Home made body lift?

[KnuckleHead]

Does ayone have any ideas on how I could make my own body lift, cheap but effective? I want to do a 3" lift on the Ranger but don't really have the $200 for the store bought one. So I was thinking about making my own. Just not really sure what I could or should use for it. Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

[BLOODBANE]

Hockey Pucks. They are 1", but I don't know if I would stack them though. I wish I could remember where I got the BL(3") for my Explorer it was only like 120.00

[Brody]

Hey

I have made body lifts out of large diameter washers and chunks of tubing welded together and also hockey pucks. I have had good results with both, but would suggest hockey pucks. Sure, you have to stack them, but they seemed to be ok, even though most people do not recommend them. I never had any trouble and they were certainly cheap. You can always replace them with something else later on down the line.

[KnuckleHead]

I was thinking the pipe and washer idea but wasn't to sure. Never thought about hockey pucks, even though I've heard about them before somewhere. I just looked up pucks at dicks sporting on line and they have a practice puck for .99. Would that work or is there a different one I need? Also what type of bolt/nut should I use?

Thanks for the info by the way.

[Patrolman]

I put a 2" on my 90 4Runner when I had it. I bought a kit and believe it was under $100. The only part that I really needed was the extension for the steering linkage. A 1" doesn't require the extension, but 2" does. My 87 has a 1" body lift that appears to be custom built. My 76 Scout has a 2" that was built with tube and washers. Both seem to work well. I have never used the hockey pucks but wouldn't hesitate for a 1" lift.

I sold a Nissan Patrol to a guy locally earlier this Spring. He purchased individual lift blocks for it on Ebay. I guess they were a couple bucks a piece. There are no body lift kits for them, so he had to order the # of lift blocks that he needed. Just use Grade 8 bolts/washers with nylock nuts. Should be able to put together the parts for under $50. Only parts you likely won't be able to get would be the steering extension and the radiator extension brackets.

[5280Hawk]

A guy on MUD sawed up some Poly Boat rollers, They're the things that go along the bottom of a Boat trailer, and they already have a sleeve inside of them.

[BLOODBANE]

For the Ranger you just need longer body bolts. They are metric though. The front cab bolts are usually a real PITA. The washer is dished so after years of water setting in there they rust to the bolt. On my Explorer I had to cut them apart and fab some new spacers(hockey pucks).........
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/BLOODBANE81230/IMG_0561.jpg
My Ranger did the same thing, just haven't fixed it yet.
Other than that it is pretty straight forward to BL a Ranger.....

[KnuckleHead]

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like soething I can do. Now I've been reading and the kit says that I will have to extend the stearing shft, how would I do that? Also, I have a 5 speed manual which also needs to be extend, again how would I go about that? I thought maybe I could get some pipe that fits it snug and put a bolt through it and weld it. I'm new at welding so the bolt would be added security for me. LOL

[Chris]

A guy on MUD sawed up some Poly Boat rollers, They're the things that go along the bottom of a Boat trailer, and they already have a sleeve inside of them.

I remember that and think it's a great solution since they're already sleeved. :thunb:

[Brody]

I am trying to remember what I did when I did the 69 Bronco. I think that I ended up doing the same thing with the tubing sleeve, but it's hazy.

If you do the sleeve, drill some 3/8" holes all the way through the sleeve at both ends before you slide the sleeve over the shaft. That way when you weld the tube on, you can add some additional welds in these holes. BTW, these are called rosette welds and are very strong.

I have much the same thing on my current heap as I broke the steering shaft/tube in Carnage Boulder and had to do a trail repair with my Hi Lift jack handle. When I got home, I just did a double weld around the handle piece. That was 2 years ago and it is still happy. I am also using my extended drag link as a tie rod which was repaired the same way, but with rosette welds. I sleeved the cut drag link with an internal piece for strength, too.

I believe that I posted a picture of this weld in the tech/how to or welding section.

[isotel]

I dont want to Be the Naysayer, but Body Lift? Seriously, why would you want to do that??

If you want larger tires, Cut the Fenders out, then lift the Suspension the Minimal amount in order for the tires to flex decent.. then put bump stops on if needed.

Leave the Body Lift off, They Look Stupid when there is a big gap on the bumpers and Frame.. They usually will have issues getting the truck to cool because the radiator dose not line up right with the Fan.. and they Raise the Center of Gravity without giving you any increase in Performance or clearance..

[Chris]

I disagree simply because not everyone wants to take a sawzall to their truck. Plenty of body lifts running around without any problems but 3" may be pushing it IMHO.

[KnuckleHead]

you have a good point, but the funds right now are on the short side. As for cuting the finders, that I planed on anyway. The rears are very rusted out so I figure why fix them just cut them. As for the radator I am going to intsall an electric 1 so that will fix that problem and also take some strain off the motor.

[isotel]

if they are rusted get rid of them. ;) Sawzall Blades are cheep!

Ive finaly gotten to the point where i don't care that much about keeping stock fenders.. on our older trucks are rusted anyway, and i love the way rigs look with a nice Aggressive High Cut Fender without flares.

On a Friends 76 Bronco he is running 35's with a 2" lift and fenders cut... Looks good and only rubs a little bit, He still has some mods to do, But its nice and low for the time being!

[Patrolman]

I did a body lift on my 90 4Runner, only because it is really difficult to trim the rear fenders due to the door lines. I went with a 2". Should have cut it down to a 1.5". I wanted to clear 33" tires with the 2" suspension and the body lift. Also thought I was going to add a dual t-case at some point. The vehicle had a rear heater and required either tearing it out or putting in 1.5" body lift to clear the dual t-case.

I wouldn't go more than 2" just due to steering shaft and shifter problems. There were brackets that bolted into place to lift the radiator to match the fan height.