[IBCRUSN]

Since there was no thread on installing a body lift I figured why not do it myself. I went with Roger's 1" UHMW plastic body lift from 4Crawler.com. I went with Roger's kit because of the durability of UHMW plastic and his very competitive prices. At any rate here goes. As with an chassis work on a 10 - 16 year old truck PB Blaster is your friend. Be sure to visit Roger's site and read through the information he has made available for installation. For the most part and to maintain brevity use his instructions, I will add the info that is not available on his site currently.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...ft_HowTo.shtml

A couple shots pre body lift


The kit as received from 4Crawler


You will need to gain access to the front of the radiator to drill holes in the radiator support. Remove the battery box(es) and overflow tank to access the side radiator mounts.


I don't have pics but you will need to peel back the carpet in several areas to gain access to the mount bolt heads. For the rear mounts remove the plastic covers.

Bolt removal, body jacking and new hardware install is covered in Roger's instructions. I had a few issues with frozen hardware and that is to be expected in a truck that lived it's life in OH and NY. You guys from down south, west and the southwest should have no problems with corrosion.

You'll need to redrill the side radiator mounts 1" lower than stock and drill new holes in the front support.


This only shows the right side but as long as you're careful you can raise and move the A/C condenser side to side a little to gain better access to the support for drilling.


Left side after the body was up on the new pucks with the modified side radiator mounts.


Right side post mod



Here are shots of the L/H side body mounts minus the rear mount (difficult to photo in a hole). The right side is a mirror with the only difference being the R/H #2 has a heat shield between the body mount and exhaust pipes. They are currently only single nutted, once I check the torque I'll double nut them.

L/H #1


L/H #2


L/H #3


L/H #4


L/H #5 (rear)


Here are the post install shots. The lights are still under the top bar. The cats are more exposed but that was the plan. There is now more than enough room to make some changes to the exhaust routing to tuck the cat(s) up much higher. Once that's done I'll address the dents in the rockers with a set of custom sliders. The wife didn't like the bumperetts removed so they were reinstalled and don't look too bad given the 1" difference. That's another item waiting until winter or next season.
















If you have any questions fire away.

Cheers,
Kris

[UltraFJ]

Good info, nice write up, plain, simple and easy.

Makes a nice addition to Rogers.

What was your total install time? Why did you B.Lift ?

Just curious.

Thanks,

Doug

[IBCRUSN]

If I get some time tonight I'll shoot a few more pics and add them.

I did the body lift pre-OME lift (easier to jack the body pre-lift) so I can reroute the exhaust where the cats are and change the tailpipe location so as not to incur any more damage. The master plan after the exhaust is done is to fab some sliders that do not hang down so low to protect the cats in their current location.

With the one bolt that was frozen I would say it was a leasurely 8 hours. If you have a clean (no corrosion) truck 4-5 hours is no problem without air. If you have access to air it will speed things up quite a bit. Keep in mind that I did the bulk of the work alone, the wife came out about 5 hours into it to help out.

[UltraFJ]

Cool.

How many bananas would you give that job?

or 's or more?

I wouldn't mind going with a 1" BL.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Doug

Hmmmmmmmmmm, maybe an add to the FAQ?

[IBCRUSN]

Ahhh the banana meter.

if you are in a shop with air and a lift.

if you're in the driveway with a breaker bar and floor jack.

It boils down to time more than anything. Yes, air will make life a lot easier but it can certainly be done in an apartment complex parking lot. Once again I will add that cruiser's that have no rust will be much easier.

[yellowchaosfj80]

Nice I just did mine and went 3" ,,, looks good!

[alia176]

You have no other linkage issues? Such as steering, tranny and Tcase, etc..? The ARB bumper clearance doesn't look to bad either. Nice job. Does the ride feel any different?

Thanks.

Ali

[IBCRUSN]

Originally Posted by alia176

You have no other linkage issues? Such as steering, tranny and Tcase, etc..? The ARB bumper clearance doesn't look to bad either. Nice job. Does the ride feel any different?

