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Help!!

Old Aug 4, 2004 | 02:09 PM
  #1  
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utf350
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Help!!

I am doing a 3 inch body lift on my truck, but when it came to ordering the parts, my dad wouldnt let me. He says he "TALKED" to a friend at our local Les Schwab tire center and they wont do the lift because it screws up the allignment. I tried to describe to my dad that all you do with a body lift is move the body off of the frame an extra three inches. He uses my brothers jeep as an example because it had many problems, he blamed it on the body lift, but all I could do is laugh because it was a four banger pushin 33" tires!!! An ideas on what I can tell him to get his mind off of my brothers jeep?
 
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Old Aug 4, 2004 | 02:15 PM
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Well if your dad says no it usually means no. But you are correct a body lift in and of itself will not cause any problems other than raise the center of gravity. The Les Schwab guy should be shot because they do suspenssion lifts all the time. It is also my guess that is why they won't do it. Why sell a person a body lift for a few hundred when they can sell a suspession lift for a few thousand.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2004 | 02:29 PM
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I dont think my dad really knows what a body lift is and I will keep trying to explain to him what it is. He thinks it is a difficult process that can screw everything up, but it is quite simple, if you are careful!
 
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Old Aug 4, 2004 | 04:50 PM
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Does anyone have a body lift and has experienced any problems due to the lift? I just want to make sure, before I argue my case. Just like tmyers says "But you are correct a body lift in and of itself will not cause any problems other than raise the center of gravity."
 
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Old Aug 6, 2004 | 09:16 PM
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All the body lift is (as you know) is 3" blocks that go between the frame and the body. The kits usually come with brackets to move the bumpers and radiator up. Nothing changes in the front end, no steering geometry, no new driveshaft angles or anything like that. Won't cause any problems with anything...
 
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Old Aug 6, 2004 | 10:44 PM
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A body lift does not affect the alignment or steering in any way. I've been installing Body lifts for 10yrs. It just lifts the body up off the frame.

A SUSPENSION LIFT is the only lift that affects your alignment.

I have a 3 inch body lift on my truck along with 4inches of suspension lift.
My other truck only has a 3 inch body lift on it and drives perfectly fine.
 
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Old Aug 7, 2004 | 12:06 AM
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My 2000 Ranger had a 3" body lift that I installed myself, and I never had even a hint of trouble... Best $300 bucks I spent to make that truck look better.
 
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Old Aug 7, 2004 | 01:31 AM
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Thanks guys! Hopefully my dad will realize that it is a COMPLETELY harmless task and wont screw anything up. But for some reason he would rather me do suspension. Hmmmm... I wonder why? "talked to a friend" all I said is that if he payed for it I would be MORE than happy, but I would still put a body lift on top of that.
 
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Old Aug 7, 2004 | 02:53 PM
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he's worried about alignment and steering and he rather you put a suspension lift on? That is tooooo funny
 
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Old Aug 7, 2004 | 03:03 PM
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compromise....... do suspension and body lift.
 
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Old Aug 7, 2004 | 07:02 PM
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why stop there..
you can always do an axle swap while your at it..throw a beefy 44 high pinion under the front and a 60 in the rear or a 60 front and 60 rear..put some good gears in them and put a set of BIG mud tires on the truck. Then get rid of the 6cyl and drop a 302 8cyl 5.0 in there....
 
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Old Aug 8, 2004 | 10:54 PM
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Well, Ill let you know what happens. Ill probobly end up doing both, I'll quit complianing until I find out what happens, but a 7"or8" with 35x13.50 wouldnt be bad at all!
 
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Old Aug 8, 2004 | 11:43 PM
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best way to go: 5 1/2" suspension lift on ranger... only because it toughens the suspension 10 fold..... usually 600 bucks, but when you get double shocks on both front sides, 6 leaf rears, no welding, and your suspension arms in the front look like ones on STEROIDS compared to the old stock ones, man..... can you say weight?
 
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Old Aug 10, 2004 | 01:12 AM
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Yea, but with the torsion bar suspension, the higher you go,the more $$$$$, but it all sounds awesome!
 
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Old Aug 10, 2004 | 05:03 AM
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keep in mind that going over 4 inches of suspension you will need to get longer drive shafts, longer brake lines..
4 inch suspension and 3 inch body lift will allow you to fit 35's under there nicely. the Rangers built after 93 all seem to have bigger fender openings then the older ones. Then if you do decide to go that big with tires..you will have to change the gearing in your axles..It's the dominos affect..
 
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