Body lift - pics + parts

[Spook50]

There were only two of the smaller cups that were still connected to the pedestals. In part for simplicity and--in part because I'm anal about symmetry--I cut/ground them off. The only cups still in place after the changeout are the large cups, 2 on each side.

I did a little bit of research about the risk associated with not having the cups, and what I found was that there is more of a risk of the bushings sloshing around and eventually tearing without them. That said, I talked to the guys at ES and they basically said that this is not as much of a concern from their bushings. In fact, not having a flush mating surface (such as too small a cup) for the bushings can cause them to age more quickly around the perimeter due to increased loading on the outside edge.

Also, from practical experience changing them out (and the mistake of removing ALL the bolts at the same time) I found that it is actually pretty difficult for a solid body to shift much at all on any single body mount. In other words, I'm pretty confident that the 12 mounts will hold the body in place when properly shimmed.

Do you think an air chisel would take the cups off pretty well, in the case of the smaller ones?

 

[disassociative]

The chisel would work as long as there is a good deal of rust. The cups are welded to the pedestal, and if there isn't much corrosion you risk damaging the surface. I had to cut the small front ones off even though most of the others fell off with the rubber mounts.

 

[Spook50]

The chisel would work as long as there is a good deal of rust. The cups are welded to the pedestal, and if there isn't much corrosion you risk damaging the surface. I had to cut the small front ones off even though most of the others fell off with the rubber mounts.

Damn. I don't think my frame has any rust beyond a bit of surface. Looks like my great idea for a homebrew body lift/bushing solution ain't gonna happen. I'd need room on all 12 pedestals for 2.5" pucks.

Guess I'll be going with the Roger Brown kit after all.

 

[lovetoski]

So, thought I'd post an update on my cheap boat roller body lift. For the most part it's been perfect. Just what I wanted, at a low cost, holding up fine.

However, when I did it I noticed that the stock bushings were sketchy, especially the two supporting the front clip. I read and re-read the info that Roger Brown has about his body lift & PU bushings, and it was clear that was the route I needed to go...but like most of us, I have lots of projects, so I put this one off.

Then about 10 days ago my son and I were doing a couple of sections on the WABDR and I hit a compression pretty hard at speed. This caused the fan to rub the shroud. The front bushing had suddenly collapsed quite a bit due to the force of the compression.

Time to get new bushings.

Turns out this is not easy. 60/62's come with many variations in bushing diameter. You gotta measure yours, then order accordingly. I got what I ordered in just a couple of days, and did the install today.

The install today was a little tougher that doing the original body lift because some the moron who installed dynomate had covered up the interior access points to the bolts.

Once that was rectified, all went as planned.

The Roger Brown bushing kit comes with large fender washers for the top of the bushings. However, the front bushing is quite a bit smaller in diameter than the boat roller. So, I went to a local shop and purchased 12 2" washers to add to the stack. This gave a firm support for the front-most boat roller, and brought all the others up to the same level.

Here are some pics...the gold colored washer came with the kit, the thick silver one is the one I added.

 

[Elbert]

any special tricks to get the rear two most body mount bolts out through the access holes?

 

[disassociative]

any special tricks to get the rear two most body mount bolts out through the access holes?

I removed all the nuts from the body mount bolts and lifted the rear body from until the bolt cleared the frame. From there, I was able to tilt the bolt to such an angle as would allow for removal through the access panel.

 

[Elbert]

I removed all the nuts from the body mount bolts and lifted the rear body from until the bolt cleared the frame. From there, I was able to tilt the bolt to such an angle as would allow for removal through the access panel.

thanks...my friend ran into a little snag...we're good now.