[Mitchie.1]

Have I missed a reason that bodylifts cause trouble in sierras. I've always been told that they r the best lift you can do. They're cheap n easy, make room for bigger tyres without limiting up travel and clearance for engine and trans swaps. I know not everyone is against them but ive read stuff where people would rather cut n modify trans tunnels than install a bodylift. Have I missed something?

[mnemonix]

It increases your centre of gravity and raises your roll centre, which can add to the risk of falling over in an already tall and narrow vehicle.

[Shansh]

surely they have their place? maybe not appropriate for every car but like everything if incorporated into a setup they can work??

[appsie]

alot of people are just so againt lift that its not funny mate. too much lift is crap i agree but i think a 2" bodylift isnt going to affect the car and its ability or handling too much. i have had 2 zuks with 2" body lift,2" springs etc and thing it was perfect,sort of too low chassis wise for some tracks i tried to drive but for most of it it was fun,stable and worked for me. it does allow 1.6 swaps to be easy,does allow lifting of the transfer case to get clearance underneath and as you said allows you to fit a bigger wheel that all the lift in the world simply wont let.
we will all have a different opinion though lol.But if i had another normal sierra again itd be that way again

spoa and bodylift NO
spua mild lift and bodylift YES

[atari4x4]

Shansh wrote:

surely they have their place? maybe not appropriate for every car but like everything if incorporated into a setup they can work??

x2

@ mnemonix, IMO anyone who lifts a vehicle with out increasing wheel track deserves to have their car fall over.

[Mitchie.1]

Yeah. A bodylift only lifts the cab which is only a small part of the weight. The driveline stays put so really a 2" suspension lift raises the roll center more than a 2" bodylift.

[Shansh]

atari4x4 wrote:

Shansh wrote:

surely they have their place? maybe not appropriate for every car but like everything if incorporated into a setup they can work??

x2

@ mnemonix, IMO anyone who lifts a vehicle with out increasing wheel track deserves to have their car fall over.

x 2 one of the reasons mine isnt fully operational yet.

[sideways]

Mitchie.1 wrote:

I know not everyone is against them but ive read stuff where people would rather cut n modify trans tunnels than install a bodylift. Have I missed something?

Just to clarify.

I don't want body lift because I don't want my car to look lifted. Any lift I fit to my car will be suspension lift as I drive mostly un maintained gravel roads and tracks so I'm after maximum up travel.

Even then, I'd still prefer some 20-30mm lift springs over 2" ones. OMEs are 40mm and apparently ride very well so those are my preference right now.

If 4" of lift didn't look so cop bait/poser spec and helped me fit that gear box, I'd be running lifted springs and body lift..... But seeing as this gearbox may well fit without body lift, body lift offers no advantage to me.

To me, body lift is only really useful if you're running quite large tyres and/or a lot of offset and don't want to do major surgery. Body lift is also useful for those who wanted the lifted look for the lowest possible $$.

It's also good for fitting larger long range tanks.

Thanks

Hayden

[BlueSuzy]

I had no problem with my 2" bodylift. Made it easier to work on things and made it easier to lift the transfer and zorst higher for better undeneath clearance. Also made more room for the vit tank i had, so it could be mounted alot neater and higher.

Do it right, get barwork/bumpers to suit, it wont look like a monster.

Bodylift is for the bolteronerer
Virtual lift/cutting is for the fabberupperer

[96coily]

Haters hate

[twitchy]

Mitchie.1 wrote:

Yeah. A bodylift only lifts the cab which is only a small part of the weight. The driveline stays put so really a 2" suspension lift raises the roll center more than a 2" bodylift.

Body lift isn't as useful... but can have it's place. Personally I don't like them but to each there own. Best possible way for ground clearance & wheel space ( for larger tyres) is portal axles, but that's a tad expensive.

[ajsr]

I'd rather a body lift than a spring lift from a purely COG point of view.
but a grinder is more fun than both

[jdk81]

Been covered pretty well.

Just adding one thing

The body lifts can cause body and chassis cracking, especially in sierras.
Usually only the mounts requiring bolts, are supplied in the body lift kits.
When used it means the body is supported by about 1/2 the supports than it used to.
This cracks the mounts on chassis, and cracks the body too.

Extra blocks to help maintain the same support as prior to body lifting is the best option.

[31zook]

because a certain victorian has made everyone believe that if you put lift in your car your going to hell, where they all drive vitaras and do spoa's with Z-links.

50mm BL is great for working on your car, and clearing tyres without losing uptravel. But do as jdk81 said above.

