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To all those with body lifts or are considering...

Tekeman

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 13, 2000
Messages
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City, State
Eastern PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
97 XLT
When I replaced my spare this week I found out for the first time that the hole that the extender bar is put to release the spare does NOT line up anymore. This had not been brought up in anything I'd read before. Not a big deal for me, I'm going to run w/o a spare locally(33 ain't gonna fit nohow). I guess you could drill through your bumper which would be hidden by your license plate, or remove your bumper when the spare is needed (wouln't that be a pain in the ass- my bumper is welded now w/the lift. I'll Just throw mine somewhere when wheeling or traveling. Just a forewarning to those of you who haven't realized this as I didn't
 



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thanx,
little things like that are really helpfull!
 






Ouch, well, that set's my body lift project back. More stuff to design, cool.
 






Yeah, I posted something about that back in july when I put my body lift on. I was thinking of rigging up some way to extend the piece so that I can still use it from the original hole in the bumper. I then got my flowmaster and ran duals through that space so I don;t worry about it any more. I think I will probably cut it all out eventually because it seems to rattle I think. But just like tekeman my current tire size wouldn't fit under there anyway (32's)

Chris
 






Eh, why use the underneath part when ya could get a custom rear bumper, tire holder built:) That's what I want to do!
Pete
 






I drilled a hole three inches below the original hole. It's barely visible. It's seems to work alright if you don't mind a hole in the plastic.

Dead Link Removed

[Edited by SDMike on 10-28-2000 at 01:06 PM]
 






block up the crank mechanism...

The simple solution is to unbolt the spare crank mechanism and find something to use as a spacer to block it up the same amount as your body lift. You may need to get longer bolts to bolt it back on but no drilling or major mods and the spare crank will work just like it used to.
Hope this helps...
 






Have you done this or you rig, or seen someone's who has? I thought that I could do that too, but I believe that they rope inside the crank will not go down an extra 3" so you may not bwe able to get the tire off. I may be wrong however.

Pete, do you have any pics of your rig? I'd like to see it with the 9" of lift! I am thinking of adding 4 more inches to my body, but then realized that a 6" is cheeper so I am thinking of that too. Hoe big of a tire size do you think you could run with that set up?

Thanks
Chris
 






Yaa i did what Mike did, I just drilled a hole directly behind my liscense plate to gain acess to the spare. Its always going to be hidden behind the plate. I dont keep a spare there anyways. It worked out good.
 






I blocked mine up...

However I only have a 1 1/4" body lift. It did seem that the cable was plenty long enough for even a 3". It only has to be long enough to drop the spare enough to get the cable stop out of the hole in the rim.
 






Yeah. I just awsn't sure f how long it would be. I never really too the time to lower it down an extra 3" before I had the lift. Oh well....

Chris
 






Okay, I'm horrible with editing pics...But there are two solutions....click on my web page or go to this:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1153055&Auth=false

Dead Link Removed

If neither of those links work...they can be accessed though the attica II aftermath page 2 of the thread.....I've got the big sport with the boggers...Hope that helped!
Pete
 






nice pics but???

Pete,
I don't see the "two solutions" for getting the spare tire crank mechanism to work after a body lift.
Nice pics though...
 






Meaning you don't see either of the two in use on my truck? That is because I did nothing about it...I realized it after the lift was done...cranked it down with channel locks took the tire off and cranked it back up...I didn't block the mechanism or drill a hole in my bumper...As I said about the rear tire carrier...I'm gonna try and get work started on that over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.....I'm at college now, so that slows the process way down!
Thanks,
Pete
 






OK, I get it...

Consistent to the same reasoning, there are many solutions to the original topic of this post.
You could just put your spare in the garage or sell it on eBay to name a couple.
Sorry Pete, I didn't take the time to open all your pictures and try to discern just what you were referring to as a solution to this problem. I don't think it's my ability to comprehend but perhaps you were not clear on presenting your idea.
Thanks,
Warren
 






and every solution is grant as long as it works. I got my 3" body lift and noticed the same thing. What I did? I took that plastic thingy off the bumper and now the crank works great. I took it off together with the tow plate from underneath the bumper because I won't be using my tow set-up any more. Bumper is on brackets, you can't tow anyting now. Class IV hitch is in my garage still waiting for me to start on my winter project. I'd like to incorporate what's left of the bumper into a tire carrier-hitch combination. Then I wouldn't have to use the crank anyway.

By the way, crank goes down extra inches.

Another advice..... don't weld your bumper on; nothing's better then a few good brackets and nice size bolts. Welds tend to crack. You're on the road and every time you go through a hole or up over the curb your frame twists a bit, your body goes with but now whith welded-up bumper you're trying to prevent that. I dunno, maybe I'm wrong.

Later,


[Edited by Andre Hryn on 10-31-2000 at 11:30 PM]
 






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