Body lift advice

[preacher35]

So, I will be ordering my Shrockworks front bumper on Monday (Aug 25) and I have to decide whether or not I will be doing a 1" body lift as the bumper is body lift specific. My question is for those of you that already have a body lift installed. Is it worth the extra height? I installed a 3" BL on my old Nissan hardbody 4x4 back in the early 90's and I ended up hating it (creaking and squeaking). I know that the 1" lift is super easy to install but, what are the positives and negatives? Thank you for your comments in advance!

 

[ebg18t]

My question is: do you need the extra clearance that the BL provides? If you current tire setup clears and you don't intend on going bigger I don't see the need to do a BL. I pondered the same thing a few months ago, I decided my current suspension and tire size does everything I need.

It's a slippery slope, you create more clearance, you want bigger tires, you need different gears... Just my 2 (non-inflation adjusted) cents.

 

[preacher35]

My question is: do you need the extra clearance that the BL provides? If you current tire setup clears and you don't intend on going bigger I don't see the need to do a BL. I pondered the same thing a few months ago, I decided my current suspension and tire size does everything I need.

It's a slippery slope, you create more clearance, you want bigger tires, you need different gears... Just my 2 (non-inflation adjusted) cents.

Well, I'm certainly not going with bigger tires as I am already running 285 70 17's. I have already cut whatever I need to cut for tire clearance, save the body mounts (which the body lift will make no difference on anyway). Thus, it comes down to compensating for the height loss of the added weight of the bumper, a little bit more flex clearance and, of course, looks. My questions for those whom already have a 1" lift are:
1) did you notice any extra lean in turns due to center of gravity offset
2) are you hearing any "creaking" or "squeaking" with said body lift

 

[HokieRunner]

My $.02 are unless it's needed for functionality....don't do it. Don't know what setup you're running spring wise but the bumper barely made a difference. ..think I lost a 1/4".

unless you need it for tire clearance, why raise COG?

 

[preacher35]

My $.02 are unless it's needed for functionality....don't do it. Don't know what setup you're running spring wise but the bumper barely made a difference. ..think I lost a 1/4".

unless you need it for tire clearance, why raise COG?

[MENTION=46025]HokieRunner[/MENTION], I'm running Toytec Ultimate.

 

[kaizer427]

Well, I'm certainly not going with bigger tires as I am already running 285 70 17's. I have already cut whatever I need to cut for tire clearance, save the body mounts (which the body lift will make no difference on anyway). Thus, it comes down to compensating for the height loss of the added weight of the bumper, a little bit more flex clearance and, of course, looks. My questions for those whom already have a 1" lift are:
1) did you notice any extra lean in turns due to center of gravity offset
2) are you hearing any "creaking" or "squeaking" with said body lift

an extra turn on the coilovers and you won't have any height loss due to bumper weight.

I say don't do it unless you think you want to run 35s some day.

Speaking as someone with the toytec ultimate and a demello bumper

 

[Dawg4Runner]

Well, I'm certainly not going with bigger tires as I am already running 285 70 17's. I have already cut whatever I need to cut for tire clearance, save the body mounts (which the body lift will make no difference on anyway). Thus, it comes down to compensating for the height loss of the added weight of the bumper, a little bit more flex clearance and, of course, looks. My questions for those whom already have a 1" lift are:
1) did you notice any extra lean in turns due to center of gravity offset
2) are you hearing any "creaking" or "squeaking" with said body lift

If you don't need it for tire clearance then go with the standard height brackets. The issue I ran into with standard height and no body lift was that I couldn't get enough clearance between the bumper and the body panels. The most I could get was around 1/4-3/8". You'll need a minimum of 1/2" clearance for body flex or you'll pop a fender flare. I installed a 1/2" body lift to put more space between the bumper and the body. No noticeable extra lean or creaking from the BL. I'm running Toyo Open Country MT 295/70/17's.


Standard height bumper, no BL.

Standard height bumper with 1/2" BL.

 

[Metalmantr]

Interestingly enough I was just considering purchasing a spacer lift for my Toytec ultimate to provide clearance for my 32's without having to trim hopefully. However, I just read on the Toytec FAQ "NO, you cannot. 3" is the maximum front lift on these vehicles without replacing, or lowering the entire front cross member. The control arms, ball joints and Cv axles will not allow more lift." That made me second think it. I don't know much on the subject, but it sounds a little sticky to me. Could be wrong though.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Interestingly enough I was just considering purchasing a spacer lift for my Toytec ultimate to provide clearance for my 32's without having to trim hopefully. However, I just read on the Toytec FAQ "NO, you cannot. 3" is the maximum front lift on these vehicles without replacing, or lowering the entire front cross member. The control arms, ball joints and Cv axles will not allow more lift." That made me second think it. I don't know much on the subject, but it sounds a little sticky to me. Could be wrong though.