Thanks.

Ali

No linkage issues. There is a slight rubbing under the plastic steering column but that started a few days after, need to look into it. There is no change in any functionality. X-fer lever is lower but not a problem (I'll take pic and post). Tranny had very slight bind when shifting into park. I gained access to the shifter gate and smoothed out the parking gate and the bind went away. It rides the same only 1" higher. My only gripe if you want to call it that is now I cannot see the top bar on the ARB so I have to reacquiant myself with where the front end is and how far out it sticks. You guys with factory bumpers or Slee units have no worries.

I think this should be a must do for anyone who lifts an 80, it'll help with exhaust routing and tire cleareance with the larger sizes. We'll see what transpires in the next couple years, I may go to 2" but as Ammo and Christo have mentioned there is much more work involved.

[clownmidget]

Nice mod, I like it

[NW-sickboy]

Originally Posted by IBCRUSN

I think this should be a must do for anyone who lifts an 80, it'll help with exhaust routing and tire cleareance with the larger sizes. We'll see what transpires in the next couple years, I may go to 2" but as Ammo and Christo have mentioned there is much more work involved.

Without any assuming here, will you be routing your exhaust over the frame rail and will there be ample room with the 1 inch body lift?

I really want to get my exhaust out from under there and was going to hack some shit up but this might be better. anyone gone over the frame rail with just a one inch body lift?

[IBCRUSN]

Here are a few more, something about 20 images per post.

X-fer case shifter (not much of a change)


Oh, one more addition for those that are concerned with the A/C dryer. With the Body lift you can probably get away w/out the A/C skid plate but it's always safer to have it.


R/H #2 (over exh pipes)

[IBCRUSN]

Originally Posted by NW-sickboy

Without any assuming here, will you be routing your exhaust over the frame rail and will there be ample room with the 1 inch body lift?

I really want to get my exhaust out from under there and was going to hack some shit up but this might be better. anyone gone over the frame rail with just a one inch body lift?

I have a '94 so the exh goes over the frame anyway but it will allow me to change to positioning of the cat(s) and change the location of the tailpipe so it's not horizontal. For ease of clarity it will be sort of like the stock Taco's how it's angled down right behind the rear tire. If you have a '95+ IIRC Christo mentioned 2" was needed for a clean install. Something to consider though is the oval tubing that IMSA, NASCAR, American LeMan use. The following is a good site to check it out:

http://www.drgas.com/store/home.php?cat=8

[clownmidget]

I did a complete 3" exhaust over the frame rail with just the 1" body lift. Here's the thread with some pics(http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.p...ight=body+lift). Used mandrel bends welded together except for the very last tail pipe section. I've since also put a resonater tucked up next to the aux tank. There was no clearance issues at all with the 3" tubing so if you stick to stock diameter should be even easier.

Originally Posted by NW-sickboy

Without any assuming here, will you be routing your exhaust over the frame rail and will there be ample room with the 1 inch body lift?

I really want to get my exhaust out from under there and was going to hack some shit up but this might be better. anyone gone over the frame rail with just a one inch body lift?

[IBCRUSN]

clown,

Your exhaust routing is very similar to my plans with the exception of the 3" pipe. NA turning at the slow speeds that the typical cruiser is doesn't require anything that large.

[NW-sickboy]

Originally Posted by clownmidget

I did a complete 3" exhaust over the frame rail with just the 1" body lift. Here's the thread with some pics(http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.p...ight=body+lift). Used mandrel bends welded together except for the very last tail pipe section. I've since also put a resonater tucked up next to the aux tank. There was no clearance issues at all with the 3" tubing so if you stick to stock diameter should be even easier.

thanks man.. clean as usual....

[cptmud]

nice job, has given me enought info , to tackel a body lift on my cruiser

[IBCRUSN]

cp,

Good luck. If you have any questions let us know.

Kris