• Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.

Pros & Cons of installing a Body Lift on an offroad 4x4 truck

What's the maximum amount of Body Lift you would use?

  • 0" - No body lift

    Votes: 11 14.5%
  • 1 inch

    Votes: 3 3.9%
  • 2 inches

    Votes: 16 21.1%
  • 3 inches

    Votes: 41 53.9%
  • 4 inches

    Votes: 4 5.3%
  • 5 inches or more

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • Total voters
    76

ElectricSquid

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Clearwater Florida
Vehicle Year
1985
Make / Model
Dodge
Engine Size
318
Transmission
Automatic
I'd like to get your opinions on using a Body Lift on a truck that's built for offroad use.
I'm not talking mall crawler here. In every town there's at least one :icon_twisted: that has a truck you need a ladder to climb into. That's a whole different topic.
I'm interested in offroad ready inspired ideas and best practices.

:icon_confused:
What height would you consider the limit for a body lift?
What did you take into consideration when choosing the height for your body lift?
Do you have any body lift horror stories, or stuff you didn't think of till the truck was half lifted?
 


koda6966

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
7,898
Reaction score
61
Points
48
Location
The green part of NY.
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
2.9
Transmission
Automatic
Pro- More room to stuff tires, and it gets your body higher up and away from the ground while maintaining a low center of gravity on the main part of the truck. (Frame, Engine, etc)

Cons- I honestly can't think of any right now.

I would only go three inches max, but stick with two if it will give you what your looking for.
 

ElectricSquid

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Clearwater Florida
Vehicle Year
1985
Make / Model
Dodge
Engine Size
318
Transmission
Automatic
Added a poll to the topic, for those who don't have time to post a reply.
 

Jay FX4

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
3,819
Reaction score
25
Points
0
Location
Dearborn, MI - Home of the Blue Oval
Vehicle Year
2004
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0L
Transmission
Automatic
Koda pretty much summed up the pros. I'll list some cons....

1. UGLY!!! Frame rails are not attractive. Gap guards help with the wheel wells though
2. Kiss your front tow hooks goodbye unless you remove/hack up your valance.
3. Hitch and exhaust will either "hang down low" (it's actually in the same spot but lifting the body off it makes it look low) or require modification. The other alternative is to leave your rear bumper in the stock location, but that looks pretty bad, too.

On the other hand, they're cheap, and your driveshaft and suspension can stay happily stock.
 

ElectricSquid

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Clearwater Florida
Vehicle Year
1985
Make / Model
Dodge
Engine Size
318
Transmission
Automatic
Wheel wells are not an issue, they've been custom chopped away already.
The frame rails could use some exposure to make the slide rail build easier.
The exhaust is custom and can be modified further to work with the new heights.

...but the damn trailer hitch and rear bumper are going to give me some trouble. I see what you mean with that and I can tell that's gonna need some attention.
 

dusto2

New Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Messages
667
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
scv ca
Vehicle Year
89
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
2.9
Transmission
Automatic
con it can ad in pushing a body mount through your floor if you get real hard on the truck
 

c_note

September 2009 OTOM Winner
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Messages
841
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
back in San Diego, CA
Vehicle Year
2002
Make / Model
Ranger/Explorer
Engine Size
4.0 sohc
Transmission
Manual
as for the whole center of gravity bull crap, ive had a ranger with a body lift and i now have an SASed ranger with twice the lift. my truck now with the SAS has much better control on the road and i swear the center of gravity was gone with the body lift.

and if you have ever read any of my post on body lifts, im pretty sure you know what i voted.
 

Jay FX4

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
3,819
Reaction score
25
Points
0
Location
Dearborn, MI - Home of the Blue Oval
Vehicle Year
2004
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0L
Transmission
Automatic
...but the damn trailer hitch and rear bumper are going to give me some trouble. I see what you mean with that and I can tell that's gonna need some attention.
The hitch can be modified. It's going to require welding. Personally, even if a hitch was 5 times stronger after being modified, I'd have a hard time trusting it. But that's just me. It can be done without issues.
 

Jay FX4

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
3,819
Reaction score
25
Points
0
Location
Dearborn, MI - Home of the Blue Oval
Vehicle Year
2004
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0L
Transmission
Automatic
I'm not a fan of body lifts, and as bad as I want 33's, I will most likely not get one.
But for the record, since the question wasn't whether or not you should get a body lift, rather how much you'd lift the body, I voted 3".
 

big91explorer

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
76
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
South Dakota
Vehicle Year
1994
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Automatic
I had a 3 inch body lift on my 91 explorer, and it allowed the tires to tuck up into the fender wells better.

