1'' body lift - yes or no? (1 Viewer)

[Toyo Boyo]

Hello

I have just fitted Old Man Emu shocks and springs (850 and 863's) and some 33x11.5'' Courser MT's.

What's the view on a small body lift?

I fitted one to my 4Runner and one thing it did help with was allowing air to flow around the transmission - this massively reduced heat build up inside the truck. I know it will only give a small improvement in approach/departure angles.

I have searched the forum but not really got a definite answer.

Thanks for the help - here's a pic btw

Last Saturday

Today

 

[Ebag333]

Hello

I have just fitted Old Man Emu shocks and springs (850 and 863's) and some 33x11.5'' Courser MT's.

What's the view on a small body lift?

I fitted one to my 4Runner and one thing it did help with was allowing air to flow around the transmission - this massively reduced heat build up inside the truck. I know it will only give a small improvement in approach/departure angles.

I have searched the forum but not really got a definite answer.

Thanks for the help - here's a pic btw

Last Saturday

Today

I am currently running:

OME Medium (2" front, 2.5" rear)
1" body lift ( 4Crawler Offroad - Custom Body Lift Kits )
315 (metric 35's)



It really depends on what you're trying to do with the body lift as to whether it will benefit you or not.

It will not improve approach/departure angles (not without totally custom front/rear bumpers that take advantage of it).
It will improve air flow slightly.
It will allow you to fit 35's with little to no rubbing (the only rubbing I have is a 1/2 inch long spot at the top of the passenger rear wheel).


If you want to keep 33's, then you're not going to see much gain from a body lift. You may see more travel, but you'll need to adjust your bumpstops and such, and if you are already rubbing against the frame then adding a body lift won't help any.

If you want to go to 35's, then a body lift can minimize/eliminate rubbing against the body.


There's not a lot of info on the body lift on the forums. If there's something specific you are looking for, let me know. There are also a few things I can elaborate if you decide to go that route as far as the install goes.



Nice pics. Looks like you got the stinkbug worse than I, are those heavies in the rear?

 

[IronYuppy]

Not many of us are running any body lift.

I installed a 1" 4Crawler kit about six months ago.

You're right, it does allow for better air flow and a noticeably cooler tranny hump.


It also allows a bit of wheel clearance (as noted above) and allows more room between body and frame for re-routing the exhaust (which is part of my plan). If you live in an area which doesn't inspect your cats, you can delete them and reroute all of the exhaust within the two frame rails instead of outboard as it is from the factory.

I have no complaints with my body lift If you want to know more, there's a write-up on my install and it can be found in the "mods" sticky at the top of this page.

 

[NLXTACY]

So no negatives running the body lift??

 

[Toyo Boyo]

So no negatives running the body lift??

Ha, that's what I thought!

I've got access to a large engineering workshop for the next three months so I'll make a 1'' lift and fit it.

I've got mediums in the rear btw, I have not idea why its lifted it so much! When its full of camping and trail gear it should settle down just about right.

Thanks for the replies .

 

[Ebag333]

So no negatives running the body lift??

It raises CoG (though not nearly as much as a suspension lift OFC). The gaps between the different areas (IE: bumper/body) become very noticable.

I've got access to a large engineering workshop for the next three months so I'll make a 1'' lift and fit it.

I'm not sure I would make it. It's not terribly difficult to do, granted, but you have to consider everything.

I paid a bit over $100 for my 1" lift, and that was with the heavy duty hardware and the "oversized" (which are actually the RIGHT size) spacers. And getting them colored black to match the factory ones.

I could have fairly easily done it myself with some aluminum pucks, but then there's a lot more time and effort that goes into it. Plus the kit (same as Iron Yuppie installed) is VERY high quality, I was extremely impressed.

I doubt I would have been able to save any money (if you factor in time).

I've got mediums in the rear btw, I have not idea why its lifted it so much! When its full of camping and trail gear it should settle down just about right.

Probably just needs to settle then. My lift was used, so is was already broken in. If it doesn't get better in a while (like 5k+ miles while) then you might consider throwing some spacers in the front (Man-a-free imports some very nice spring spacers).

 

[NLXTACY]

It raises CoG (though not nearly as much as a suspension lift OFC). The gaps between the different areas (IE: bumper/body) become very noticable.

Thats sounding like a bad thing. How do you compensate?

 

[Ebag333]

Thats sounding like a bad thing. How do you compensate?

Raising the CoG or the gaps?


For raising the CoG, you don't. But you're not raising it as much as you would with a suspension lift.

