Removing 3" BL, just too tall & Death Wobble

[SVO]

Well it's been a long time coming, and as most of you know my rig has morphed so many times in the 3 years I have had it.
One of the mods was a 3" BL installed one day at a EF GTG in Dallas so that we could fit 35's under it.

This came about after trying to buy a 6" lift for about a year and never seeming to get any where till Isles4ever pulled his off and sent it to me early last year.

After putting on the 6" suspension lift with 3" of body (9" total) I discovered I had a horrible/scary "Death Wobble" above 45mph.
So I decided to remove the body lift, but I didn't have any stock bolts, thanx to X-Kid, he saved the day by sending me his old stock bolts so this could be a reality.

Now I'm not gonna do a big huge write up here, due to the fact this is not a very hard task, lets just say I'm going to post some pics and if there needs to be a note I will dooly note it.

Basically if you wanting to put in a BL, reverse the order that I removed it, and vs versa for those of you wanting to remove yours.

Let's start with what the Nasty Hoe looked like when I started this venture:

 

[SVO]

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[SVO]

What you see in these photos are some of the positions of the 3" pucks, and notice that the E-Brake cable is in a bind, I was never able to use it while the BL was in place, that sux when you need to stop on the trail and get out.

These pictures also show the relocation bracket for the fan shroud and the extension for the steering shaft.

The fan shroud brackets and the steering extension were the first things I took loose, you have to remove the intake hose for the radiator brackets.

 

[SVO]

Next came time to remove the flooring in the back and pull out all the body plugs to access the body bolts, now here's where I cheated, because I have 97' Toyota Celica GTS seats in my rig, it uses the standard Explorer seat tracks WITH the Toyota seat tracks welded on top, so I can infinatly adjust the seats forward and back which means my seats DO NOT have to come out.

 

[SVO]

Next it came time to remove the bumpers and thier extension brackets:

 

[SVO]

Once all that was done it was time to remove the body bolts and raise the body up about 3/4" to pull the pucks out.

This time insted of having 6 guys lifting one side of the truck, I cheated again and used the lift at work.

once they were all pulled out I lowered the body back down to where a 1/2" of clearance was allowed so I could "nudge" the body if need be to get all the stock bolts to thread up and go back into place.

Then I set the body completely back on the frame and tightened them up.

 

[SVO]

After putting the body back down I reinstalled the bumper minus the extension brackets, the fan shroud, and steering linkage, making sure everything was right and tight, and that nothing was caught or bound up.

Here is all the parts I removed and all the tools I used to perform the job.

It took me an hour and half this morning to do it by myself, I suggest most people should have help to do this.


Please don't ask me about the 3" BL as it is already spoken for by another EF member, Thanx

And here's what the ole' Nasty Hoe looks like wo/ the BL.


Good Luck and Happy Wheeling!



Jeff - :navajo:

 

[Rhett]

Nice posting. I like your truck better without the BL. Tire/lift proportion looks better ta me.

 

[Trckmagik]

Man my lift is going on another rig now? WOW

Great work Jeff.

 

[AspenX]

Man my lift is going on another rig now? WOW

Great work Jeff.

You bet your bippy! Looks good Jeff.

 

[Premier]

I also think it looks better. Nice work

 

[Crankcase]

So is the BL spoken for? LMAO!!! J/K Jeff ......looks good.

 

[jeff96]

lol just as the thought "i wonder if he's selling the bodylift" was going threw my head i read that it was spoken for

 

[Trckmagik]

Probably depends on how much your talking? hehehe

 

[WannaBTrckmagik]

Money talks!

 

[FROADER]

Looks much better. Good choice!

 

[Doug]

How much for the BL, I think I'm going to run two for some more lift.

 

[fastpakr]

What size tires are you running in those pictures?

 

[rino351]

looks great
Diidn't look like it was very hard to do

 

[Trckmagik]

Jeff is running 35's