i was thinking about purchasing a small 2 -2 1/2'' body lift and im curious to know exactly what i have to worry about.. extending steering shafts and the radiator and other manditory extensions..

can someone run a play by play for me so i know what to expect..


much appreciated

james

 

as far as i know, the only thing you gotta worry about are the brake lines and the steering column. when i helped a buddy put in his body lift, he bought longer brake lines and we had to raise the steering column under the hood a little bit. where it connects to the steering components.

 

how exactly would one do that.. did it mess up the steering geometry.. i hear thats finnicky stuff

 

if you do it just right, then it shouldnt mess it up. have it checked out afterwards anyway. oh, and also check the gas lines as well. gas, brake lines, all of that stuff.

 

did you tinker with the radiator and bumper brackets? or i hear cutting the fan shroud works too

 

your lifting the body, not the engine. an engine lift might be a good idea, but i dont know much about it. he did have to replace the hoses simply cuz he hadnt changed em and they leaked after the lift. my advice to you is to take out the seats before the lift, makes the body a little lighter

 

haha yea for sure... the seats would help.. but taking out the 2 12'' woofers will be the ticket.. should i just zap off the body bolts and throw a hi-lift under the body?

 

Another thing that others have forgot to mention is that one needs to relocate the hose for the clutch slave cylinder. I know this because this was the only thing I had forgotten when I did mine.

 

[QUOTE=JackKnife;50637744]Another thing that others have forgot to mention is that one needs to relocate the hose for the clutch slave cylinder. I know this because this was the only thing I had forgotten when I did mine.[/QUOTE




nice save.. what is needed on this? im trying to get ready for a body lift and i need all the info so i dont wreck my beloved 85 2nd gen =]

 

OH, yeah. jack, thank you. we forgot that and we were slappin our forheads for forgetting it. i cant believe i forgot it again

 

i just checked and there is no way for me to access the top of the bolts that hold the cab to the frame.. how do i get around this problem..

 

why not? check under the carpet

 

just checked it was waaaayyy up there under a rubber grommet.. whew ... that scared me .. thanks anything else?

 

not that i can think of... if when your doing it you have questions... please, do not just do it, check here first.... dont mess stuff up

 

Read all about installing a body lift on the page below:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...ft_HowTo.shtml

And specifically for lifts over 1"
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...o.shtml#Taller

 

I did the 3 inch on my 85 xtra cab last weekend and it wasn't bad at all. I got the performance accesorries body lift from 4wheelparts.com and it had everything with good instructions. the hardest part was the bolts with the kit are bigger than stock so you have to drill out the cab and front 2 under the radiator. no big deal. it says re route the clutch line under the heater hoses but I just unclamped it from the firewall and bent it as my buddy jacked it up slowly. and it has plenty of room.

 

I still say Trailmaster has the best body lift kits. When I lifted the body on my 87 2wd it came with everything that I needed. The kit for my 89 A/T 4wd came with everything as well but the only think I had to modify was the transfer case shift lever since it was not long enough. I cut the factory linkage and added some metal rod to make it longer by welding it other than that is was a great kit.

James

 

I have linkage extension for the automatics:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...html#ATbracket

3" bracket kit shown below: