Body Lift???

I Was Thinking About Getting A 3'' Body Lift And Wanted To Know How Hard It Is To Install My Self? I Have A 99 1500 4x4 Thanks For Any Help You Have!!!

Come On Guys Someone Has To Have A Body Lift Out There????

fairly easy just unbolt the body mounts, lift everything and put the new hardware in. pay close attention to brake lines, wires, the steering shaft and anything else that links the frame to the body. a 3" body lift should be a piece of cake to install. it's suspension lifts that get complicated because they throw off the steering linkage, change driveline angles and mess up the brake lines.
good luck!

Thanks Amac209 That What I Thought!!!

Just like amac209 said pay attention to all cables and wires and such. Also remember that your fan shroud will have to be altered because it will be getting raise with the body and the motor will be staying in the factory spot. Also your bumpers will have to be adjusted. Personally I dont like body lifts. They dont really serve a purpose besides giving you a worse ride and that ugly gap between the frame and body. If you do go with one be sure to get the things that cover up the gap in your wheel wells. Thats helps some.

I Will... I Would Get A Suspention Lift But They Are To Much Money!! Do You Know If It Will Void My Warrenty?

Which one? Well thats a long debate in itself. It really boils down to your local dealership. I have heard of people that have 8 inches of suspension lift and not have a problem getting anything done from the dealer. I have also heard of people putting ford keys under there truck and having nothing but problems from the dealer.

One thing on this to know is that even if something does void your warrenty, in order for the dealer to deny fixing something they must directly relate the problem to whatever voided your warrenty.

For instance if you lift your truck up and your dealer says your voided your warrenty. Then your electric door locks quit working, the dealer cannot deny you service.
But if your tranny goes out, you might have a tougher fight on your hands cause that directly relates to the suspension lift.

With a body lift, your naturally going to be running taller tires and thus the dealer could have the same argument if something happens to the tranny, diff, etc.

The best bet would be go to your local dealer and see what they say. Also try to get in in writing just in case. It's really all about what your willing to sacrafice for a good looking truck!

Thanks Rositis... I Called The Dealer Up And They Said A Body Lift Would Not Void The Warrenty At All.

Cool

Try and save your money for a suspension lift. Body lifts aren't that great, you can fit larger tires but you also get those ugly gaps, they do make fillers for those and brackets to raise your bumpers though so it wouldn't look bad, i guess it depends on what reason your putting a body lift on, if it's for looks then cool, but if it's for off roading then it serves no purpose.

I Can Get A Body Lift For $200 And A Suspension For $1400. I Can Put The Body Lift On My Self And The Suspension Lift Would Be $600 For Install. And It Comes With The Bumper Relocators. So Im Going With That

Frontline, your not going to run into very many people that will say much good about a body lift besides the cost. But I can understand where your comming from. I almost had the dealer put one on my truck before I drove it off the lot. But I must say that I'm happy that I didnt. Just remember that you do get what you pay for. There is a reason that there is 1200 bucks difference in the price. I'm not trying to change your mind or tell you that body lifts are crap cause alot of people get them and are happy as can be with the but I would be willing to be that a couple of years from now you will be wishing you would have saved up a few more bucks and put the suspension on. Especially when it comes to trying to sell your truck. Instead of adding value, a body lift takes away in my book. Once again just my opinion.

Well Thanks For The Opinion!!!! But Im All About The Prise. My Friend Has A 6'' Rcd With A 4'' Body And Its Fine I Just Dont Have The Extra 1800 Dollars For A Lift And Insallation. I Have To Finish College And Am Getting Married In 6 Months. So Anyways Thanks Guys.

I wouldn't put a body lift on anything else again. I have one on my 92 chevy truck, it diesnt help u get anywhere else that your stock truck cant get you. I've also heard alot of people that have had them crack there body on there truck with a body lift. Im like everyone else in here and i would say take the time to save up and get the suspension lift.

