Body Lift .. a 'bad' thing to do ???

[ottor]

New to Explorers.. had a Chevy that I lifted back about 15 years ago and wasn't a big deal.. was a suspension lift. Sold it, and haven't done any off-roadin' for about 10 years.. bummer! Now, I have a newer Explorer and want to get back into some .. well, .. exploring.

Went to two places in my small town... a 4X4 shop, and a tire chain store. Both quoted me about $2300 for a suspension lift (Installed..) ... "Ouch!", and only a couple of hundred for a 3" body lift, but... both have warned me against the body lift for several reasons... ( I think these guys got together...) both said ...

1.) It's ugly.
2.) It's very dangerous.
3.) All I'm doing is raising the center of gravity and..
4.) That's dangerous..
5.) It'll handle like crap
6.) It's very dangerous... emphasized..
7.) The tire shop said they wouldn't do it, and the
4X4 guy made me feel like an idiot for even
suggesting it. You know... the "Look!"

Now, I see a lot of 'body lifts' in this group, and I'm assuming that a good percentage of those that have done this, have - at least - an average intelligence, and wouldn't intentionally do anything dangerous to themselves or their rig.. right??

So, since I can't afford a full suspension lift at this time, what do you guys have to say about what I've been warned against by two shops in town?? Just how much extra ground clearance can I gain by a Body Lift and larger tires, and is it really dangerous??

 

[BislamJoe]

It's ugly, to me, it's dangerous, well lifting any vehicle is, but a body lift raises the COG less than a suspension, since the heaviest components (engine, tranny) aren't raised. Now, with a body lift, you only gain clearance from the tires, along with a little rocker clearance and approach and departure angles. With the suspension, your breakover angle is improved too.

 

[Dannyboy]

In an IFS explorer you have to consider several options. You will learn about torsion bar twisting that will raise you up to 2 inches safely. Off road shops usually don't like body lifts because they do nothing for flex. Well an IFS suspension lift (from what I have heard) drops the entire suspension system but does not increase any flex. Essentially the two are more similar than any other (solid axle, TTB) suspension upgrades. What I am saying is that either suspension or body lift will essentially accomplish similar(not the same, but similar results) look at Gjarrets or 2001ExpSport's rigs, these run body lifts and tweak the existing suspension. Explorer12yukon and stadx2 run combination suspension and body lifts on their rigs. Search any of those names and you will see some good looking vehicles, all equipped differently. For the money, a 3" body lift a torsion twist and a set of warrior shackles will make your IFS explorer about as trial worthy as it gets for the buck.
Good luck and beware of the bug

 

[oso_polar]

GO AHEAD!!

I install my custom made 2" body lift about six months ago, and if you have to money to get the tires and the lift at the same time, you will not have to worry about the goofy look...I have been with the same tires for those six months,with some minor off roading, I don't want to damage my skid plates
This is "the look" without tires and 2" body lift
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And this is after the tires, RickyVenezuela's X, 2" body lift!!
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We made 2" body lifts because we didn't wanna mess with the steering and brake lines... you can fit 285/75 R16 with a two inch body lift, and the tires will give a GREAT LOOK, and after you get it all, pass in front of your 4x4 shop and say HI!! they will be like

I have been with Ricky in one trip, major offroad, and all that I can say is that I wish to have the 250 bucks that I'm short to get my tires...

 

[Derrick C.]

Well.......its about time a fellow Explorer from the "Magic Valley" joins the club of exploring!!

Ok Ottor which shops did you go to? Power Plant, Les Shcwabs, or First Class Detail? If anything for a body lift go to Power Plant and talk to Jeff Mauler. Hes the man to talk to. Or you can give me a call at ***-**** and we can talk more. I'll only leave my number up for so long and then deleted.

 

[oso_polar]

If you are going with the 3" body lift, you will be looking for Performance Accessories part number 883, but you will need a diferent steering extension, something about the year and the steering column model... with the 2" body lift, I'm not pretty sure of the part number, but I belive that is the one for 91-94 explorers or something like that...

The reason of making my own bodylift was the price of the international shipping, it was almost the price of the kit.

Go to www.performanceaccessories.com for the part number...

 

[ottor]

Lift?

Hey Derrick...

Of the ones that you mentioned, the only one I didn't go to was the Power Plant! ...

I'll give you a call.

thanks,

rick

 

[GJarrett]

Welcome to our site!

Rick, you learned very quickly about Explorers and 4x4 "'experts". Most 4x4 shops have NO experience with modifying any Explorers and their employees will still offer their "expert" opinions even though they have no clue what they are talking about. So they quoted you on a suspension lift and then said a problem with a body lift was it raised the CG? Hello, a suspension lift does it a lot more...

You'll learn a lot here. Start by clicking on "Gerald's Truck" in my signature line and go to the second post which is a long article I wrote awhile back covering many of the modifications I've done to Explorer. Read the whole thing; you'll learn a lot and have a better idea what to ask next as you surf our board.

Hope that helps you. Once again, welcome.

 

[ottor]

Gerald...

That's one heck of a good looking E. .... Nice page also. I appreciate your help, and will be using it as a guide when I do some mods to mine..

Yea, I do learn quick .... dont' always act on it, but.. I do learn..

Thanks again...

Rick

 

[Derrick C.]

Rick,

Its just finally nice to see another Explorer wanting to use it. I don't know if you've seen me runnin around town or not but I spend alot of time across the river. I'm usually there every weekend.

About you lifting, Just go to Power Plant and talk to Jeff. He'll do anything you want. Hes a great guy and very helpful with any ?s you can have. Les Schwabs don't do body lifts cause they've been sued several times for it so they just do susp. lifts. They did mine for me. First Class Detail, stay away from them! There a bunch of over priced jerks. They treat me like a 2 year old every time I'm in there.

 

[Ricky-venezuela]

I think body lift can hold a lot-----

Here are some picture of one of the many 4wheeling adventures i have done here in Venezuela.
oso_polar and i designed our custom made body lift, i have had it for 5 months already and i´m running 285/75 wrangler MTR with no rubbing and no problem.
As you will see 4wheeling in Venezuela is very hard....this pictures were taken in a national park called Guatopo, is level 4 (starting from level 1 to level 6 and 7 is imposible). As you can see Explorers do very good with no mayor modification...
Well hope you like the pics.
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[KEbert]

Those are some cool pics Ricky. Wheeling in Venezuela looks good. That is a nice bumper you have too.

I think body lifts are good if you need just a little more clearance for tires. But as a primary lift, I don't like them. I would much rather have a suspension lift and have it look and perform better.

 

[oso_polar]

Woo Hoo!!

That's what I was talking about!!

Give it a try Ottor!! and save some money and install it yourself! In that way you will get closer to your X!!

 

[Crwln94]

I had to get a 2 inch body lift to clear my transfer case and transmission. There ok for some applications.

 

[duke16]

Does anyone have a comparison picture of a body and suspension lift? I'm seeing posts of poeple saying the suspension looks better, but I don't really see how it can.

 

[general x]

A body lift leaves a gap between the frame and the body and if you dont have bigger tires it looks goofy because the body is raised instead of the suspension being dropped. I don't think it looks that bad but I think I would only go for a body lift if I needed more clearance that I couldn't get with a suspension lift. I have no grudges, I just want more clearance for my underside (it scrapes on everthing!!!)

 

[jasonb]

dang man... talk about bringing a post back from the dead! 2yrs and 3mos old...

 

[section525]

Body lifts were ghey in 2002 and they're still ghey in 2004.

 

[jasonb]

section525 is the gheyest of all though

 

[section525]