Body Lifts.

[Fordguy77]

I am thinking about putting a body lift on the FJ60. I have heard some bad things about body lifts, and the inherit body roll they create and that they can raise COG. I dont plan on putting on a insane amount of body lift, probably just a 1" to help minimize any of the cutting i might have to do in the future. By using such a small body lift, will it greatly reduce the negative effects body lifts seem to have?

[Brody]

Up to a 2" body lift will affect very little. There isn't too much too them and on older rigs, they are much simpler, usually only requiring some modification to the radiator mounts for clearance and that is main ly for the fan shroud. You don't have to do more than adjust the steering linkage a little on the older rigs, either, eliminating the steering spacer so often needed on newer models. PB Blaster is, once again, your friend, so get friendly with all the body mount bolts way before the actual lift install. Toyota has actually made a body lift fairly easy for one guy to do, too, as the tops of all the body mount bolts are self anchoring, meaning all you do is unbolt from the bottom. Whatever kit you use, do not expect to have the same user friendly bolts in it, though some of them do supply them.

One side at a time and it will help if you put some identifying marks on the underside of the body in relation to the frame to make things easier when you go to tighten everything back up.

By the way, you are probably going to get a huge mess of pros and cons about body lifts as this is one of those stupid subjects that everyone has an opinion on. As far back as I remember (like back in 67 or so when I first started wheeling) people have been yammering on about body lift pros and cons and it is still being beaten to death on every 4x forum out there. I have had body lifts of one kind or another on at least 10 rigs that I have owned and none on others. I have also known a huge number of people who have or are currently running a body lift with no problems. The general rule of thumb is that up to 3" on a body lift is about as far as you can reasonably go without issues and it is based on a lot of experience.

I don't have one on my current heap...Why? Cause I simply didn't think about it. Did I notice any difference with or without? No, except for tire clearance. Would I have liked one on my current heap? Sure, cause then I could flat bottom it, but now I have the exo in the way...

Bottom line is they work and have worked for a huge number of years on all sorts of different rigs or people wouldn't still be either selling or using the damn things.

So my suggestion to other folks before they reply is that if you DO NOT have personal knowledge of body lifts, either pro or con, to simply not reply with what you read on the internet.

[Chris]

Aren't you going SOA on that Chris?

[Mporter]

I believe he is. It's somewhere in his build thread.

[Fordguy77]

Im going SOA, but i am going to perform a restomod on it to clean it all up a bit, and i figured since i would be redoing body mounts anyway that i might put a 1inch body lift on it.

[Chris]

Okay, that makes sense but kind of double work IMHO.

[4finger]

i have a 2 inch body lift in my 4runner. the reason i have it is because i also have a 3.4L engine in it and the engine is just too tall- the lift allows me to be able to close my hood. i havent noticed too much difference between a 2in, 1in, or no body lifts. yes you do raise the center of gravity- but only by a little bit. about the only reason i would worry about the COG on my truck with the 2inch body lift is if i load my truck down with camping gear, AND firewood, AND parts, AND tools and a few other assorted items. ive had this truck at some good angles and it still felt moderatley stable. BUT i also have a soggy 7 inch lift in the rear (dont ask- it was the only way to level the rear of the truck with a 5 inch lift in the front) and 39 inch tires AND a 29 inch frame height with the tires at 7 pounds of pressure. and so most of my tippy-ness is from my rediculous lift spring height.

ive kinda got this thought process that the 3 inch and lower body lifts are not really going to be noticeable, yes they will affect you- but not enough to be worried about.

[Fordguy77]

Thanks for your input on your lift on the 4runner. In theory with the SOA i am trying to get my frame height about at or lower than 24" running 35s with some room, and it will be built with the options of 37"s. I am trying to keep my frame height somewhere below the 2' foot mark. I have heard(and been told by chris) that a lot of people who go SOA have flopped them or rolled them, so i am really trying to keep the Cog down, and i am a little paranoid about raising the body.

[scout man]

Okay, that makes sense but kind of double work IMHO.

Chris, let me introduce you to young chris. If he didnt want to do exessive work he would sell 2 or 3.... or 6 of his projects and just pick one!!! :D

[Fordguy77]

Well if i got rid of them all, what would entertain my free time when i am laid off? Its really in my best interest to have so much to do, so i cant find time to get into too much trouble!

[Cr33p3r]

I have a 3"bl on the ranger and have not really noticed any difference in any areas of concerns that you have Chris. Once the SAS is done & the 35s on it the truck will be sitting about 6" taller and i may pull the BL out but still thinking that move.

