Pros and cons to a body lift to fit 35s on a 3" lift

I already plan on body mount chop and trimming both front and rear wheel wells.

 

At most I would do 1" at the very most.

 

I did a 1" BL, you will have to extend your ABS brake wires to the front wheels, you will have to extend your steering shaft/put a space in under the rag joint. Drilling out the rivits to do that is a big BIG PITA. Need a right angle drill bit, a small one, some hardened bits and lots of patience.

 

I have the 1" bl with 3" SL and 35" s. Came out nice

 

Body lifts are right up there with the spacer lifts...cheap way to accomplish something....not the right way. Really short 1" and under lifts are not real terrible. Those 3-4" body lifts are just for Mall Crawlers as even with normal driving things will self destruct over time......

 

I did a 1" BL and it was the easiest thing ever! Only had to loosen the steering shaft and it had enough slack to slid out that 1" needed and it came with relocation bracket for the radiator but that was it, super easy super simple.

What rivets did you drill out??

 

Back in 1980, I spent what would amount to a small fortune building a Jeep CJ7. While it was still under warranty, I yanked out the 258 six-banger in favor of a 400 cu in small block Chevy. It was a legitimate 450 hp by the time I was done with that part. Then Dana 44 front and rear axles. A full roll cage. Recarro bucket seats. A leather interior (completely covered EVERYTHING) A Warn winch. Runk bumpers front and rear. Then a Rancho suspension lift of about 4". American Racing Wheel brand aluminum wheels, 12"X15", with Gateway Gumbo Mudders, 38"....Then I did a 3-tone Candy apple red paint job, after smoothing out every spot weld on the entire body. 2 pairs of KC Daylighters. It was a work of art!

But I just couldn't stand prosperity. I had to raise it more. I did a 3" body lift. It LOOKED incredible.

Within 3 months, the body mounting points on the body itself started ripping and cracking. Within 6 months, I had to start welding and patching the body before it fell off the frame. I also had a constant battle with the steering column not wanting to stay attached to the steering box. Also, clutch linkage issues.....

Less than a year after I started on this project, I gave up and sold it for pennies on the dollar of what I had invested.

So.....Give me a body lift kit and I'll throw it back at you. No flippin' way I'd put a body lift on anything I have more than a few bucks wrapped up in, much less a $30,000+ truck I really like.

 

rivets on the steering rag joint under the steering wheel above the drivers feet.

 

Shouldnt have bought a jeep

 

Shouldn't have done the body lift. Jeeps were cool back then even if they were AMC built. Still narrow and had leaf springs front and back. There was no place I couldn't take this Jeep that anything else would do....It was awesome....or else it was ME that was awesome....Either way...

 

I agree...they were great off road rigs back then. Loved my 79 CJ. It had a homemade 3" body lift (and a shit ton of suspension lift). It was made from 3" iron blocks with 1/4" conveyor belt material between the blocks & body. The mat absorbed movement and eliminated rattles. Also the blocks were 4" wide to distribute the weight better on the body vs using the small cylinder lift "pucks" that are normally used. The layout worked very well with almost no issues. I had to re-torque the mount bolts from time to time.

 

That's about how high my CJ7 sat. High enough to clear 38''s and then some. Right before I gave up on it, I put a set of 40's on it. Not enough brakes for my liking with tires that big. I had a '78 CJ5 that was on 12.00's (33"'s) it was actually a better off road vehicle than the jacked up 7.

 

Tonka! thats sick you guys!