I'm of the same opinion, body lifts are crappy. They give you all this junky lookin stuff to extend your grounding, brake and gas petals, and sometimes they will even sell stuff to lift your rear bumper up so you don't get that crappy gap between your tailgate and the bumper and the extenders look like junk. If you do defy all good advise, please put some step bars on the side to cover the unsightly frame exposure. After all, you are just getting it for asthetics and not function.

another suggestion that is affordable. Check into the ford keys for the torsion bars. I believe you can get similiar results as body lift with a front end alignment after adjustment.
I did have a body lift on another vehicle (primarily street) my main complaint was that the truck felt less stable in curves and wind because of the additional flex between the body and frame. Remember the lift blocks increase the bodies leverage on themounting bolts and the body will DEFINITELY move more.
Good luck with school and congrat's on your upcoming wedding.

I've a '99 Z-71 that I'd like to add a couple extra inches to. So this is actaully a question that's been on my mind as well.

After reading the negatives about body lifts, which had also been attractive to me because of their price, I'm about to ditch the idea in favor of a suspension lift.

So that brings me to ask how high can a suspension lift go before things like drive-shafts, axels, steering changes, etc... have to be performed? Is there an average that works for a truck such as mine that sees mostly street time with the occasional off road journey and snow covered roads?

(by average I'm sorta referring to numbers like when i've dropped suspensions on trucks, the average job was a 2" drop in front, 3" out back)

Thanks.

most of the lifts I've found have been 6 inch with a few 4 inch available. I'd like to get the same look you're after; so I think I'm gonna check into using the ford keys on the torsion bars. You can crank the bars up then and all you need is a alignment.

Fabrikator, There is really not an average. Like buttnekked said, most are a 6inch lift. But even with the 6 inch they can go from 5 - 7 inch, but the manufactuer averages them at 6 inches. As far as what you will need, thats up to you. it mostly depends on what look your looking for. I personally like the 6inch lift. I think it looks good, but the 4 inch looks good as well. As far as how high you can go, most people recommend not running higher than 35's on the IFS. It's a good front end for what its designed for, but When you start putting larger tires on it and more stress its not as good as a solid front axle. Thats why most people will say leave it around 35's. Bye the way, thats a 6 inch lift to get the 35's to fit without trimming.

You will have to check with the manufactuer about the drive shafts. Some suspension kits require you to change the driveshaft and some do not.

buttnekked, the most your going to be able to do with the ford keys is level your truck, front to rear. If thats the look your going for then the ford keys are a very inexpensive way to do it. You can get it close to level without the ford keys, just by cranking your torsion bars.

Thanks ROSITIS & BUTTNEKKED. I'm thinking I just want another 2"-4" for a slightly higher than stock ride and some aluminum rims and aggresive all-season tires that are only a little bigger than stock. Mine is a 1500 and I like the look of the 2500HD if that's any indication as to how I'd like things to look when finished.

My biggest concern is the "hidden costs" that pop up when you start changing drive and suspension angles. Though I'm not looking at much of a change, what you said- "It's a good front end for what its designed for" also rings true from my experience with other things like this. So I'll keep that in mind when I'm shopping around.

Thanks again for the help!

Ok,...I've had a little bit of experience with both suspension and body lifts and I have to say that I wouldn't put either on my new truck. My little brother had a 3" body lift put on his truck and it didn't look bad because he had lift lip covers(those fillers you speak of) but everything was all messed up. There was the rear bumper gap which couldn't be lifted because he had a replacement rear Ranchhand bumper. They had to cut the steering shaft and put an extension in it which I didn't really trust. In the engine compartment everything thing looked out of place, the motor was lower than the intake tubing and the fan shroud was lowered, but the radiator was still in stock postion. With the gain in tire size he went through 2 transmissions. Lastly, he definitely didn't get his money out of the truck when he sold it. My suspension truck was another story though. It was an OBS Tahoe with 6" Pro-Comp system and some other goodies.(35" BFG Muds required minor fender trimming) The truck was very functional off road, but it still ate front end steering components trying to handle those tires on the road. By the time I sold it, everything squeaked in the front end(needed new bushings I guess) This is just my experience with the topic and my 2 cents also. If you want to hear my ideas for my new truck just say so.
Jeb