They're referring to the suspension lift and 3-4" is about the maximum you can get suspension wise without either going to a drop-bracket kit or a long travel suspension setup.

Most people don't like to go above 1.5" for a Body Lift, but some members on here and on the T120 Forums are running 3" due to clearance issues needed for larger tires/set-ups.
[MENTION=89791]preacher35[/MENTION]
Unless you're planning on running a taller tire than about 33" you're not going to really need a body lift. I would only go for a body lift unless you need it to clear the tires or something else. Shrockworks can make you a set of body lift brackets (Demello apparently does not do this,) though I'm not sure how fast their turn around is these days.

 

[preacher35]

They're referring to the suspension lift and 3-4" is about the maximum you can get suspension wise without either going to a drop-bracket kit or a long travel suspension setup.

Most people don't like to go above 1.5" for a Body Lift, but some members on here and on the T120 Forums are running 3" due to clearance issues needed for larger tires/set-ups.

[MENTION=89791]preacher35[/MENTION]
Unless you're planning on running a taller tire than about 33" you're not going to really need a body lift. I would only go for a body lift unless you need it to clear the tires or something else. Shrockworks can make you a set of body lift brackets (Demello apparently does not do this,) though I'm not sure how fast their turn around is these days.

Yeah, I'm aware of the Shrockworks brackets, hence the purpose of this thread. Regardless, I think I'm going to skip the BL for now. It's not going to serve much practical purpose and the negatives outweigh the positives. Decision made. Thanks guys!

 

[kevinpt]

If you don't need it for tire clearance then go with the standard height brackets. The issue I ran into with standard height and no body lift was that I couldn't get enough clearance between the bumper and the body panels. The most I could get was around 1/4-3/8". You'll need a minimum of 1/2" clearance for body flex or you'll pop a fender flare. I installed a 1/2" body lift to put more space between the bumper and the body. No noticeable extra lean or creaking from the BL. I'm running Toyo Open Country MT 295/70/17's.


Standard height bumper, no BL.

Standard height bumper with 1/2" BL.

ever had the idea of a rubber seal between the bumper and the body to get rid of the visual gap but still having the ability for movement between the two?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

ever had the idea of a rubber seal between the bumper and the body to get rid of the visual gap but still having the ability for movement between the two?

I think that'd be more effort than its worth. A 1.5" body lift doesn't look that bad in terms of body to frame gap, most of the time you'd never notice if you have sliders, only if you looked in the wheel wells. I know one member who has a 3" body lift and that's a pretty big gap, but you'd have to drill the spot welds, frame, and then clip a rubber skirt all the way along the vehicle. Even then there's no guarantee it wouldn't tear/rip when the body flexes, which means either making it taller than the gap (and thus more wrinkly/not smooth looking when its not stretched) or finding a material that's very stretchy and holds up well and then bolting/screwing it to the sheet metal instead of clips so it doesn't always pop out.

The rubber skirts between the body and frame in the front wheel wells of my 4Runner pulled out many times when flexing my 4Runner on the trail (I have no body lift.)

 

[SluiceboxSlim]

I did it for just a bit more tire clearance, and because my sliders rubbed ever-so-slightly on the rear side door fenders (when opening the rear side doors). I'm also running a spacer lift (for now), and have 285/75/17's. The truck took about a 3/4 dip when I went from no bumper to CBI (in comparison, a lighter aftermarket bumper), so until I throw down for some CO's, it works.

I'd do it, as it's minimal, and fairly easy but time-consuming. The steer shaft extension was a b!tch, but dropping the radiator was easy. Also, while I did the CBI bumper at the same time, I painted the "gap". I couldn't STAND the white, aftermarket bumper gap!

Not sure what kind of forum war this will start, but according to 4Crawler's website, the bolts and hardware upgrades I made actually claim to be stronger than stock, and I don't notice anything different at all with the ride.

Even though it was easy, I could probably argue against it just as well, but in my case, I'd do it all over again.

 

[steegpuzh]

I don't know much on the subject, but it sounds a little sticky to me. Could be wrong though.