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To Body Lift or to not?

5K views 46 replies 17 participants last post by  Necromancer_tat 
#1 ·
So i recently installed my Rough Country 4 inch x-series lift. I'm running 35x12.50x15 inch tires which is clearly fine with every day driving but i don't have a ton of clearance in the back. Its obvious by looking at it that im not going to perform well on trails.

My question is would a one inch body lift be a bad purchase? and if i were to get one what other modifications would i have to make.
 
#3 ·
mine had a 3" body lift and nothing else when i bought it. Completely ridiculous. I chopped that lift in half, and am happy with it. I do plan to do a tummy/tank tuck in the future so it is needed.

it's an easy, cheap way to get a bit of wheel clearance. I'd say go for it. Or look into tube fenders. As stated above, depending on how big you go, you'll prob need to do some mods to the gas tank filler tube, transfer case linkage, etc. Mine even had a steering shaft block, and radiator shroud lowering brackets. these were removed when i down graded though.
 
#41 ·
You should go look at your steering upper and intermediate shaft before you comment. What's that thing right in the middle that's bolted to a frame mount? Peek in from the side right behind the driver's side upper shock mount.

:rofl:
I don't need to look to know you and they are right about that. The actual shaft isn't 3 feet long, it's closer to a foot long. Now that the issue is more clear as to what they are talking about I see that that I was on the wrong page completely. I thought they were talking about extending the steering shaft itself, not raising the carrier bearing. I'm aware of the M.O.R.E. lift for the steering, I was actually working on someones Jeep yesterday that has it installed.

I appologise to Robert Yates, Rubi Razor, and the Forum for being a d-bag.
 
#4 ·
NBMgreg said:
mine had a 3" body lift and nothing else when i bought it. Completely ridiculous. I chopped that lift in half, and am happy with it. I do plan to do a tummy/tank tuck in the future so it is needed.

it's an easy, cheap way to get a bit of wheel clearance. I'd say go for it. Or look into tube fenders. As stated above, depending on how big you go, you'll prob need to do some mods to the gas tank filler tube, transfer case linkage, etc. Mine even had a steering shaft block, and radiator shroud lowering brackets. these were removed when i down graded though.
I actually did purchase metalcloak tube fenders so I'm not particularly worried about the front.. It's just my rear tires I'm concerned about but thank you for the advice
 
#15 ·
When mine had the 3" body lift, you could see daylight between the frame and tub all the way through... it looked silly as hell from a side view. Next time you drive by a big glass building check out your reflection.

as far as performance, a body lift gains slight wheel clearances, you gain zero ground clearance. so saying the body lift helped you through obstacles is very hard to believe. Not hating on you or your rig, just stating what I feel.

and as stated above, with that much BL you are putting a lot of strain on those mounts at any type of angle.
 
#16 ·
as far as performance, a body lift gains slight wheel clearances, you gain zero ground clearance. so saying the body lift helped you through obstacles is very hard to believe. Not hating on you or your rig, just stating what I feel.

and as stated above, with that much BL you are putting a lot of strain on those mounts at any type of angle.
Zero? Are you sure about that?

How much strain do they see? There are 10-12 body mounting bolts on a TJ. There are only 8 mounting bolts on most leaf spring suspensions, and they all seem to survive just fine even though they see much more strain than a 3" BL sees...
 
#17 ·
a body lift simply lifts the body from the frame. the control arms, skid, bumpers and frame itself are still the exact same height.

I guess if you were worried about rubbing your fenders and tub on the ground, then yeah you'd be gaining ground clearance, but I'm saying that with complete sarcasm.

as for the mounts having more strain upon them with a 3 inch puck between the tub and frame, that's pretty self explanitory. Ever notice how a longer stick is easier to break than a shorter stick?
 
#18 ·
I've heard the line about increased stress on body mounts with the 3" body lift for the last 20 years and in all of that time I have never once known the first person to actually experience anything negative related to that increased stress. I know that theoretically it is true, but the likelihood that you'll see any negative results from it is slim to none.

I ran a 2" BL on my old YJ and you couldn't see the gap in the front or rear due to the bumpers, and on the side the sliders blocked the gap, and overall the jeep looked great. I say the best advice is do what fits your budget, and what helps your Jeep do what you want it to.
 
#19 ·
(OP is only considering a 1" BL ...the jeep already has 4" SL.)

if you're still considering it, go for the Daystar Poly 1" BL. it's not as "ugly" or stressed as the higher mounts mentioned. not only do you get tire clearance, it also helps with any future MML and/or TT if you're into that. and the poly mounts noticeably reduce body roll. the only bad thing i can say about the Daystar kit is i wished the poly risers had rounded tops for better fitment - but you can round them yourself.
install is pretty straight forward. i was originally worried about stress on the hard brake lines, but they seem perfectly fine. speaking of brake lines, be mindful of the front soft brake lines length versus droop.
 
