Body Lift

2006 Tacoma PreRunner SR5 DCLB, 4.0L V6, automatic, 128K miles.
Before


After a 3" body lift and with a 1 1/4" rear suspension lift block (mid-project results)(no spare tire, no rear bumper, no hitch, and no side steps). I did not and will not be using PA's rear bumper brackets. I did not and won't be purchasing PA's factory rear hitch bracket set.


Body lifts usually provide clearance for larger tires (Tacoma mid cab mounts and fender shape kind of defeat that benefit as the truck was designed), retain the stock ride, retain the stock suspension geometry, and keep the center of gravity much closer to stock versus a suspension lift. Had my truck not had side steps that I will be re-using I would not have installed a 3" body lift but that is personal preference. I wouldn't hesitate to do a 1" body lift and would even consider a 2" body lift on a truck that didn't have side steps. The 3" body lift with no side steps is fugly, IMO. Lol. With the side steps and inner fender gap guards (not installed in the picture) the only noticeable areas to most people that the truck has a body lift would be behind the side steps and in front of the rear wheels, and those poorly placed and overly large mid cab body mounts.

Tools required: hammer, wire cutters, 3/8" ratchet, various 3/8" ratchet extensions, short sockets (10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm), 7/16" deep socket, 7/16" wrench, 8mm allen socket or wrench, T55 Torx, 17mm deep socket, 19mm deep socket, 14mm wrench, flat blade screwdriver, hacksaw or grinder with cut off wheel, and a panel popper.

The kit I used was made by Performance Accessories and was for a 3" body lift. I bought the kit off of Amazon for $200 less than its retail price because it was a open box return and sold "as is" with a guarantee all parts were in the box. As I was putting the truck back together it became very clear PA's general rule of thumb was to cut and extend nearly everything involved whether it needed it or not. I came up with a few solutions that made more sense to me and here they are.

The kit comes with a bracket to remount one of the AC lines. After the body was lifted the line sat exactly where it is in the picture, all that I did was drill a hole for the existing clamp on the existing factory bracket for the AC line. I didn't use PA's bracket. This does eliminate the factories isolation mount for the line, however I installed aftermarket AC's in vehicles for several years without any isolation mounts and never had one problem created by that. As you can see the factory clamp for the hose has its own rubber isolation to it as well. No bending of the line was required.

PA includes several brackets to drop all of the fuel lines 3" off of the bottom of the body. I didn't use any of them. All that is required is to get one fuel line longer or simply move it on its steel line which is what I did. The factory puts the rubber line really far onto both ends of the steel line. (The "wet look" is not a leak but residual fuel from moving the line.)

PA wants the installer to cut all 3 hoses going to the fuel filler. The kit comes with 6 hose clamps and 3 hoses for that part of the job. I only needed to extend the largest of the 3 lines, the actual fuel filler hose. The kit also comes with a bracket to move the attachment point for supporting the fuel filler hose. I didn't use that bracket. A simple "adjustment" of the factory bracket for the fuel filer hose was all that was required. I bent it toward the rear of the vehicle about a 1/2" and twisted the angle of the bracket around 20*.

After the body lift the Tacoma's mid cab mount sticks out like a sore thumb. I have not modified this mount yet but I will be in the near future. Here is what it looks like after a body lift.

PA wants the installer to cut both power steering reservoir lines, insert a tube into each line, and use 4 hose clamps to finish the job. I kept the lines as they were and modified the existing reservoir bracket and used a factory hole that was designed for the same bracket. There is plenty of factory hose to keep the hose from being tight due to the body lift after changing the bracket.

PA includes brackets for the front brake lines to be remounted. I did use those brackets however they required "adjustment" so that the lines didn't point straight at and touch the UCA's. In this picture you can also see the steering extension that's included in the kit. Installing that steering extension was a PITA until I figured out PA's steering extension had burs on both of its splined ends.