[Scrawny]

31zook wrote:

because a certain victorian has made everyone believe that if you put lift in your car your going to hell, where they all drive vitaras and do spoa's with Z-links.

[Mitchie.1]

Extra blocks added to the list. Cheers

[christover1]

I put blocks on all points when I did my LWB Sierra home made body lift.
Tack welded the non bolted ones to the chassis,
didn't know till now that some BL kits didn't supply all points.
It seemed to cope well with years of abuse.
Rust from years of mud killed the body first.

[303zuke]

You haven't said what state you're in.

One reason Bodylifts aren't as popular is the requirement for engineering sign-off for road registered vehicles. An Engineer's Cert in NSW can cost you hundreds of dollars and add insurance headaches. Suspension lift generally won't require engineering (varies from State to State) or cause trouble with insurers, while guard cutting is no probs at all provided there are no jagged edges or structural weakening of the body tub.

[Mitchie.1]

I'm in qld. I did my new hilux about 18 months ago n I had to apply to qld tport before fitting it n have it inspected over the pits. I've heard that its changed now to just a blue plate modification now but even before that it was a pretty painless experience. If you follow the rules it's do stuff properly it's amazing what you can do. My hilux runs 2" suspension 2" bodylift with 305/65 17s. The cops rub there hands together when they see me coming but they can measure as much as they want because it's all legal.

[Brenno]

303zuke wrote:

You haven't said what state you're in.

One reason Bodylifts aren't as popular is the requirement for engineering sign-off for road registered vehicles. An Engineer's Cert in NSW can cost you hundreds of dollars and add insurance headaches. Suspension lift generally won't require engineering (varies from State to State) or cause trouble with insurers, while guard cutting is no probs at all provided there are no jagged edges or structural weakening of the body tub.

In any state that has the ncop no engineers approval is needed. It is only nsw that require an engineer to note the modification. I was reading the vsb14 ADR's last night (as you do).

I like body lifts, however if you are handy ont the grinder/welder it's probably not needed. Does help fit other things like bigger engine/gearbox without the need for cutting trans tunnel.

[atari4x4]

the good thing about bodylifts is 99% of the time they're fully reversible so if you do want to sell it as a stocker it can be returned back to standard. heaps of work if you've cut & shut trans tunnels etc.

looking at the diameter of Just_Crusin' bodylift blocks compared to some of the ones out of the US & they're nearly twice the size, i wonder if the smaller diameter blocks are responsible for cracking chassis/body mounts?

the other trick is to fill in the gaps between the chassis & body so it doesn't look all open, my vitara looked wrong being able to look from one side to the other through the wheel arches, you could see all the fuel lines & tank.

[joeblow]

31zook wrote:

because a certain victorian has made everyone believe that if you put lift in your car your going to hell, where they all drive vitaras and do spoa's with Z-links.

50mm BL is great for working on your car, and clearing tyres without losing uptravel. But do as jdk81 said above.

OI!...be more descriptive of said Victorians. Don't count me in on that.


Seriously, a suspension lift raises CofG and affects roll centre quite a bit as you are lifting the whole thing except the diffs. A 50mm body lift change to those points is negligable as you are only lifting the body. Be lucky to be a %5 change.

I think it's more people who want thier (un-engineerable) car to look low so the boys in blue stay away.

[31zook]

victorian not mexican

[just_cruizin]

jdk81 wrote:

Been covered pretty well.

Just adding one thing

The body lifts can cause body and chassis cracking, especially in sierras.
Usually only the mounts requiring bolts, are supplied in the body lift kits.
When used it means the body is supported by about 1/2 the supports than it used to.
This cracks the mounts on chassis, and cracks the body too.

Extra blocks to help maintain the same support as prior to body lifting is the best option.

I've never cracked the body or the chassis with a 10 point lift. The worst I have done is bend the chassis mount under the drivers seat when I rolled and landed on the top corner of the B pillar, but even with the car in original guise that would have happened. Can't throw a 1000kg down on it's roof without expecting some issue hey.

I size my blocks to match the factory rubbers, on the Sierra that's 50mm on the Vitara that's 80mm. If people want extra mounts when they buy a kit I can supply those as well, it'll be reflected in the cost but hey that's life.

When you compare a sierra to the weight in Patrols etc especially the way people load them up the 10 points in the sierra are fine for 99% of the applications.

Body lift give clearance pure and simple, suspension "should" provide flex and articulation, unfortunately most suspension kits don't met that criteria.

[twitchy]

31zook wrote:

victorian not mexican

Nah Mexican/ Victorian....same thing

[DarkHorse]

Would that make you Canadian?