HOW HARD IS IT TO INSTALL A BODY LIFT?

[built4thrashing]

have made up a bodylift out of 65mm steel rod (drilled and threaded) What special things do i have to watch out for? want to do it very soon. Will even supply the drinks if someone has a place and a spare day to help do it.

Im in melbourne area.

[RB zook]

took me 1 and a half days

buyt that was with the standard sierra jack

just looook long and hard for stuff that connects to the chassie and the body

also take the top bolt out of the fuel filler guard(thats wat was holdin the rear drivers side )

[lay80n]

Easy job mate, just pay attention to anyhting that may get caught when ya lifting it. its easier to use bigger jacks than the factory zook crap too.
Layto....

[built4thrashing]

what needs to be done with the brake lines, steering shaft and shifters? Lift blocks are 60mmhigh x 65mm round.

[RB zook]

gear shifter may need slight bending

transfer shifter will still work but might need to take boot off to get into 4 low

break lines only the passengers side is connected to the body unclip it and sheel be rite

[RB zook]

you may need this for steering shaft
http://store.snakeracing.com.au/cache/i ... l?cache=no

or just get a nylothand or rubber pieace the same as wats there

toranas have the same one it may be cheaper

[bigsteve]

I had mine fitted (on my own) in an afternoon.

Remember toi check all your hoses after you have it all bolted back together.

For memory I split a heater hose as well as one of the lines to the petroll tank.

[built4thrashing]

any threads wit hints and pics?

[Ric]

i started to do mine tonight .... 2"

the only problem i have had is i am not sure what to do with the radiator.. as the fan doesn't lift and the plastic around the fan does..
will keep you posted with problems.

Ric

[bigsteve]

i started to do mine tonight .... 2"

the only problem i have had is i am not sure what to do with the radiator.. as the fan doesn't lift and the plastic around the fan does..
will keep you posted with problems.

Ric

With 1.3's The plastic around the fan is bolted to the radiator which is bolted to the chassis.

It shouldn't need to be touched.

[OVERKILL ENG]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

[RB zook]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

this is soo true

[-kob-]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

my home made box section seems to work wonders

[Beastmavster]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

my home made box section seems to work wonders

Dunno about Grimace but box section lifts are scary.

[-kob-]

few mm thick rod in the middle with the bolt going thru it works wonders no problems yet. You look at some of the kits u can get its the same just alittle bit more 'neater'

[SiKiD_01]

i learnt the hard way! if you can avaoid a BL, then avoid it.

even if you have blocks made up, it'll never be perfect, in the sense it will not have any more problems.

DON'T USE BOX SECTION! a calmini 3" body lift used a 2" box section, and a 1" aluminium spacer block. same as any other box section BL.

i thought that a BL would be sweet, but it doesn't leave much to be desired. never ending problems, sqeaking, a lot of it, humungus uglY gaps in wheels arches, (RICERS CAN STILL SEE EACH OTHER, EVEN IF YOU STOP IN THE MIDDLE LANE BETWEEN THEM!)

only good thing, i can fit 32" tyres on my vitara.

[Ric]

did you leave rubber between the body and the blocks sikid?
i am doing mine now and don't want it to make noises.

Ric

[bigsteve]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

Quite true but their Grimace outweighed by that of exo's which are also grossly homsexual

[muppet_man67]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

what would you recomend instead if you want to fit bigger tyres and dont want to fork out on suspension?

[stumped]

DON'T DO IT BODY LIFTS ARE Grimace

what would you recomend instead if you want to fit bigger tyres and dont want to fork out on suspension?

virtual lift

Remove flare including bracket
lift bracket and and flare so that you can still fit the indicator.
pop rivit bracket in temp new location (note I lifted the rear to the first body line aboove the sill)
you should now have about an inch of outer panel in the wheel well.
I then bashed flywall a bit
Now cut the lip off the outer panal and cut the inner guard off the outer, should remove enough so that you can snipe the outer panal and fold back up the inner guard.
snipe bend in with pliers then bash flat with hammer.
Moving to the font I need room behind the head light so;
I cut down from the inner bracket to the light bracket then across the the outside panel. I then trimed a bit off the now flappiong peice. I then pushed this up and tack welded higher up on the headlight bracket.
Then just fill with bog and paint and anthing else you want to do. I also trimed the very front corner a bit
I just put more rivits into the bracket, but if you don't like that idea just weld on.

