How easy is it to install a body lift? How do you do it? Do you have to realign things like body panels and bumpers or does everything move up together? I found a good deal a 3" body lift on ebay but I'm unsure of a body lift. Any information from people that have used them I would appreciate.

 

If you are not going offroad a body lift will work , it will get you tire clearance but you will see a little more of the frame.I did some serious offroading in my old Tacoma that had a body lift and had the bed shift on the frame .Not a huge problem but I had to loosen everything and realign.

 

I don't agree with you Capt. Nemo. The offroad capabilities on my truck with the body lift are incredible. I have yet to bottom out my frame. Before they lift I would bottom out my step bars all of the time. By lifting the body of my truck, I eliminated this and gained tons of ground clearance for the body. I figure that if I do bottom out, I would much rather hit the frame than the body and with the body lift this is easily achieved.

I'm not saying that a suspension lift is worse or even the same as a body lift, because it is much much better but the body lift is a damn good improvement for a little over $100. Like I said, I can't believe how well this truck does offroad and the 35" mudders help out too .

So those of you with biased opinions on body lifts and also can't afford suspension lifts, you can keep your trucks stock and just hope for a large sum of money to eventually lift your truck. I will stick to the cheap route and have a blast running off and on road with my ride.



The body lift is very time consuming to install. It took me almost a full weekend to install it by myself. The good thing is that it doesn't take any special tools or equipment. You need two jacks, a T47 socket, air tools help but aren't required, a good .5" drill, and a rotary tool is a plus. You will need to adjust the cab to bed gap and the bumper gaps. The bumpers were the biggest PIA. It took me 4 hours plus to get them aligned good and they still aren't perfect.

I wouldn't recommend a body lift off of ebay unless it is sealed and brand new. One missing part can put you off of the road for a week until you order another one. I would pay the $125 from summitracing.com and go from there. It will be at your door in one day.

kev

 

the tires are probley what gave you most of the ground clearence. i like suspension better, but cost is a big issue for me and many others. gather a couple freinds a case and some tools

 

Well yes the tires gave me a bit of clearance but not much. I went from 32s to 35s, that is a 3 inch difference but only the radius comes into play. So the tires only lifted the truck 1.5 inches.

kev

 

Hey 97_F150_Tan

Go with what you can afford . My point was if you are going to do some SERIOUS offroading you might like a suspension lift better.I did mine for $800 and it's not that difficult to install although some people might want to have a shop install the springs .

99 2WD 4.6
AIM 3" spindles
AIM control arms & 3" springs
AIM rear hangers
Ultra wheels
Mickey Thompson MTX 285/75/16's