I am definatly trying to raise my 86 BII to be able to put some 30 or 31" tires but I was wondering if I would regret taking the cheaper route and just doin like a 3" body lift? I do moderate off roading but I'm a poor college student and am just looking for the cheapest but most reliable solution. Thanks
-Dale

1986 BII XLT 4x4 automatic tran

 

a 3inch body lift isn't a bad idea to fit some 31's. I would suggest getting new body mounts when doing it. I've done 2 Bronco II's and the old mounts just fall apart. Just to let you know to get to the other end of the bolt holding the mounts in you have to move the carpet back and there are covers over them that have two screws in them to remove.

 

alright cool thanks man. Fortunatly carpet is already gone so no worrys there. Thanks

 

lift it up and wheel it!! Hey..says your from Pa?? what part..have to hook up and come wheeling one weekend..i go twice a month..either Hazleton, Pa or Pine Grove, Pa.

 

from southern york county (stewartstown) but I go to school in philly. I need to save up some capitol and get some AT tires and a lift and i'll be there

 

I would not lift it more then 2" and even at that you will need the steering extension. On my BII the floor pan required slight notching for the transfer case shifter.

 

You can also go fairly cheap and get a set of Explorer coils and leafs from a junkyard and then do a 2" body lift. This is a popular cheap mod. My only advice on the suspension swap is to make sure you set aside a full day and have all the tools you need. The nut that holds the bottom coil cup is 28 mm. You will want a coil spring compressor. A fairly decent sized pry bar. 3/4" drive and 1/2" drive impact wrenches (had to use the 3/4" drive to get enough a** on the rear shackle bolts to budge 'em). U-bolt nuts are 18mm (I recommend getting replacement hardware and cutting whatever you can with a sawzall). An axle jackstand or make do with a floor jack with the frame resting on jackstands. It took me 9 hours to do my suspension swap-out and would have taken all day had I been putting in a lift kit, I'm sure. My only saving grace is I had access to an auto hobby shop on base to do the work. All told, I spent maybe $100 and not only does my rear end not sag anymore, but I got 2" of lift and a better ride. I just wish 30x9.50s were safe to fit on the stock wheels... but, here soon I'll have a set of wheels for my MT/Rs... and will have only spent $500 total, including wheels and tires. Interestingly enough, that'll put me at somewhere between $2000 and $2500 total invested in my BII other than routine maintenance minus the brake fiasco I had. Anyhow, just my $0.02

 

Just a few things to add to the pot. You have a 20 year old truck. Like was said above if you do a body lift you will need new body mounts and sleeves as they will most likely be rusted badly. You may need to repair or install new mounting tabs on the frame or the body to do the job correctly. A body lift can (and most times will if done correctly) be as much work and expense as a suspension lift. Now I'm not saying body lifts are bad. They are great to go with a suspension lift to fit really large tires. Or to make room for things like a v-8 or a doubler (second low range box). As was said above you will have other problems with a body lift. Your steering column has a rag joint that will bind with the 3" lift. I think it was 89 that they changed to a u-joint to replace the rag joint and that helped. E-brake brackets and gas fill tank along with sifter adjustments will need work.

And I just flat think it would be unsafe to put a 3" body lift on a truck with a 20 year old suspension. I would want to go through and make sure everything was in good shape first. At least if I understand that this truck will be driven on the same streets me and my family will drive on.

Now that being said there are some things you can do that don't cost a lot of money. An add-a-leaf for the rear can return all of the sagging rear and then some. Or you can go to a salvage yard and look for a spring pack so you can use one leaf for an add-a-leaf. Explorer leaf packs have fewer thicker leafs than your BII spring pack. Your stock leaf spring pack will flex and "work" better than the X pack will. To me an add-a-leaf is the way to go if your rear leafs are not broken or in really bad shape.

The front can be gone at in pretty much the same way. Again X front coils have thicker wire and less coils (spring is shorter) than the BII front coil. The X coil is stiffer and won't compress or extend as much as the stock BII coil. If you want to use a different set of front coils look for a set of BII 2wd front coils. They are a bit longer (taller) than 4wd coils and a bit thinner wire. Should work really well off road. You can buy large metal washers to use as spacers under the coil. There were two different studs used to retain bottom end of the coil spring on the dana 28. The longer one was also used on the dana 35 and will let you use over 1" of spacers (stack of washers). Once you determine how many washers you will use it's a good thing to have them welded together on the outside.

If it were me I'd spend my time and $$$'s under the truck checking stuff out. Radius arm and spring bushings, tie rod and drag links, u-joints, wheel bearings, and shocks. then I'd find a leaf to add the the rear pack if it needs it and use as many washers as would fit under the front coils. Have it aligned. Then start saving $$$$$$'s for gears and tires. 4.11's work really well with 30" tall tires. At least my 89 did really well with them: http://www.mappyjack.com/hitr.html That truck ate up that trail and made 20mpg for the trip out and back including the off roading.