seria and i wanted to give it some height ive got the blocks for it and ive read your comments about it nicely done by the way the only thing i was wondering is didi you replace all the bolts brand new and how did you do the ones that are actually under the body cause mine seem to be stuck there???? if yuo have a solution id love to hear it cheers man
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Post by lay80n »

mino11 wrote:hey mate my name is alex ive got a 98 modle seria and i wanted to give it some height ive got the blocks for it and ive read your comments about it nicely done by the way the only thing i was wondering is didi you replace all the bolts brand new and how did you do the ones that are actually under the body cause mine seem to be stuck there???? if yuo have a solution id love to hear it cheers man
Holy poor grammar and no punctuation. Anyway - the bolts that you think are stuck, are most likley captive body bolts, and dont come out. Maybe you need to do a bit more research. If you want a completley bolt in kit, talk to just cruisin, he makes a reversible kit that bolts straight in. If you want to use your blocks, you can either hack your floor up and remove the captive bolt (poor idea), or make up a male to female adapter stud to connect to the captive bolts. As for replacing the other (non capitve) bolts, think about it, your are lifting the body say 2 inches higher, you are going to need to replace the bolts with 2 inch longer ones :roll: There is heaps of infomation on body lifts on this board, just have a search around. The fact that you brought up this thread shows you are on the right track - keep it up :D

Layto....
[quote="v840"]Just between me and you, I actually really dig the Megatwon, but if anyone asks, I'm going to shitcan it as much as possible! :D[/quote]
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Post by just cruizin' »

I know I shouldn't be selling my own stuff in this section, I thought others may be in the same situation though.

I will sell you just the bolt kit you will need including the normal and female bolts with the required washers etc etc. Just send me a PM
;)
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Post by crackatinny »

just cruizin' wrote:I know I shouldn't be selling my own stuff in this section, I thought others may be in the same situation though.

I will sell you just the bolt kit you will need including the normal and female bolts with the required washers etc etc. Just send me a PM
i heaps recommend this kit, piss easy to fit, everything included
'Only Cheap Wine Comes in 5 Litres'
2" springs, 2" shackles, 2" Body Lift, 31" cooper st, 2.25" exhorst, extractors, pod filter, GTI engine, microtech, bullbar.
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Post by welchy_24 »

Does that gap between the front bumper and the body annoy ya?
can u fix this?

I am think of getting a lift kit but i dont like that gap lol maybe im just fussy :P
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Post by alien »

now thats been covered a kazillion times before =)

Make up some drilled plates on the mounts to lift the bumper...
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Post by welchy_24 »

SOO IT CAN BE DONE???
:lol:
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Post by vicelore »

Yea i used a few custom plates on the back of the bumper that attach to the rails.
91 SWB sierra, 2in spring lift, 2in BL 32 simex ETs, Series 4 RH gearing.

[url=http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=110288&highlight=]My build up thread[/url]
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Post by dave_a »

just did this today made it piss easy cheers man!
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Post by Moph »

Just a quick note re doing this - make sure you use Nyloc nuts on your steering column rag joint!

Checked mine tonight after hearing some clunking noises - one nut had come completely off, the other was loose as. I was maybe 50k's from losing both bolts and having no steering!

The nuts had been thread locked but because the nuts were torqued up against the rubber spacer, the spring of the rubber has (over time and with the aid of vibration and steering loads) broken the bond of the thread lock leaving the nut free to vibrate off.

Nyloc nuts shouldn't vibrate off even if the spring of the rubber spacer moves them slightly from their original position.
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Post by fool_injected »

INPORTANT: You may need to make the hole for the transfer case stick larger
Because of the lift the body the stick now effectively has a longer movement where is goes through the floor
If you do not make it larger the stick may hit the floor when ther transfer 'flexes' and knock it out of gear
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Post by Gwagensteve »

Moph wrote: The nuts had been thread locked but because the nuts were torqued up against the rubber spacer, the spring of the rubber has (over time and with the aid of vibration and steering loads) broken the bond of the thread lock leaving the nut free to vibrate off.
Moph, the factory rag joint has steel sleeves lining the holes from memory so when you tighten it up, it can torqued up properly. Maybe yours is missing the sleeves?

The factory nuts are standard nuts and a spring washer and they don't ever come loose (with the sleeves in). I did my first BL well over 10 years ago and I've done scores since and I've never seen the rag joint bolts come loose.

In relation to fool_injected's point - the clearance problem is always with low range and when it pops out of gear it goes straight into neutral. Not very tops.

Steve.
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Post by Moph »

Thanks Steve - it's not the factory rag joint. It's a thicker rag joint to account for the body lift that I think came with just cruizin's kit (?). Don't think it has sleeves, but I agree sleeves would fix the problem.

I'm just going to use nyloc nuts and keep a careful eye on it. It did around 10,000k's before rattling loose, so if I make sure I check it every 5000k service I should be dandy. If the nylocs start loosening then I'll have to remove the rag joint and fit some sleeves.
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Post by ofr57 »

your right steve factory rag jionts have sleeves ... I just checked my spare one :D
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Post by vicelore »

Good to see my threads still moving along here hehe.

Cheers Vice..
91 SWB sierra, 2in spring lift, 2in BL 32 simex ETs, Series 4 RH gearing.

[url=http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=110288&highlight=]My build up thread[/url]
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Post by zookieboi »

Anybody know if its different when doing a BL on a NT ute? its 1.3, im just wondering about transfer lever hitting and steering.
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