3 inch body lift questions

The very LAST thing I would install on a Jeep is a 3" body lift. No problem with a 1" body lift, 2" if absolutely necessary... but no way to a 3". Not only do they look lame in my personal opinion, they also can add an enormous amount of stress to the body mounts in even a minor fender bender. Plus you'd have a time getting all the things like fuel & brake lines, shifter angles, wiring, radiator, etc. placed, bent, or extended properly so it'd all work like you'd like it. Few experienced Jeepers will ever do anything but try and talk another Jeeper out of a 3" body lift.

Jerry

I put a 3" body lift on my Jeep and wished I had not later. It was already top-heavy before I started and the body lift did nothing to help that. You'll have to fab something up for the clutch linkage if you have a manual transmission and you'll have to extend the rubber fuel filler tube. The emergency brake line will *barely* work if you fiddle with it enough. You'll also have to reposition the radiator. And you'll have to lengthen the steering shaft but you can do that with just a hammer and lots of cussing. *Seriously* consider not doing it. Listen to the others like I did NOT and stick with a 1" or

2" lift at most. It might not sound like much of a lift, but the 3" is WAAAAAY overkill. You'll realize that as you're jacking the body up off of the frame and you try to fit the first 3" block in place. Then you realize you still need to jack the body up some more to fit it in there. And some more... And some more...

Oh yeah, you'll also have to remove the boot from the transfer case shifter in order to *barely* be able to get it into 4-Low after putting the body lift on. Either that or you'll have to cut the floor some to allow for the extra travel of the shifter or you'll have to heat and bend the shifter some. *shakes head* "Just don't do it..."

Heck, talk about hidden costs. One thing that is seldom ever mentioned here is the impact on gas mileage that a body lift causes. The gap between the body and frame that is caused by spacing them apart causes a huge channel to trap wind resistance on an already aerodynamically challenged vehicle. If you do any highway driving, you will notice the difference. I have been charting my gas mileage in a 2004 TJ (6 Cyl.) in a spreadsheet and graphing it for about 4 months. I note in it any modifications I make just to see the impact. Well after the addition of just a 1" BL, my mileage has dropped from around 16 mpg to 12 mpg. In fact, I am removing the BL this weekend. BTW, you can find a cool spreadsheet for graphing your gas mileage at:

Regards,

GK

That is what i was thinking but, i did not know how much of that talk was just speculation and not experienced by capable wrenches. With the 3" lift i would not be able to put my baby in the garage when it rains. So thanks for the input to all.

The very LAST thing I would ever install on a Jeep is a 3" body lift. 1" is fine, 2" if it's really necessary... but never a 3" body lift. Not only do they just look lame, that tall of a body lift can cause severe damage to the frame and/or body mounts in even a minor fender-bender. Few experienced Jeepers will ever, if ever at all, say a 3" body lift is a good mod for a Jeep.

Jerry

Jerry, I disagree with your statement The very LAST thing I would ever install on a Jeep is a 3" body lift. 1" is

I will agree with Jerry and I have even helped 'lower' Jeeps that the owner mistakenly put a 3" body lift on. I cut the suckers in half and used the halfs to lift another Jeep 1.5".

The folks you are talking about have toys that they have to rebuild or repair after every run.

Most Jeepers here actually drive their Jeeps I think. Some are 'trailer queens' but not most.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Bryan S wrote:

They do have to repair their rigs from time to time, but not from broken bolts or spacers due to body lifts, and since two of the guys are mechanics the "trail breaks" are fixed right where they happened. In fact I don't remember a time when they have ever had a problem with the body lifts. These rigs are towed most of the time, due to the long distance we have to travel, plus it would not be practical to drive the rigs those long distances. These rigs are not worried about a fender-bender, for that matter, if they were you would not see them on half of the trails we ride. I do realize the safety issues with a daily driver and a large body lift. Now on the other hand I own a Jeep and a rock crawler and so far have refused to put a body lift on either because I do not like the way a tall body lift looks. This is just my opinion on the type of uses a vehicle with a body lift is intended for.

Bryan S

"Mike Romain" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca...

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I agree with Jerry. Your cite is a rare case where the fabricator probably added stuff that would eliminate the shortcomings that Jerry was talking about.

When the 3" lift is a bolt-on affair, it is extremely weak and prone to leverage that can rip the body mount bolts right out. If the body is off the frame, and new mounts are added that are 3" higher, then the body is dropped back on so the bolts are stock length, thin the 3" lift should work our very well. This is the kind of lift that your heavily modified buddies might have, but this is not the type of life that the OP was asking about.

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