do a search seen it on a zook, looks pretty sweet, can get heaps of clearance without raising COG or any other safety issues of a bodylift. if i was gonna redo mine, that's how i'd do it... but atm i'm too lazy to pull the BL out

[built4thrashing]

This is a question to all those that think they know every thing about what is best for everyone.

So if you guys think a body lift is Grimace then what other options are there that are this cheap. a spoa is unliked by alot of ppl for different reasons and is to expensive to do, cutting is out as insurance will see it as panel damage and getting even bigger shackles or taller springs will just efect steering way too much.

The way i see it is if ya got heaps a money to waste on ya 4x4 then the other options are the way to go but for a majority of us that dont a body lift is one of, if not the cheapest way to get extra clearance for bigger tyres with out stuffing up the steering geometry.

Every one seems to have their own oppinion on this abd we have heard it all so often but what each person decides to do is their choice and shouldnt be critisised.

We learn from our mistakes and if we never get allowed to make them then we must never learn.????

[sierrajim]

I see nothing wrong with a mild (2" or so) body lift. It allows for tyre and sill clearance and does not raise the COG anywhere near as much as a suspension lift as the chassis and engine stay (relatively) in the same location as stock.

Just watch out with steel blocks as they will most probably rust onto the factory body studs, ie when its on the car, its on for good.

A body lift will also require an engineers report i think. Shouldn't be too hard to get done on a 2" lift however.

IMHO i believe that a body lift is a better alternative for Vic off roading than a suspension lift.

[stumped]

i'd think bodylift would be less acceptable to insurance than virtual lift, cos BL has gotta be engineered (in nsw at least) and can be really dangerous if not done properly... but i dunno how they react to cutting *shrugs*

i'm happy with my 2" BL, hasn't caused me any problems thus far. raised rear bumper is good, but tyres will do that a bit anyway. i like the virtual lift idea, but has it's down sides - doesn't get the sills higher unless you start cutting them too, and would be a pretty big job compared to BL i think (for me anyway)

[N*A*M]

virtual lift cost me about $50 and four weekends

but it reduced the resale value of my car to zilch and made it look uber Grimace on 26s

body lifts can be undone, virtual lifts can't

[built4thrashing]

what needs to be done to petrol filler neck? is tank bolted to chasis or body??? also what size spacer do i need for the steering shaft?

[built4thrashing]

ALSO DOES ANY ONE IN THE MELB AREA HAVE A 10MMX1.25 DIE TO THREAD THE TOP OF THE BODY STUDS?? WILL BORROW OR BUY IT

[RB zook]

what needs to be done to petrol filler neck? is tank bolted to chasis or body??? also what size spacer do i need for the steering shaft?

the tank it bolted to the chassie the filler tube on my coily was ok with 3 inch body but it may be a different story on a leafy

[bigsteve]

what needs to be done to petrol filler neck? is tank bolted to chasis or body??? also what size spacer do i need for the steering shaft?

the tank it bolted to the chassie the filler tube on my coily was ok with 3 inch body but it may be a different story on a leafy

I just loosened it and moved it a little, still has plenty of steel tube inside the rubber tube

[Ric]

finished my BL on the weekend.
the tank filler was just loosened and then tightened once the lift was in.
i did 2" using nylon blocks and left all the studs their original length. just took out all the rubber stuff off the bottom of the stud and left the thick rubber piece between the body and the block. Put a 50mm diameter washer underneath, between the chassis and the nut. works all good and no noises.. it now fits my 31's
Ric

[built4thrashing]

can anyone tell me how to bend shifter and where? also is it possible to lenghten the t'case shifter?