body lift

[fordsohc46]

i am considering a body lift maybe 3" what are opinions of these and will i have to modify anything to install it? also if i went with a 4" suspension lift what all has to be changed that doesent come in the kit ie. shocks, steering components, etc? any help would be appreciated.

 

[muddrivermike]

Ive had body lifts on every truck Ive built and have never had any problems with them,They are a good cheap way to get 2 to 3 inches of lift..Of course you'll get the idiots that say that they can feel the truck sway,,Well no shit ,,Thats what happens when you lift a truck,Body or suspension..Your raising the center of gravity. As for your suspension lift,,You'll most likey need longer brake lines depending on the lift company.Some give you drop down brackets others require new lines,which you replace with the steel braded lines. You might need a drop pitman arm,or longer steering components,again depending on the brand of lift.Hope this helps in some way,Im sure others who respond will also come up with more stuff that I may be forgetting.

 

[Justshootme84]

I added some comments on body lifts in my thread about trimming the fenders. One of the downsides of the 3" body lifts on both the 78 and 79 was the wear on the steering shaft and ragjoint. JSM84

 

[Bronc76]

sohc- superlift makes a good body kit. they have the necessary hardware such as extension for steering or tranny linkage, or whatever you may need depending on application. you may have to cut out bottom of shroud to clear fan.

 

[muddrivermike]

Thats funny Ive had this truck for about 5 years and and always go wheeling with it and NEVER had any problems with the rag joint or steering shafts. Ive also had a 74 f150 and a 76 f150 along with my current 78 bronco all with 3 inch body lifts and suspension lifts and never had any problems with those steering shafts.My friends also have had 70 something fords and they never had any problems. Im not trying to shoot down your comment or anything,This is just what my encounters have been with these trucks.

 

[Justshootme84]

Sure, and I don't mind a different opinion. that's what the forum is for, to get experiences from more than just one person or one rig. I have a hunch that the steering shaft and ragjoint on the 78 Bronco were original, and had never been serviced. Took over 3 hours to change out, since the steering was completely shot. Then again, s owere the rear brakes. The 38" tires don't help any either, adding more stress to the steering.

One of the issues I do have with a body lift is having to extend the steering shaft. It's usually a matter of just pulling it out farther from the firewall, since it does have some range of movement or a telescoping feature. My point is that there is more of an angle on the u-joint at top by the firewall with a body lift than stock, and that can increase the wear on that part.

Another issue to deal with on a body lift is re-locating the bumpers to fit the body lines. The design of the 78/79 frame horns for the front bumper make it difficult to just move the bumper up 3". I did make some brackets for the 79 out of 3" channel, but the bottom edge of the bumper hits the frame. Not a real big issue unless trying to re-locate a winch bumper.

I've done a couple of 3" body lifts where we had to deal with the 4WD t-case shift lever hitting the floorpan.

 

[muddrivermike]

The floor is notched out a little for the T case shifter,Seems to work so far.And thats what I did with the steering shaft just telescope it. I dont know why but it seems with the aftermarket rag joints they seem to hold up to the angle better than the orginals,but yes what a pain in the ass to switch out the orginal.The back bumper I just left alone and I have some red oval marker lights in a row,Like 8 of them that light up with my parking lights on a fiberglass bar I guess you could say between the body and the bumper to fill the space,and obviously have an roadarmor bumper up front.

 

[American Thunder]

I've always liked body lifts. Since I swapped in an F800 steering joint with a grease fitting, wear shouldnt be an issue, either.



This should be strong enough!

A 3" body lift makes everything easier to work on underneath, too. A body lift does raise the truck's center of gravity some, but not as much as a suspension lift does.

 

[Yardape]

On my 89 I wheeled it for 3 years pretty hard with a 3 inch body lift. held up pretty good. The steering shaft was very sloppy where the bottom shaft slides into the top shaft. I could almost seperate the 2 by pushing sideways against the shaft. I just put a new one in today and it wont move a bit side to side. The tranny linkage had to be loosened and re-adjusted and the shroud wasnt re-installed which led to very annoying overheating problems. I had a spare kicking around so I modified it to fit. Had to be cut at the bottom for the fan and the top had to be notched for the upper rad hose.