oldschooltoyota

I have an 84 pickup with a i think a 4 inch suspension lift (with the front axle in the stock location, not forward) and a 3 inch body lift, the cheap 2 inch diameter nylon block kind. I am running 35 by 12.5's and i am debating about getting rid of the body lift and doing a little more fender trimming. I will loose my departure angle and some body clearance, but i figure it will drive better on the highway. I will loose the looks of the height but i am not huge fan of seeing the frame sticking down below the body.

I also heard that off road use can cause the body lift to wear through the body mounting points. My tires are pretty new so i won't be going any bigger anytime soon, so i figure its best to have the lowest lift to tire size ratio.

bigarms23

yeah take off the body lift and do the fender trimming

Jay351

It will require fender trimming. My suggestion, get a better body lift kit and leave it. Body lifts are great for wheeling!

As for the frame on the side of the truck... do what I did:

Paint the frame, then put sliders on

Justinlhc

Really? You mean for tire clearance only? I'd rather get my clearance from a suspension lift. I've never really understood the point of body lifts other than being a cheap way to clear larger tires. You're not gaining any suspension travel and you're making your center of gravity higher with no performance gain. Not to mention the hideous frame exposure.

I'd take the body lift off and never look back. Grab a BFH and a sawzall just incase you need to trim.

Jay351

There are actually many bennifits from a good quality body lift. Such as:

Increase tire clearance with little change in COG
more room to work
increased cooling
option for drivetrain lift and flat belly
increased approach and departure anglesn (when you tuck your bumpers up)
ample room for sliders

If you look at lots of trail trucks, you will see MANY have body lifts...

Do a little research

Justinlhc

Right, but I'd still rather do it with a suspension lift and actually gain some performance out of it. I'm well aware of what a body lift does, I just don't like the idea and I think it makes the vehicle look ugly. Most people use them because it's the cheapest way to clear big tires. The cheapest option usually isn't the best option.

Jay351

They offer much more then just tire clearance. And if you have IFS, the suspension lifts are junk.

Body lifts rock!
But run whatever you want, don't knock the facts.

Cheapest way to clear tires is to chop chop!

Justinlhc

Bracket drops are junk, yes. IMO body lifts are junk, but run what ever you want. I'll run something that actually increases performance.

4Krawler

IMHO a 4" Suspention & 3" Body lift would be ideal, that is exactly what I am building my rig to be. Not only that but I'm doing the BL first; here's why...

1. Doing the suspention is over $2000 as you have to do the hy-steer & everything at the same time.

2. With a 3" Body Lift do a drivetrain lift and raise the gastank 3" & drivetrain too! This will give you a "flat belly"... So while you have a 8" Suspention lift & still hang up on your transfer case, & Gastank I'll just slide right over

3. A body/drivetrain lift dosent lift the frame... and therefore does not increase your COG as much as a suspention lift.

Here are 2 links for you to check out...

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/drivetrain_lift/

or

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri....shtml#GasTank

I say leave the body lift & do a drivetrain lift

just my 2c....

4Krawler

... it would likley also drive better; especially on the highway with a 4" Susp & 3" Body as opposed to a 7" Suspention lift...

rhale

on my 89 i had the same. 4 inch suspension and 3 inch body lift. way to high for my taste. i just took the lift blocks and cut them down to 1 inch. still gives clearance to work on starter and exhaust/headers, etc. no hard to do and then you still have 2 inch blocks left if you want some further lift in the future.

yoder519

i would much rather prefer a body lift then a bracket lift on an IFS rig. but thats jsut my 2 cents. but you have a SFA, but i would still leave it on, or do like jay said and buy a better quality one

Justinlhc

I wish I had a sideXside of a vehicle with a 3" body lift and the exact vehicle with a 3" bracket lift. 3" body lift makes me want to but that's just me.

Since neither offers any "real" performance gains you pretty much have to judge based on looks and cost. The body lift is cheap as dirt, but looks like butt. The bracket drop is quite a bit more expensive, but looks way better. I guess some people don't mind the look of a body lift, but I can't stand it.

A drivetrain "lift" with a suspension lift and a body lift? WTF? So you're going to lower the suspension, raise the body and raise the drivetrain with the body? I'd like to see your CV angles after that mess. Most people DROP the front diff, not raise it.



I can see your point, but raising the body 3" away from the frame is still going to greatly increase your COG. The body is actually pretty heavy.

4Krawler

The body lift makes way for the drivetrain lift. The drivetrain lift is comprised of 2" lifted motor mount blocks from 4Crawler & a lifted tranny/t-case crossmember (Such as a BudBuilt or FROR) After these 2 you lift the horsecollar/gastank. A 2" drivetrain lift has the same effect as a 2" susp. lift on CV angles ect.; however I was actually reffering to a Straight axle or SAS. IFS may be a different story.

With this combo your not raising or lowering either diff or the suspention. Only the body/motor/trans/gastank.

If you assume a typical vehicle with perhaps 25% of it's mass in the body and perhaps 10% in the axles/wheels/tires, then look at the various types of lifts:

Taller tires will raise nearly 100% of the vehicle's mass higher at the rate of 1" for every 2" of increase in tire diameter, since essentially every part of the vehicle is raised. Thus a 2" taller tire (i.e. 1" of lift) will raise the vehicle's center of gravity 1".
A suspension lift will raise about 90% of the vehicle's mass (all but the ~10% unsprung weight of the axles, wheel and tires) at a rate of 1" for every 1" of lift. Since 90% of the mass is being raised 1", the center of gravity will raise about 0.9" as a result.
A body lift will raise only 25% of the mass of the vehicle (i.e. only the body) so a 1" body lift will only change the center of gravity of the vehicle by that same ratio, or 0.25".
So, while all the above lifts will raise the center of gravity of the vehicle, they do so at different rates for the same amount of lift. And it is the overall impact of all the lift that a given vehicle has that will ultimately affect it's stability.
By raising the body up off the frame, you can gain needed room for larger tires and/or added ground clearance to protect the body from trail damage. However, a body lift will do nothing to change the operation of your suspension by itself. However, by combining a mild body lift, with a mild suspension lift may allow fitting a taller tire and result in a combined system that functions better than the individual components.

"Lift as much as needed, but as little as possible"