I am looking for a 1 or 2 inch body lift that is quality over hokey pucks or using square metal tubing as spacers. I can do that stuff myself and save money over that I have seen being charged for these type of body lift kits.

NCO is closed for awhile until Tim get's all of his things in order but if I remember right he had the lowest prices on the 2" body lifts. I think his was $99 while others are around $109 - $119. If you look at the body mounts on your rig now you will see that the rubber between the body and frame is thin, but below the frame is about a 1" piece, move it inbetween the body and frame also. I haven't done it but I have heard about it being done.

Wes.

Something else on body lifts that I didnt know until I started on mine. Except for the front and rear bolts, the other mounting points are actually studs that are attached to the body, and come down into the frame. The body lift I purchased had threaded tubing that went with the blocks that threaded onto the body studs. Was a very easy kit to install.

I got my 2 inch kit from Trail Tuff.

Jim

88 sami 4.5 spoa. 2 inch body lift. 33 12.50's

I made my own body lift out of boat rollers. They come in 12" lengths for $7, are 2.5" in diameter, and fairly flexible. I cut them on the chop saw to 2" in length and they already have the hole drilled for the body stud. My whole lift cost me about $45 (not including time and fuel to gather the parts), and the hardest things to find were the stud extensions, which were $1.50 each.

Here is a pic of the boat roller uninstalled (you can also buy them pre-cut to 2.5").



Here it is installed. I beat on the Zuk a few times, and have checked them for cracking and loosening, so far nothing. I also have some pics of a local guy using mallet heads for a body lift. He buys them at a discount place and cuts the heads off. Then he drills out the center and puts them on. If you want to see those pics, let me know and I'll post them, but I'd do the hockey pucks before I did the mallet heads (I have pics of hockey pucks as well).



JEEPN
Winter Harbor, Maine
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled, It's a Jeep, Chevy, IHC kinda thing!
'88.5 Zuki, 7" Lift, Locked, Swamped, Rolled, and just generally broken in right!

ssssswwwwweeeettttt mounts there jeepn, I did about a 2 .5 inch lift! and people always say that you have to go custom bumper after that if you want the gap closed up so I went out and re'drilled holes and raised my bumper 2.5 inches and it looks like a susp lift! just my 2 cents unless you wanna pay 150 + for a bumper!

" Go Cheap n' Smooth or Forget about it!"

Thanx
Studly
92 Zuki/235's/header/cherry bomb exhaust/Still Building
72 fj40/crate 350/33's/discs

JEEPN,

I went to the local boat shop today and the guy almost laughed me off the show room floor. They didnt have any boat rollers like the one you showed. Only thing they had that even came close was a roller with a V cut into it and that was 3 inch length. Looked like it had a 3" OD. Thought it was a little to big for what I wanted. Going by the picture is it Yates that makes the 12" length boat rollers?

Where did you get the stud extensions and how long did you buy them? I actually did give some thought to drillin a huge hole into the tubs flooring and then replacing the factory studs with longer and stronger grade 8 bolts. What do you think about this? Should the extensions be strong enough? What about using some lock tight with the extension studs?
What about the ares where the body rests ontop of the frame rails..... did you put anything in those areas?

I think 2"'s is as high as I want to go on the body lift. Did you run into any problems with the shifters and such during and after the installation of your body lift? Anything else you wanna add that might help out?

Even though this is only a 2 inch body lift at a later date I am going to add some anchoring chains for safety.

thanks
Dave

I got mine from Hamilton Marine, a local boat supply store. They are also online at http://www.hamiltonmarine.com and they are real friendly folks. They also sell hammerite paint, which I highly recommend.

I bought my stud extensions locally, at a large bolt supply store. They are metric and can be found if you look hard enough, if not, the store may have to order them for you. I then used bolts on the bottom part. I thought about drilling out the studs and replacing them with bolts, but it'd be a PITA to get at them all. I used grade 5 bolts (8.8 metric), I think, as the studs aren't grade 8, and neither are the extensions. The extensions are about 2" long (maybe 1.5"), so they get some good bite, and Loctite is a good idea, but not the high strength kind that requires heat to loosen. My body tub has taken quite a beating in the last few weeks, so much that I broke one of the front cast steel rollers and bent the 1/2" grade 8 bolt, in addition to rolling it into a Toyota, and jumping it while rally racing down a road. Most of this was with a passenger and about 300 lbs in tools in the rear bed, which I found lets the Calmini suspension flex well, right <font color=blue>mxnhid</font color=blue>? Prior to installing the rollers, the fangs used to hit all the time as well and the 1/4" steel on the front is kinda of dented a little. The body and lift has not shifted, loosened, cracked, or shown any signs of abnormalities at all.



For the 2", I had to realign the fuel filler hose, do the steering shaft lenghtening, and I did have a problem with the 4WD shifter. I notched out the front of the tunnel so it would stay in 4L, and then rotated the boot 90 degrees so the boot would not pop it back out of gear. Never did anything to the tranny shifter. I also do not have anything under the mounts that just rested on the frame.

Chains aren't a bad idea, but unless you plan on rolling it over and over, I doubt they'll be needed.

It took me a long time to find all the components, set them up, and install them. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably just shell out the extra $50 and buy a ready made kit, it'd save a lot of time and frustration. I'm also venturing into the unknown with this, if it snapped, broke, or messed up something, no problem for me as it's not my daily driver, just a rig I wheel, so no problem if it's down.

JEEPN
Winter Harbor, Maine
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled, It's a Jeep, Chevy, IHC kinda thing!
'88.5 Zuki, 7" Lift, Locked, Swamped, Rolled, and just generally broken in right!

JEEPN,

Thanks. I like doing things myself. I really hate forking out more money for something I know I can make myself. I can use some JB Weld to lock the threads on the extensions. I also might place these inline with the body rest supports. Thats an easy task. Just drill out the hole so you can fit a washer with a self tapping sheet metal screw to clamp the roller down to the frame. I might just pell off the whole tub and do the work needed to the frame and also paint it. The whole front clip is removed. I plan on having the motor and tranny pulled soon. Hmmmm 4.3/auto conversion? )
Actually I am still looking into the 3L 2.8ltr diesel conversion. But being the 1.6 is cheaper I might just do that on this Zuk and do all the other power mods on the other Zuk we plan on buying. My wife wants this rig up before it starts snowing. So I am running out of time. Well I best get back out and start hunting parts down for this body lift. If it does cost me more then a marketed kit I feel positive it will be better quality all around. Thats been my experience in the past when doing this sort of thing. I will take pics too.

Thanks again bro.

Dave

I understand doing things yourself, did you notice the 1" ribar on the S/R pic?

Let me know if I can be of any help.

JEEPN
Winter Harbor, Maine
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled, It's a Jeep, Chevy, IHC kinda thing!
'88.5 Zuki, 7" Lift, Locked, Swamped, Rolled, and just generally broken in right!