To keep or not to keep the Body Lift?

[Stic-o]

As some of you may know I bought Jefe's BL from him and instaled it over a year ago. It's great for geting those 33" meats under it. Now comes the question!

In another year I will be looking tords doing a SAS and was planing on taking out the bodylift and going to 35's. But now I'm at the point where I'm going to be builing Bumpers and sliders, and I need to know if I should take into fact that the BL could come out (don't have to build things twice.) Or as my dad suggested just leave the BL in, which maens I could jump straight to 37's after the SAS. What do you guys think?

Ditch the BL= SAS and 35's

Keep the BL= SAS and 37's

 

[RockRanger]

Ditch the body lift do the SAS and cut the fenders for 37"s

 

[Robb]

Ditch the BL, REALLY cut the fenders, and 37s.

 

[FROADER]

Going along with the group here man. Ditch the BL do the SAS and make those 37s fit!!

 

[Stic-o]

I just need to know so when I bulid the sliders I leave a 3" gap for the body to come back down.

Or I came up with this crazy idea so I would build them so they angled up from the frame and when I removed the BL you could just flip them over and they would then be angled down. So the would be a 3" difference...does that make sence

 

[FROADER]

It makes sence but then wouldn't it make the bumper 3" lower than you actually want it? You could make the pieces bolt on, so when the body lift comes off, so do they. When you take the body lift off then the stock mounting spot would work for the bumper wouldn't it? Does that make sence?

OR, you're going to love this one. Take the BL off now and cut the fenders to keep the 33s and then you just have to SAS it next year with the 37s.

 

[Stic-o]

It makes sence but then wouldn't it make the bumper 3" lower than you actually want it? You could make the pieces bolt on, so when the body lift comes off, so do they. When you take the body lift off then the stock mounting spot would work for the bumper wouldn't it? Does that make sence?

OR, you're going to love this one. Take the BL off now and cut the fenders to keep the 33s and then you just have to SAS it next year with the 37s.

I just meant the sliders. The front bumper is going to on top of the frame, and I'll mess with moving it later. The rear bumper is going to sit as if were stock. The spare tire carrier on the new bump will hide the 3" gap.

I'll pass on taking out the BL now though.

 

[FROADER]

Ah, I see. Then yes, your idea does make sence. I guess just not too much otherwise they would end up being to low after you flip them.... right?

 

[Stic-o]

Ah, I see. Then yes, your idea does make sence. I guess just not too much otherwise they would end up being to low after you flip them.... right?

That is correct. The trick would be so they work with and without the BL just by fliping them over The sliders that is, not the :roll:

 

[n3m3s1s]

37's would be awesome, but wouldnt you have to get a beefier axle?
i guess it would depend on what kind of wheeling you wanted to do.

 

[fastpakr]

Keep the body lift, makes it easier to access things underneath that would be close to the body otherwise (bellhousing bolts, etc...). Run 37's with both put together and call it good.

 

[bmxking5]

Ditch the body lift do the SAS and cut the fenders for 37"s

I second that^^

 

[410Fortune]

the way I look at it is we stuff these big ass tires on our trucks so we can get more traction to go further and further off road. In doing so we put our trucks sidways and backwards on crazy trails, almost asking them to flip over, and nobody wants that, so why make it worse by raising your center of gravity? Ditch the body lift and trim to fit those 37's. As we all know on the Explorer they want ti hit right at the back of the fender in front of the door, so when you do the SAS push the axle forward an inch or two to help.....

 

[Doug]

Definantly ditch the BL. Mine is gonna come out soon. 35s with ~2" of lift, that's what im talkin about!

 

[Jefe]

I'm guessing you know what I'll say You've got to run a min of 5" of lift with the SAS. Pretty sure you don't want to be sitting at 8+" :roll: (unless you're going full width)

I would either A - build the sliders 3" low (its not like they're hangin lower than the frame anyway (I ran like that for a year)), or B - build the mounts of the sliders so that they can be reused or refabbed when the time comes to take out the BL (ie, bolt on sliders)