1989 F150 3'' Body lift question
 

Hey guys I got a beater 89 F150 5spd, I know body lifts are not the way to go, this is just my beater so I would like to do a body lift on it. My question to you guys is my friend had an 89 F 150 5spd as well with a 3'' body, but it made his shifter for the tranny straight up and really awkward to grab for shifting. Did the body lift cause the shifter to change angles like that or somethin else. Not sure cause he bought the truck that way. Thanks in advance

it didnt change angles, its just that the floor is up higher around it...

yup thats right, the floor is higher...
sometimes you can get an extender that will extend the stick by the same amount as the body lift...

Even though it is a beater, why not just put a little bit more into it and have a vehicle that wont be a safety hazard in a wreck and will actually make your truck more capable other than larger tires. Something to consider. Good luck, whatever you choose.

I have a 1997 F350 with 4" suspension and 36's. Im not going to dump tons of money into my F150, when I say beater, I mean beater. Just trying to keep the cost of it down. BELIEVE ME, I know body lifts are looked down upon and they are not at all the best way to lift something, I know that.

Ok, just be safe.

if its just a beater and you just want to get bigger tires on it, sawzalls work great for takeing care of the fender issues

I would cut my fenders before a body lift anyday. You can (generally) clear the same size tires, and you keep your CG lower. Low CG will be my goal when I get back and finish my F150.

Also, since you are on a budget, sawblades are cheaper than a body lift, good idea 76 F150.

And alot of people (me included) love the look of big tires, no lift... just a thought...

Right andrew, I think it looks badass. way better than a big gap between the body and the frame. The CG thing is the deciding factor for me.

That's what I was thinking when he said beater and cheap......

A few sawzall blades, and room to fit 35s! Also, no ugly body lift, or worry about it falling apart, or jacking around with shifter, steering, linkage extentions.

Body lifts arent as easy as people think. Did you consider your radiator positioning when you decided on a body lift? what about all the linkages like MBBFord said? cut the fenders and be done with it. If its a beater, the fenders are probably rusted already, so it will look better with them cut anyway.

For pre 92 trucks, I do not reccomend a body lift, the "kits" for those are basically just a box with spacers and bolts. I know for 92-96/7 trucks, the kit at the least comes with a steering extension(IMHO, the angle on the steering shaft on the older trucks gets pretty severe, they need one too) and front bumper brackets, but you're still left to make the shifters work properly by yourself, depending on the truck, this may mean heating and bending or extending the shifter, or modifying the opening in the floor to suit.
I did one on an 05 Dodge Ram for a co-worker, the kit included bumper brackets for front and rear, a steering extension, a relocation bracket for the e-brake cable, 2 modification pieces for the rad shroud, steel blocks to weld under the bed sills that weren't bolted, fuel filler extension, you name it, it was a proper, complete kit. That said, it took a full 12-14 hours to install by the time the dust settled, without having to fabricate any parts.

If this is just a beater and you don't want to sink what will probably end up being a full weekend by the time you make everything work right and build brackets for the front bumper(rear can be raised without,) grab your sawz-all, jig saw or what have you and hack those fenders out.
That said, I have a 2" body lift on my diesel for downpipe clearance, and all it required was some tweaking of the transfer case shifter, I did build a new bracket for the bottom of the column where it goes through the firewall to drop it and lessen the angle on the steering shaft, as the older trucks use a CV style joint, and it doesn't handle angles well.
My 90 came with a 3" kit installed, whoever did it, did it properly, and I'm not going to go out of my way to un-install it as I'll need to put in a good 6-8 hours of work to put it back to stock. They even went as far as to install an aftermarket steering shaft with u-joints on both ends and no rag joint.
I apologize for the not so great picture, but, the only thing that gives it away is the VERY low hanging stock tailpipe:
http://www.bigblocksix.com/f100swb/90f150/rhside.jpg

Everything you guys said I do agree 100% with. Not sure why I was leaning towards the body lift but let me tell you that you guys just talked me out of it. Just gonna do the good ole fender cutting. Thanks for the advice though guys.

Thats what everybody likes to hear, one less body lift on the road, and one more cut fender monster. :)