If I did this job over again I wouldn't buy the kit at all. The only thing I would buy would be the steering extension. I would buy the cab and bed bolts from a supplier of those readily available parts. Wherever PA could they ditched metric bolts and used standard bolts on a metric truck but then included metric bolts wherever they had to use metric bolts which didn't make sense to me at all. Aluminum body spacers, or even steel, would be better than the plastic blocks. Most of the brackets, bolts, nuts, hose extensions, and hose clamps are not needed. Whoever designed this kit and its instructions clearly was lacking in knowledge and fabrication skills. The instructions state to tie something to the steering wheel to prevent it from turning, I just put the steering wheel into its locked position. The instructions stated to remove the air bag fuse, that is not required at all. The instructions stated to disconnect the ground and power cables from the battery which is also not required, you only need to disconnect one cable. Most factories recommend the ground side of the battery be disconnected prior to doing major work on a vehicle. The instructions stated any movement of the steering wheel while disconnected from the steering rack would damage the air bag system, that is also false.

 

I have several parts left over from this install if anyone is interested in them. 3 of 4 factory inner fender gap guards, 4 of the cab bolts, 4 T55 bed bolts, front bumper aluminum impact blocks, and factory rear axle/spring u-bolts. I also have the factory right front mud plastic flap.

 

I figured out today a body lift repositions the spare tire access hole to raise and lower the tire. No good.

 

oh god why......

 

Oh God why not...

 

Body lifts and block spacers ... looks like crap, doesnt provide any functionality ..... to each their own i guess.

 

That sounds kind of like having red recovery hooks and nothing else red on the truck. I'm guessing the red makes the recovery hooks stand out at night when "a person" gets their truck stuck in the muck because "they" don't know how to drive, idk.

If you actually would have read the thread you would know there are advantages to a body lift but I'm guessing it was more important for you to announce your blind opinion, idk.

Take your pick of these two.



.

 

1” body lift here!

 

That looks killer. How do you raise and lower your spare tire? Maybe with a 1" you just angle the tool to raise/lower the spare tire?

If my truck didn't have side steps I would have never done a 3" body lift, definitely would do a 1", possibly a 2". I've run out of extra cash before I got my steps painted so it looks like I'll be running them their current color for a while. This thing shows a ton of frame at 3" and those mid cab mounts....

 

That is a bad ass truck!

 

Your truck looks like a pitbull. I love it.

 

I figured out my spare tire problem. I'm going to use a ring and pinion out of a commercial grade lawn trimmer. It'll turn the shaft at 90* and I will be able to raise or lower the spare from the side of the truck.

 

Another 1” helps clear tires.

 

Another bad ass truck!

 

How does the body lift keep the COG closer to stock than a suspension lift? That makes no sense.

 

The center of gravity isn't the height alone, it is the center of the weight. A body lift doesn't lift the engine, trans, frame, or suspension therefore two identical trucks with the exception of one having a 3" body lift and the other truck with a 3" suspension lift the truck that was lifted via the suspension lift will have a higher center of gravity.

 

Can you cut a hole in the bumper behind the license plate and then just take the plate off when you want to lower the spare?

If you decide to do the side access, look into the possibility of redrilling the winch holes in the crossmember and just turning the winch 90 degrees. Or 70 degrees. Or 120 degrees.

 

The bumper is already running out of room for another hole. And you're correct, without the braces on that bumper it is flimsy AF.

That is a killer idea about turning the stock winch ( !! ), it's not like there isn't enough room in there with that body lift. Lol. I have a 1st gen spare tire winch on a shelf in the garage and its mounting is rectangular versus square. It's raining like crazy here so I'll look into the 2nd gens winch more tomorrow. Otherwise I'm fairly sure I can make a ring and pinion out of a heavy duty lawn trimmer work but it'll lead to more parts that could eventually fail.

 

Just say no to body lifts.

 

Just say no to ignorance instead and everyone will be happier.