#27 ·
Robert J. yates said:
Yep.... but us west coasters who have been playing with TJ's for a long time don't know nuthin' according to some of the folks who have showed up here recently.
Don't get him all riled up. Tat's crawled to the summit of Everest with an LCOG Miata on 40s.
 
#29 ·
Necromancer_tat said:
I don't believe in the LCOG fad, so please try to be a bit more informed when you try to insult me. :pirate double flip off: <--- I know it doesn't work on Jeep Forum, but it fits just fine in your case... :rofl:
Learn the difference between insult (not intended above) and skepticism (coupled with slight ridicule).

Yates wouldn't have brought it up if it weren't pertinent. More (no pun intended) complete 3" body lift kits will come with an extension for the sector shaft or at least a riser bracket to take stress off the joint. They don't do that just for gits & shiggles.
 
#30 ·
Learn the difference between insult (not intended above) and skepticism (coupled with slight ridicule).

Yates wouldn't have brought it up if it weren't pertinent. More (no pun intended) complete 3" body lift kits will come with an extension for the sector shaft. They don't do that just for gits & shiggles.
Robert Yates is a certified Savvy nut swinger that pays others to build his Jeep instead of building it himself. I don't value his opinions one bit. He's converting from a cross over steering set up to the fail boat Currie steering, which IMO tells me that he doesn't do any serious wheeling.

Since you're willing to jump right into the Koolaide when you don't even know what flavor it is, then please tell me how much longer the steering linkage assembly should be when installing a 3" body lift? Did you ever take Geometry in school? 3" over 3' is virtually negligible...

You've jumped up and down in the past in threads where I have posted things that go against the grain of the Jeep forum status Quo, but I have yet to see you ever once post an inteligent reply that backed up your side of the arguement.

So now that you're stepping out into the spot light, please provide a basis for your side of the arguement that is based on actual fact and not on heresay, or speculation....
 
#31 ·
Necromancer_tat said:
Robert Yates is a certified Savvy nut swinger that pays others to build his Jeep instead of building it himself. I don't value his opinions one bit. He's converting from a cross over steering set up to the fail boat Currie steering, which IMO tells me that he doesn't do any serious wheeling.

Since you're willing to jump right into the Koolaide when you don't even know what flavor it is, then please tell me how much longer the steering linkage assembly should be when installing a 3" body lift? Did you ever take Geometry in school? 3" over 3' is virtually negligible...

You've jumped up and down in the past in threads where I have posted things that go against the grain of the Jeep forum status Quo, but I have yet to see you ever once post an inteligent reply that backed up your side of the arguement.

So now that you're stepping out into the spot light, please provide a basis for your side of the arguement that is based on actual fact and not on heresay, or speculation....
Yates has been around & giving very accurate, valuable technical advice on this board & others since before the inception of Savvy Offroad. So for you to lump the two together is blatant ignorance. Who's jumping to conclusions now?

So let's play YOUR game hotshot. You say 3" on a 3" shaft is negligible. But at what angle Eistein? 5 degrees? 45 degrees? 85 degrees? At what angle does the joint in the steering shaft become maxed-out? How would you know? Hell, even I remember Opie Had A Handful Of Apples (if you don't recognize the phrase you won't figure it out. Hint: simple trig).

The only reason I posted earlier was to make light of your useless drivel. You tend to totally ruin any good tech in most threads due to your incessant need for everyone to "dumb it down" for you.

Feel free to discuss. At least I get to go back to ignoring you.
 
#32 ·
New to this thread but my bro has a 79 CJ 5/ he also had a 3 inch body. That said his swivel joint or coupler whatever its called went out about a year later. So instead of doing a Puck lift as he did I bought a kit off eBay for my tj and it came with a slight extension. So yes you should spare no expense when lifting no matter how you do it.
 
#36 ·
NBMgreg said:
not trying to start a fight here... but the issue isn't the length of the shaft, it's the u-joint binding when one end is raised up. the EXACT same reason why an SYE/CV joint is needed with a suspension lift.

some companies include a lifting block to place under the shaft to relieve some stress off that u-joint and make that 3" lift not so critical.
Exactly.

That's the entire point. It's not primarily a connection that's at stake, the longer shaft or the riser bracket will take stress off the joint.

That's why a more comprehensive kit like the one from M.O.R.E. is a better option than throwing on 3" body mounts & calling it good.
 
#38 ·
BL conversation, I'm in.

My opinion: The BL, while it does have its purposes, is completely unnecessary. Gaining actual suspension travel when lifting is more beneficial as opposed to just making clearance with no other gain. As for making room for other installations, it comes down to how creative you are willing to get.
The BL definitely is an easier, less expensive means to accomplish certain task when modding a Jeep though.
Then there is appearance, no comment.
 
#39 ·
BL conversation, I'm in.

My opinion: The BL while it does have it's detractors is completely necessary if you don't have the time, fab skills, creativity, and money to throw at your rig to get the most clearance (in moderation) to make your rig more capable offroad.

There is simply no other modification that offers more bang for your buck than a 1 or 1.25" body lift.

At the end of the day, your terrain will tell you it's value.
 
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