Djlarroc

Well, I wanted to give you guys my conclusion and writeup on the BL install. Sorry I didn't take more pics, but we ran into some snags and it took us 4hrs to install, so I was a bit in a hurry.

Anyways, here are pics of the truck before: (next project is fixing saggy butt)



Body Mounts are easy to find. Don't even have to move much carpet:




And of course you have the 2 in the cargo area. Those are the easiest ones to get.

Picture of front mount:


This is what we used to get to the mounts under the bumper. We didn't remove the bumper due to time constraints, but it's recommended to do so you can raise the bumper along with the body. So...I will be removing my bumper in the next few days to raise it as well.


Before, you start anything, loosen the steering linkage. It's a 12mm bolt. Mark it first so you know what's stock in case you remove the mounts. I used some spray paint and here is how much it moved. DON'T FORGET TO TIGHTEN BEFORE YOU DRIVE OFF!!


The famous fan shroud. I didn't have a upper and lower to remove, it's 1 piece. The fan was not hitting it, but it was real close. I could stick my index finger in between, but to not take chances, I just trimmed it.


Picture of body block on driver's side front. The bolts I got (7/16 x 4.5") are a bit too long. Those were the best I could find, so I'm going to add another flat washer to the lock washer.


Picture of front without raising bumper.


I can tell the truck is a bit higher now. 1" is all I wanted, so I'm happy.


I was extremely lucky the bolts and mounts came out easily. The thing I learned is DON'T RAISE FRONT BY MOUNTS. Raise the front, by placing the jack right behind the front fenders. We started on the pass side front and raised just to the left of the mount. It made it really hard to get the bolt in there straight because it moves the angle of the body and the holes don't line up. That was a snag we had. Another snag was if your pass seat is broken and doesn't slide forward like mine, you have to move your seat to get the right angle to remove/insert the bolts. That was a big PITA. What I found was loosen ALL the bolts to the point where it's flush with the thread, but don't take them off. Jack up the side right where the rear floorboard is. That should lift the body up enough to do the cargo, rear seat, rear floor, & front floor. Then scoot the jack over a bit to right behind the front fender and do the front end. All in all, it took us about 4 hours. It took us about 3 hours to do the first 3 on the pass side, then the other 7 went like butter and we did in an hour. We used a big floor jack, a wooden block and 2 bricks. I also popped off the tabbed washers from the old bolts and reused them. I read about that on 4Crawlers site. Thanks 4Crawler. This was my first time doing a body lift. The 1" is nice because you don't have to mod anything else. So there it is, there's my writeup.

Ty

cant really tell from the pictures, but im sure you can notice the difference lol. Im thinking of doing a 2inch BL later on..
Nice Writeup

davenjai

Where are you going with this?

Jay351

bigger tires!!!

Djlarroc

I drive it to Mexico on occassion and the speed bumps there are humongous. JK, I bought some 33x10's which I know should fit ok, but I also just did a lot of body work to remove rust from the fenders so I wana make sure they don't hit the tires. Total cost for the 1"BL = $41 and 4 hours of work.

treknwil

Nice write up. Its amazing how much differents just 1" makes.

davenjai

Very nice write up

bigt

what did you use for blocks and where did ypu get them

94Runner4x4

I have some questions about a 1" body lift....i have a 95 Automatic 4Runner and i was wondering what all the body lift does to the shifter and stuff, i just can't seem to understand it. I've been thinking a lot about putting a 1" bl on but is there anything that i would have to get besides the blocks and longer hardware.....i think that wabfab comes with the hardware if i'm not mistaken. I just don't want to run into any other problems putting one on. Thanks. Sorry of the hijack of the thread. This is just the best thread on 1" BL I've come across.

04 Rocko Taco

Good job Bud! Looking to do a small BL on my '84 Also, good work.

Djlarroc

Thanks everyone!! Just trying to spread the love on YT. I've learned so much from other writeups, I want to help as well. And it's true that there is limited info on a 1" BL, which I think is the best way to go. IMHO.

They are urethane body bushings. I got them from sportztrailers.com, here is a pic:



To be honest, I don't know about the auto. If you get the kit from one of the vendors here, it should be pretty easy, especially with the 1". One of the major snags I had was getting all my hardware lined up to work. It took some time and running around, but I saved money, which is something I like. If you are more worried with a smoother install, I'd definitely say hitup 4Crawler or Wabfab for the kit.

EDIT: Oh and I also raised my bumper last night. I will post pics of that tonight.

Djlarroc

I raised the bumper a cpl days ago. Here are the pics of the brackets and install. This morning I decided to also install my fog lights. They came out a bit too tight to the grille. I'm not sure if I'm going to just leave as is, or maybe raise them a bit with washers so that with the aim downwards, it's still functional. Or I can add some washers to the brackets I made to push the bumper forward a bit and aim the lights a bit upward. We'll see.

Back of bumper


Bracket before weld. Bracket is 1/8" x 2" x 4".


Welded


Installed, I had to buy 2 thinner bolts & nuts (3/8" x 1") because I stripped the thread on the originals.


Pic of raised bumper and fog lights.



Tight fit

jfreisner

4Crawler makes a kit for 2nd gen autos