body lift question...

[tvalentino]

anything bad/negatives about doing a body lift? pa-853 for my 96 xlt ?????

 

[Axial32]

Umm. I have no problems with my BL... I would be prepared though to take your time and have snagups... I needed custom bumper brackets fabricated to raise the bumpers... I needed different bolts other than the ones in the kit... I would forsure do the research needed before attempting the BL...
I believe shadowraven has a very good writeup... though his is newer than both of our rigs.
Goodluck,
Don't be afraid to grab a mini-propane torch and heat the old bolts to help loosen them... I needed to for a couple of mine.

 

[tvalentino]

so the bolts arent right lengths? so what kind of problems did u run into?

 

[Axial32]

Well mines a sport so that's why I think I ran into problems... just make sure for a couple days before the lift soak all the body mount locations good with a penatrent... WD40, knock'r loose... stuff like that...
check out shadowravens writeup... it should cover most of it... there maybe a couple other writeups... but I didn't use anyothers..

 

[Paraphoe]

valentino,

The bolts in the kit worked for me. The steering extension is a problem for some. I did a little grinding and it fit without much trouble. You need to be aware of your AC high-pressure line after you lift it. It may or may not be pulled up against the fan belt. If you don't notice this nice little problem, the belt will cut into the line and you'll need a new line and a recharge for a sweet little $250 or so. Learn for my idiot mistake. You're also going to need to start soaking the body bolts in the engine compartment ASAP, and weeks in advance of the lift. Those two bolts alone for my truck took about 9 hours to get out, and I had a 4 foot cheater pipe on the end of my breaker bar for leverage.

Other complaints with a body lift are that it makes the truck look "uglier" by exposing more frame rail, etc. The bumper brackets that Axial mentioned are another pain - going to have to get them fabbed up. We can post diagrams if you need, though. That's about all I can think of right now. Despite these issues, I'm glad I did mine. MUCH cheaper than a suspension lift and let me fit my 33s.

 

[tvalentino]

right on thanks! i already have 33x12.5x15's on mine with only a torsion twist, aal and warrior shackles... i plan to run 35's with the body lift added on

 

[Axial32]

i ran 35's with the BL.. with a little rubbing... paraphoe I did the exact same thing.. blew my a/c line.. that sucked.. luckily with the v8 swap I'm doing right now has new lines and I'm not letting them get cut this time... I don't think it shows much more frame rails unlike a pickup does...

 

[Paraphoe]

i ran 35's with the BL.. with a little rubbing... paraphoe I did the exact same thing.. blew my a/c line.. that sucked.. luckily with the v8 swap I'm doing right now has new lines and I'm not letting them get cut this time... I don't think it shows much more frame rails unlike a pickup does...

I thought I was the only idiot who did that! Nice to have company, hahaha. It needs to be stickied in one of those body lift threads so no one else does the same damn thing. I won't soon forget getting out of my truck and hearing that "hissss" sound and wondering what the hell I botched.

 

[tvalentino]

is there anyway to extend that line? so it wont got hit? or any other ways maybe that you guys have used?

 

[Paraphoe]

It's pretty easy to just pull it away from the belt with a zip tie or metal strap. That's what I have now. It's not a major problem, just something to be aware of.

 

[Axial32]

And I thought I was the only SmArT one that did it so it was good to hear that someone else didn't notice it.
Yep... after mine was blown I zip tied it out of the way... I originally bought a used line from I believe a 95 or 94 sport and the line was routed around the back of the motor.. such a better idea..