Bodylift install. How hard is it?

[NewTrac17]

Hey everyone, just have a few questions about installing a bodylift on my 04 Sport Trac. It is 4WD and an automatic.

How hard is it to install a bodylift by yourself with a friend or two? I am mechanically inclined to a point, but as I am still in high school I haven't had much experience working on cars by myself. Do you follow all the steps listed in the install guide? I do have access to all the tools needed to do the job. I am not sure if I want to tackle this by myself and a friend or call around for a quote.

Also at the same time I might try to replace the body bushings/mounts because from what I have read, they go bad within about 10 years of being new. Is this easy to do at the same time, or make the job take way longer and not worth it if they aren't that bad?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[2TimingTom]

It's not "hard", but no way I'll do another. And if yours has been a CO truck it's whole life, the bushings probably aren't too bad. The bolts on my '97 weren't too bad just a couple years ago.

 

[NewTrac17]

Would you not do it again because of how long it took? It is a Wyoming truck, and the bushings look pretty good and no rust.

 

[OffTrac]

Some people have said they got quotes of just a few hundred dollars. If I could get it installed for around $600 or less, I'd let someone do it. Much over that, and I'd probably prefer to do it myself. Not because it's terribly difficult but because it is involved and it took up a whole weekend. Those that have said they finished it in three or four hours, I call bs. There's just simply more little things to do than can happen in that amount of time.

Changing the bushings after the fact is not that bad. I'm one of those people that have repeatedly said, if you're doing the body lift go ahead and change the bushings. That's assuming they are bad. If you're doing the body lift, changing the bushings will add one minute to each body mount location. If yours are not bad, though, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can change them later pretty easily and I have a thread that shows how.

But...for the cost of the Prothane body mounts, why not?

 

[2TimingTom]

Mine took a week. I had to order new mounts for the front after I snapped the bolts off inside of them. And i had to order new bolts.

Luckily I have another car to drive.

I agree- it's BS that anyone can do it in 3 to 4 hours. I know someone who is extremely mechanically inclined (and with the proper tools) and it took him a solid day. And he's said that he won't do another body lift after that.

Your mileage may vary though. Just don't plan on driving it right away.

 

[corkey]

people make body lifts harder than they have to be too,
to heck with trying to undo the bolts, that is a pain, sawzall them and put new bolts, easy as that, body lifts come with the bolts anyways,

 

[2TimingTom]

I didn't order the kit. Didn't need the bumper brackets or steering extension.

 

[Varsity]

I didn't find it too hard to do, but its not exactly the most fun mod I've done. I can certainly see why many people would never do it again. With some patience, you can probably knock it out without too many problems. I was fortunate enough to have a shop lift to use so that definitely helped. I'm guessing rust isn't too bad of an issue for you, but if you want to play it safe, have a can of PB Blaster and a torch ready. Surprisingly mine weren't that rusty, but some of the bolts needed some "gentle persuasion."

If this is your only mode of transportation, save it for a long weekend of when you have time to kill. I could've done it in a day, but ran into some unforseen problems.

 

[NewTrac17]

Thanks for all the great info guys!

I will have to call some local shops tomorrow and see what the cost would be to have the bodylift installed. They would probably install new body mounts for the same cost as doing the bodylift since it would most likely only take them a few more minutes.

I would expect it to take me at least a solid day even if I had help from some friends.

 

[Explorer0204]

Thanks for all the great info guys!

I will have to call some local shops tomorrow and see what the cost would be to have the bodylift installed. They would probably install new body mounts for the same cost as doing the bodylift since it would most likely only take them a few more minutes.

I would expect it to take me at least a solid day even if I had help from some friends.

I helped do one in a Silverado. Only took us about 5 hours. That was with 4 skilled guys and enough tools for all of them to be working on it at once.. That makes a big difference.

 

[NewTrac17]

I helped do one in a Silverado. Only took us about 5 hours. That was with 4 skilled guys and enough tools for all of them to be working on it at once.. That makes a big difference.

3 day weekend coming up, but I will call some shops tomorrow. If the price is through the roof, then I will buying several guys lunch and hopefully get it done in one day. I would have enough tools for a few guys, but not mechanics.

You at least bought them lunch, right? Lol

 

[OffTrac]

It took me and my brother in law a Saturday and Sunday at a leisurely pace with nice lunch and dinner breaks. No problems just tedious.

 

[TGtrac05]

Took my dad and I a weekend to do. I was 17 and had absolutely no skill with that stuff but my dad did and had quite a few tools, but we used pretty much everything. Shops around me wouldn't do it for less than $1000. Definitely worth it but damn it was a pain at times, and I really wish I had known to replace the body bushings

 

[NewTrac17]

Took my dad and I a weekend to do. I was 17 and had absolutely no skill with that stuff but my dad did and had quite a few tools, but we used pretty much everything. Shops around me wouldn't do it for less than $1000. Definitely worth it but damn it was a pain at times, and I really wish I had known to replace the body bushings

My dad is extremely mechanically inclined, pretty sure he can solve any problem, but he has helped me with countless projects and I would like to do this one without taking up too much of his time. If the price is that high, then I see an excellent father son project in the near future. Lol

 

[OffTrac]

I recommend doing it yourself if you have the time and want to get to know your truck bumper to bumper. I'm glad I did it myself.

You'll need some really strong helpers to get the bed off.;D

 

[Explorer0204]

3 day weekend coming up, but I will call some shops tomorrow. If the price is through the roof, then I will buying several guys lunch and hopefully get it done in one day. I would have enough tools for a few guys, but not mechanics.

You at least bought them lunch, right? Lol

It was a friends truck, not mine...if it were mine I would have bought them food though!

 

[NewTrac17]

Called some shops today and I got quotes ranging from $800 to $1000. Looks like I will most likely do it myself, I just don't want to screw anything up.

Offtrac - I would like to learn my truck and this is a good opportunity. A 3 day weekend should hopefully be enough.

 

[01STrunner]

You won't be sorry doing it yourself.

 

[TGtrac05]

Things I'll just add in that I know slowed me down in the process:
1. Early on there are pictures for taking off some things on the front end, and I don't remember exactly but there were parts that my truck were completely different than the pictures. I called performance accessories and they couldn't give info since they only tested on 01-03 trucks. I know they're the same bodystyle but my 05 for sure had some parts different. Took a little while to figure out in certain areas.

2. The steering extension was the biggest pain to get on. That just took creativity and muscle to finally convince it to get on there.

3. Don't forget to zip tie the AC hose away from whatever belt that it's by, you will tell immediately that it's rubbing and it'll tear the hose.

 

[Vitamin_D]

How hard is it? Well, they don't call it "the widowmaker" for nothing.