Has anyone done a write-up on outfitting the 80 with the Marks 4WD body lft kit. Besides the hoses, does anything else need to be extended? How about lowering the radiator? I tried the search, but it turned up nothing. Any information will be greatly appreciated.
BoobieconMick
I think Christo had posted up some details a ways back. Search for body lift in the 80 section and you should find it. I may have been someone else, but I think it was him.
I saw it on two 80s from SoCal at S&T, and the 36 inch tires were doing great in there. 2 inches wont really do much for throwing off CG. I can deal with that. Its a 200 dollar option to start using the larger tires. I cannot afford the fancier supension stuff at this time.
this is just plain wrong. a body lift actually raises less of the mass/COG that a suspension lift. but that can be debated forever. how about don't knock what you haven't tried.
AMMO has the 2" or 3" Marks kit so contact him. I have the Roger Brown stuff that I detail in the post on the install.
tech_dog said:
What's the benifit of a body lift? It seems you'd be raising the CG for no real reason.
How can a question be "just plain wrong?" Why so defensive?
With a suspension lift, you get the clearance and articulation advantage, so you've got a benifit to trade for the disadvantage of a higher CG.
I was wondering why you'd accept a higher CG without getting that advantage. Mickey gave a reasonable answer, which is that he's considering it to allow larger tires without having to cut, and doing it at a reduced cost.
I wasn't knocking anything, just looking for info...
Actually a suspension lift may impact CG more since only the body goes up not the frame with a body lift, the CG change is not so much but probably is measurable, unless I have a lot of cargo on the roofrack or passengers. The downside with the body lift is that I wont bnefit from components that will have better travel and control of the truck. Also road manners can change because the bushings can add instability to the relationship between the fram and the chassis. None of these are really a concern to me because i travel around 60mph max and will be even more cautios once the kit is on.
By the way how do I get a hold of AMMO? Can someone also link me up to the installation post, I am just totally inept with the search today
I meant to say, the suspension lift may change COG more because the body and fram are raised together, where the body lift only raises the shell. I dont want to start WWIII
Ammo reporting for duty as directed. Mike is defensive because a few members of this board have convinced many members that body lifts are evil. Mike and I both sport body lifts and have been very happy with the results. I'm running 37's with and EMU lift. As stated before you can do all the suspension you want but that will not give you anymore room in the wells. This has been discussed in great length on the board, try a search. And you will find tons. Suspension is great, but if you’re not using all of its flex because you’re stuffing tires, a simple body lift will fix that. And remember the lowest part on our cruisers is the axel, so bigger tires are a must to get that up, no suspension lift will raise that.
For what its worth, in the reading i have done. You can do a 1'' body lift and not have to mess with really anything on the truck. Its the 2-3" lifts that start to effect everything else.
Perhaps Clown or Ammo can verify that but im pretty sure that info is correct.
Really, there is no "may" to it. A suspension lift will absolutely raise the COG more than a body lift of the same amount.
I think body lifts can be very useful, especially if you have maxed out the suspension lift and need a little more room and don't want to hack the body.
It can be difficult to pull off a significant body lift without affecting the appearance (gaps, etc) but that is a cosmetic issue that you just have to find a way to deal with.
I ran a 2" body lift on my 40, along with 5" total suspension lift to run 36" swampers. I did not want to increase the suspension lift beyond what I had due to driveline angles in that short-shafted situation. The body lift also simplified some other tasks like installing an underbody battery box and running exhaust.
I definitely want to go with a body lift and run 37s and then stuff 5.29s and ARBs in both diffs. After doing a section of the rubicon on 33s with open diffs, I cannot go through that agony again. There is no fun in 1 step forward and two steps back for 12 hours - not for the driver. My passengers loved it, but I was exhausted. I will have to PM AMMO and get this party started : )
I have just installed a 3" body lift in my 80 last month. Not as much modification as you would think. You will need the stearing ext. and you will have to unbolt some of the brackets that hold the E-brake and wires in the back. A large jack would be bennificial. The standard 2 1/2 ton floor jack was not tall enough. I had to use wood blocks to fill the gaps. It takes a little over a half a day to install the lift. The radiator will need to be lowered, or you will have to go with electric fans, and different radiator hoses. Havent had the time to write up a good post on it yet.. here are some pictures, before and after.
that looks pretty much perfect! I geuss my only question would be on how to extend the steering? Is that something I will have to fab up something for? I am having a hard time with that brainstorm. The rest I think I can handle pretty well. Did you do it one side at a time? Any major pitfalls a body lift rookie like myself should be looking out for?
What are guys doing on the bumpers.I also wonder how much a 1" body lift would help with a 2.5" F.O.R. kit that would already be runnig 315's.maybe we could squeeze 36'' tires in there?
but hey at least lemme post pic of JDM 80s body lift kit 
