Body Lift vs. Lift Kit?

[david_ray320]

Alright guys now bear with me here. I know questions about lift kits and tires are the most worn out topics here on T4R but you also know how hit-or-miss the search function is so forgive me for starting another thread.

I don't really understand the difference between a body lift and a lift kit. My 4Runner is currently on 225s and therefore it's sitting really low and doesn't look like a 4Runner "should". I plan on getting bigger tires, 265's most likely, but I'm also interested in lifting my 4Runner to give it an even more aggressive stance.

So, my question is: what's the difference between something like this 1" Body Lift and something like this 3" Lift Kit

Obviously there's the 1" vs 3" difference but just in general, what is the difference between a body lift and a lift kit? Are there pros/cons to each?

And FYI, I don't plan on doing any off-roading so I'm looking at lifting for aesthetic reasons.

 

[sn0wrunner]

Well the 3" will lift your whole runner, suspension and everything, giving you more ground clearance where as the body lift literally only lifts the body. You wont gain any suspension lift from a body lift. Meaning a body lift wont help you in any offroad situation because it gives you no more ground clearance than you already have stock.

Hope that helps...

 

[4Evr4RunN3R]

Well the 3" will lift your whole runner, suspension and everything, giving you more ground clearance where as the body lift literally only lifts the body. You wont gain any suspension lift from a body lift. Meaning a body lift wont help you in any offroad situation because it gives you no more ground clearance than you already have stock.

Hope that helps...

not to hijack the thread but whats the point of a body lift then?

 

[jroyal29]

Since you just want it for looks the body kit is cheaper and just as effective for fitting bigger tires. cornering really sucks with body lift though

 

[david_ray320]

Well the 3" will lift your whole runner, suspension and everything, giving you more ground clearance where as the body lift literally only lifts the body. You wont gain any suspension lift from a body lift. Meaning a body lift wont help you in any offroad situation because it gives you no more ground clearance than you already have stock.

Hope that helps...

So for someone like me, with a 2WD and therefore no intentions of any serious off-roading, a body lift would make sense because I just want the aesthetic look of my runner sitting higher?

I've heard good things about the Toytec 3" OME kit but I figured if I'm not going to do any off-roading why not save some money and just get a 2" or so body lift.

 

[K.C.]

As what sn0wrunner mentioned...a suspension lift will give you ground clearance.

A body lift will just allow you, the driver sit higher & see more. And after going to my 1st off-roading adventure, I'm very very lift envy!! :awais:

 

[sn0wrunner]

not to hijack the thread but whats the point of a body lift then?

Like jroyal29 said, to fit bigger tires. It gives you more clearance between the tires and the body, therefore you can fit bigger tires.

So for someone like me, with a 2WD and therefore no intentions of any serious off-roading, a body lift would make sense because I just want the aesthetic look of my runner sitting higher?

If you arent planning on doing anything offroad that you wouldnt do stock, then ya just go for a body lift. I'd say at least 2" cause you wont notice much difference with 1" IMO

Check out 4crawler.com's BL if you havent already

 

[david_ray320]

Like jroyal29 said, to fit bigger tires. It gives you more clearance between the tires and the body, therefore you can fit bigger tires.


If you arent planning on doing anything offroad that you wouldnt do stock, then ya just go for a body lift. I'd say at least 2" cause you wont notice much difference with 1" IMO

Check out 4crawler.com's BL if you havent already

I've checked out 4Crawler.com but the site structure kinda made my head hurt. I couldn't figure the difference between all the different kits. If I'm not mistaken, looking at this table, would Kit D be a solid choice? 3" lift with the Ultimate Lift Blocks and standard grade hardware?

 

[Clemsonfan15]

If I'm not mistaken when you go above 2" with a BL you also have to start extending stuff.

Since we are are on the topic.

Would I still need a 3" BL to fit 285's?
How much does it really effect on road handling?

 

[jroyal29]

Alright guys now bear with me here. I know questions about lift kits and tires are the most worn out topics here on T4R but you also know how hit-or-miss the search function is so forgive me for starting another thread.

I don't really understand the difference between a body lift and a lift kit. My 4Runner is currently on 225s and therefore it's sitting really low and doesn't look like a 4Runner "should". I plan on getting bigger tires, 265's most likely, but I'm also interested in lifting my 4Runner to give it an even more aggressive stance.

So, my question is: what's the difference between something like this 1" Body Lift and something like this 3" Lift Kit

Obviously there's the 1" vs 3" difference but just in general, what is the difference between a body lift and a lift kit? Are there pros/cons to each?

And FYI, I don't plan on doing any off-roading so I'm looking at lifting for aesthetic reasons.

honestly if your just wanting 265,s then i wouldn,t even get a lift. it'll hav a more aggressive stance with some a/t tires and that size. lift will just make it more difficult to handle

 

[david_ray320]

If I'm not mistaken when you go above 2" with a BL you also have to start extending stuff.

Since we are are on the topic.

Would I still need a 3" BL to fit 285's?
How much does it really effect on road handling?

In that case I'll stick with a 2" if I decide to go the BL route.

And yeah I guess that's another important question, is the ride quality going to be significantly affected by a BL? If that's the case, then I'll probably lean more towards the Toytec lift kit and save my ride quality.

 

[david_ray320]

Re: Re: Body Lift vs. Lift Kit?

honestly if your just wanting 265,s then i wouldn,t even get a lift. it'll hav a more aggressive stance with some a/t tires and that size. lift will just make it more difficult to handle

That's the other thing I've been deciding between. I'll probably just get the tires first and see how big of a difference the bigger tires make and if I still want a lift I can always add that later.

 

[jroyal29]

If I'm not mistaken when you go above 2" with a BL you also have to start extending stuff.

Since we are are on the topic.

Would I still need a 3" BL to fit 285's?
How much does it really effect on road handling?

bl is gonna affect your handling in cornering cuz its gonna give higher center of gravity. for off roading bl is not a good idea unless coupled with suspension

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Well I know it's gonna effect it, but how drastically. Am I going to have to slow down a significant amount?

 

[jroyal29]

it gonna give u alot of body roll and i've heard of people goin on to wheels with 2" bl so i'd say it affect it a good bit. r u off roading at all

 

[Jordan Petry]

That's a big turnoff.... Maybe if you were to get some wheel spacers along w/ the BL then that would offset the poor cornering abilities.

 

[jroyal29]

That's a big turnoff.... Maybe if you were to get some wheel spacers along w/ the BL then that would offset the poor cornering abilities.

yeah. more width will def help with it

 

[Clemsonfan15]

I'm just asking questions in case I ever consider it down the road. At this point I don't have any intentions of doing a lift of any kind.

If you had to get wheel spacers along with a BL then it would be almost the same price to just get a suspension lift.

 

[jroyal29]

I'm just asking questions in case I ever consider it down the road. At this point I don't have any intentions of doing a lift of any kind.

If you had to get wheel spacers along with a BL then it would be almost the same price to just get a suspension lift.

yeah more than 1" bl isn't worth it. suspension best bang for the buck

 

[sn0wrunner]

I did notice a difference when i first put the BL on, I take some of the same corners a little slower now with it on. You can feel a difference with a BL for sure. The body moves quite a lot on big corners. I kinda want to have a friend drive behind me and film it so i can see what it looks like lol.

I dont think I'd go bigger than 2". I went with a 1.5"

That toytec kit is the way to go though. It's not that much more than a body lift, and you get 3" of "usable" lift. And you can definetly fit 285's with a 3" lift.