For example I have the OME Medium and the 1" body lift, for a total of 3" front and 3.5" rear. A guy local to me has the J's, which (with his armor, which I don't have) gives him about 3".

Even though I have the same total amount of lift, I don't need a DC driveshaft (which he did), I have a lower CoG than he does, and it was a lot simpler and quicker.

And with my 35's to his 33's, I'm actually a bit higher off the ground than him too.

Now once I get some armor I'll either need to move to OME heavies or add spring spacers to keep the same amount of lift. But I still won't have to step up to J springs.

 

[Dazlinsky]

I am thinking about doing the same.;p
I got the 1" spacers on friday and was about to get stuck into the lift and suddenly reliased! BOLTS
I dont have any!!
Does any know how long and what size are needed to do the 1" lift!!

 

[motorcoach123]

Does any know how long and what size are needed to do the 1" lift!!

Hey Daz

Iron Yuppy wrote an excellent install here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/206908-product-review-4crawler-roger-brown-1-body-lift.html

It should answer all your questions!

Cheers,
Gord

 

[Ebag333]

I am thinking about doing the same.;p
I got the 1" spacers on friday and was about to get stuck into the lift and suddenly reliased! BOLTS
I dont have any!!
Does any know how long and what size are needed to do the 1" lift!!

You should be able to re-use the existing bolts. I know for a fact 1" spacers will work for front and rear. I'm not 100% positive on the 3 middle bolts, I used the ones supplied by Roger Brown.

You probably will not be able to double nut them, I would recommend some hefty lock-tite. (Something I haven't done yet. :whoops: )

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

From memory when i did my 30mm body lift on my 80 back in 1996 so i could run 36" swampers with 3" OME 850's and 860's, I could re use all the bolts by moving them around [back I think} and only having to replace 2 bolts.

I then lifted the spare wheel bracket up the 30mm as well, to get the spare out of harms way underneath.

The gearbox seal on top, if its manual will also require some attention, where it ataches to the floor, but you guys probably dont have to worry about that

 

[Ebag333]

The gearbox seal on top, if its manual will also require some attention, where it ataches to the floor, but you guys probably dont have to worry about that

I adjusted my radiator (dropped it down) to deal with fan/shroud interferance.

I also adjusted the shift lever linkage so I didn't have to press it forward in order to get park fully engaged. I'd like to adjust the linkage for the t-case lever, but that's not very easy to get to.

No other adjustments needed.

 

[Dazlinsky]

I am thinking about taking one or two bolts out and measure them so I can get some before the weekend. Its frustrating as the truck is used every day and I live miles from town so I cant take the bolts out and just pop into a nut and bolts store and say "10 of these please"

 

[Ebag333]

I know that the front and rear bolts are different lengths. The fronts are longer than the rear, which are longer than the middle.

I'm unsure if the middle bolts are different lengths. I seem to recall them being the same (or very close to it).

So in order to source bolts you'd need to remove 3, one front, one rear, one mid. I personally would not drive my truck with that many removed.

And you can't go much longer than the OEM rear bolt, it will not physically fit into the channel. Maybe 1/2" longer, but that's it. The other bolts have no such limitations.

 

[SR.GRINGO]

Any ideas on the metric hardware size? Must be a 10, or 12---but 1.5, or 1.25. How long 130?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Personally, I think that a body lift is a waste of time... But that's just me.

 

[jamisobe]

A 2.5" or 4" suspension lift will raise your cog higher than a 1" body lift. But, a 1" suspension lift will not. In fact, under load (weight or body leaning) the 1" body lift will have a higher cog than a 1" suspension lift.

A certain amount of sprung lift compared to the same amount of body lift is better for load handling and suspension travel.

Combining 1" of body lift with 4" of suspension lift could be nice for fitting tires bigger than 35", but I would first try to modify the fender area to avoid the need for a 1" body lift. If I were interested in tires bigger than 37" I might contemplate a 1" body lift at the expense of cog.

My Js gave me 4" of lift.

 

[tea LC]

looks good.

would there be any issues running a 1" body lift with stock springs & bilsteins? this might be a better option for those of us conquering on-road obstacles a majority of the driving time.

 

[FJnAK]

I did a 4 crawler 1" body lift on mine a couple of years back, was a good mod for me. I needed just a bit more lift to clear 37's with J springs. It went on smooth, just lowered the radiator and adjusted the shifter linkage. I was able to clear 35's without rubbing with stock springs and the 1" body lift. Here's a pic with the 35's, stock suspension and 1" of body lift.