I had the 2 inch coils on the front, with add a leafs in the rear.

and fully flexed out, it would just barely rub the inner fenderwells, without the body lift, I would not have been able to flex it very much.
 

4x4junkie

Forum Staff Member
TRS Forum Moderator
TRS 20th Anniversary
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
10,749
Reaction score
580
Points
113
Location
So. Calif (SFV)
Vehicle Year
1990
Make / Model
Bronco II
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
2.9L V6
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Tire Size
35x12.50R15
I have a 2" BL on mine. It gave me the needed clearance for my dual-transfercase setup. A body lift also gets you up higher without whacking your steering geometry all to hell (6" is the upper practical limit for lifting the TTB suspension). I've also used the space created by the BL for things like extended shock mounts and what not.


as for the whole center of gravity bull crap, ive had a ranger with a body lift and i now have an SASed ranger with twice the lift. my truck now with the SAS has much better control on the road and i swear the center of gravity was gone with the body lift.

and if you have ever read any of my post on body lifts, im pretty sure you know what i voted.
Control & handling is not entirely tied to your CoG.
It should be pretty obvious between a vehicle that has only the sheetmetal body structure lifted 3" vs. one that also has the frame, engine & driveline lifted 3", which one has the lower CoG.
 

ElectricSquid

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Clearwater Florida
Vehicle Year
1985
Make / Model
Dodge
Engine Size
318
Transmission
Automatic
More room to stuff tires, and it gets your body higher up and away from the ground while maintaining a low center of gravity on the main part of the truck. (Frame, Engine, etc)
It should be pretty obvious between a vehicle that has only the sheetmetal body structure lifted 3" vs. one that also has the frame, engine & driveline lifted 3", which one has the lower CoG.
I agree.
For the longest time, I've heard the argument that a body lift just gives you a higher center of gravity, so go with a suspension lift instead. But after thinking about it, you're 100% right, the suspension lift lifts everything including the body. A BL lifts only the body.
So say you're going to lift a total of 6",
if ALL the lift came from a body lift, the center of gravity should be much lower than if you got your 6" of lift from only a suspension lift (which lifts everything + the body)

The suspension lift has it's good points. It gives the axles more room to flex and gives better overall frame clearance. I already have 3" of suspension lift for those reasons.

But even after 3" of suspension lift, the area just below the doors is still too low. This area is well known to get damaged offroad. Just look at any offroad truck magazine and you'll see that spot damaged on at least half of the truck pics. And when it does get damaged, it's a royal pain in the @$$ to fix because of the door getting crunched.

I also need to lift the gas tank on this truck for added safety. It's the floor of the body that's keeping me from doing that modification.

I've had a many tell me that I should lift the suspension another 3" to get the extra lift I need, and avoid any kind of body lift like it was the plague. Their argument is that the BL is the cheap-o way to lift a truck and all it does is raise the COG. But I don't agree with that at all.
The more I look into it, the better a body lift sounds.
 
Last edited:

rngmStr

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
60
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Pacific NWest
Vehicle Year
1994
Make / Model
Xplorer
Engine Size
4.0L
Transmission
Automatic
3" shows too much frame rail, not to mention full length of WAR lift shackle in the rear, extensions.................
2" BL and 2" SL gives enough room to throw some 32's under it and call it good................. can deal with the muffler for now
 

Chris.S.

Member
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
744
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Age
46
Location
Kelowna, BC
Vehicle Year
2010
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Automatic
Con:

Installing a body lift can sometimes damage wires if you're not careful. Some folks think that stretching them is bad period, even if they don't break.
 

kunar

Forum Staff Member
TRS Forum Moderator
Supporting Member
Article Contributor
V8 Engine Swap
Joined
Jun 10, 2003
Messages
4,158
Reaction score
131
Points
63
Age
36
Location
Toledo, Ohio
Vehicle Year
1987
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
V8
Engine Size
5.8l
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
i'm not really a big fan of body lifts but an inch or two is just enough to give a little more clearance when working on your transmission or exhaust....
 

Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Staff online

Member & Vendor Upgrades

For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.

Truck of The Month


Kirby N.
March Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store


Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad


Amazon Deals

Top