[4finger]

In theory with the SOA i am trying to get my frame height about at or lower than 24" running 35s with some room, and it will be built with the options of 37"s.
a SOA should generate a "lift" height of 3 ish inches????? right? ive never really known the amount of lift you get from doing a SOA. im thinking a driveshaft change would need to be involved (lengthening), so you might be able to redrill your ubolt flip plate and your spring perch 1 inch forward so you can move your axle forward an inch, helping the "minimal cutting" idea. of course then some steering work may need to be done.

[Fordguy77]

Depending on the rig a SOA can generate from 4 up to 7 inches depending on how some of it is done. The planning i have done for my SOA if the numbers work out are going to give me around 6inchs of lift. I am going to do a shackle reversal on my front axle and moving it about 2inchs forward to help with the approach angle some, and i am tossing around moving my rear back around 2-3" because i want to improve my departure angle some, but i am not willing to bob the FJ. It sounds like no one has too many complaints about running a body lift and larger tires, and since i planning on only running a 1" lift it seems like i wont be a bad idea at all.
Thanks for all the input everyone!

[Mporter]

There's some threads on 'Mud about wheelbase lengthening, something with using 63" chevy springs and just remaking the wheel wells.

[southpaws3]

I run both ! one w/ body lift and one w/out to each their own just like brody said ...ENJOY!! TO HELL WHAT EVERYBODY THINKS!!!AAAHHHHHHH!:GroupHug:

[Fordguy77]

Yeah I have read feds40 builds a 60 and weaklinks 60 about 100times through and have came up with some good ideas based on there builds.

[Brody]

If I can make another suggestion:

If you are planning to do a SOA, do that first as you may vary well find that that the SOA in itself will give you all the list you will want, Save the body lift part until later on as it it isn't a big deal to do, either time or money wise.

I am due to get Matt's rig in another couple of weeks for probably a week. I am going to be doing front and rear bumpers, plus sliders, roof repairs and body work on it and will give you a shout so that you can come over and take a look at his.

If I were you, this is what I would do. The body lift may be totally superfluous and a waste of time and money.

[4finger]

do that first as you may vary well find that that the SOA in itself will give you all the list you will want,
i was thinking that. if your thinking around 6 inches you may be at a good height- add to that moving your axle forward(which i was wondering if you were gonna do, i just didnt ask:frown:), you may be ok for 35's. if your moving your rear axle back you may have to do some trimming to the rear of the well. i know it wont help a whole lot- but if you wanna add to the "no tipping" equation- you could also add some wheel spacers or get some rims with more (or less- i dont remember how you look at that) backspacing to them.

whenever i see a lifted 60 i always wonder more about it rolling forward or backward more than i worry about it tipping sideways.
may i also suggest- if your building your own bumpers wait until you do the body lift (if your gonna do one). then you can build the bumper to look good with the lines of the truck. not have a bumper that sits lower than the truck.

now for the hijack- besides raising the truck the diameter of the axle tube- what else contributes to the height change for a spring over??? do you take into account the thickness of the spring pack? (hijack off)

its funny to see how your adding 6 inches of lift and your looking at a 22-24 inch frame height. and i add 5 inches and get a 29 inch frame height with flat tires. man i wish i could get mine down to a mid 20's height!:lmao: mostly because im tired of climbing into the truck.:lmao::lmao::lmao:

[Brody]

now for the hijack- besides raising the truck the diameter of the axle tube- what else contributes to the height change for a spring over??? do you take into account the thickness of the spring pack? (hijack off)

That plus the shackle reversal. The shackle reversal adds a little bit, too, especially on the older FJs.

[Fordguy77]

Also you gain some height off of the spring perches when you flip them around, to be on the top side, so you have axle tube + spring perch I'm also having my spring packs re-arced and might have to do some remove of leafs to get back to where i want.. The only reason i might be able to keep my frame height so low is i am planning on boxing in my frame some and running sleeves for through the frame to hang the shackle out of, instead of having a typical shackle hanger which will help eliminate some height and keep the frame lower to the ground. Its because of that i am actually considering the body lift.
There are 2 60s that kinda have given me the direction i want to go and some inspiration for my build.

[Brody]

Go to MidWest Spring for the re arch. If you bring them the broken down leaf packs, they will re arch them for $7-8 a leaf. DO NOT USE DENVER SPRING. Those clowns used to be pretty damn good in the past, but after my last experience (when spring techy brain child there couldn't under stand simple instructions like "bend a separate leaf to match the rest and punch a hole right in the middle") and other delay causing issues, I will never do any business with them at all. Seems like they changed ownership and hired a bunch of folks who do not know one side of an arch from another...I ended up paying Denver Spring for the two pieces, telling them to forget re arching the springs I had dropped off 5 days before with a 'promised' one day turnaround (nothing had been done with them) and taking them to Mid West. Mid West did the re arch while I waited.

[4finger]

those are some really good pics to get the motivation going. :thumb:

thanx for the info on the shackle reversal and the spring perches adding height.