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6" Suspension 3" body lift

2014MallCrawler

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surebuttercringe Enthusiast

surebuttercringe

Posted
Posted

Body lifts have come a long way, especially with bumper relocation brackets being included with them. I think a lot of the people that don't like body lifts remember the old ones where you could actually see the pucks and/or the bumpers hung so low that it looked way out of whack. Today's body lifts are much better engineered and companies have thought about the little things that make it look like you can't even tell if someone is running a body lift. I have the Zone 1.5" on my truck. With the N-Fab steps, you can't see the frame, the bumpers are in the right spots and it was an economical way to get 4" of lift when combined with the 2" leveling kit, especially since my truck is a 2WD and I don't go off-roading in it.

blackout07 Senior Enthusiast

blackout07

Posted
Posted

Body lifts have come a long way, especially with bumper relocation brackets being included with them. I think a lot of the people that don't like body lifts remember the old ones where you could actually see the pucks and/or the bumpers hung so low that it looked way out of whack. Today's body lifts are much better engineered and companies have thought about the little things that make it look like you can't even tell if someone is running a body lift. I have the Zone 1.5" on my truck. With the N-Fab steps, you can't see the frame, the bumpers are in the right spots and it was an economical way to get 4" of lift when combined with the 2" leveling kit, especially since my truck is a 2WD and I don't go off-roading in it.

Agreed. There's a lot of negatives mentioned about body lifts with no real feedback other than "I don't like them." Even without steps, a 3" body lift on a 1500 truck shows no more frame than a factory HD. I had a body lifted K-5 that I beat pretty good, and I never had an issue. So off-road they are solid. I promise you the best suspension lift out there will help wear out front end parts long before anything associated with a body lift will wear out.

blackout07 Senior Enthusiast

blackout07

Posted
Posted

Well 3" body lift it will be.. my step bars are mounted to the body not the frame anyway. I have the AMP powerfolds.

It will look awesome. Get rear fender liners as opposed to the rubber gap guards, and consider dumping the spare tire and if you don't tow, lose the receiver for a super clean look.

 

Here's a shot of mine. I've had many people ask me about the lift, and everyone of them was surprised that it had a body lift.

 

IMG_2944_zpsa85b6ccc.jpg

1CoolGMC Enthusiast

1CoolGMC

Posted
Posted

3" body lift on mine too.

Every truck I've own has had a body lift.

No worn out CV knuckles and no warranty void for drive shaft angles.

I installed my 3" in 1 day

 

Sierra2.jpg

LifeisthePits Enthusiast

LifeisthePits

Posted
Posted

I am in a similar boat, I bought the truck from the dealer with a basic pro comp lift installed and had the stage 2 with coil overs done myself afterwards. I got a great deal on the truck or I never would have bought a dealer installed lift. I want to run 37's and have been kicking around the idea of how to get there. I have considered doing a whole new lift for 9-10" but it just seems like such a waste.

 

I like the idea of putting a coilover in the front that is lifted for 8" and doing a larger block or spring in the back to get level.

 

Does anybody have experience with that method?

blackout07 Senior Enthusiast

blackout07

Posted
Posted

I am in a similar boat, I bought the truck from the dealer with a basic pro comp lift installed and had the stage 2 with coil overs done myself afterwards. I got a great deal on the truck or I never would have bought a dealer installed lift. I want to run 37's and have been kicking around the idea of how to get there. I have considered doing a whole new lift for 9-10" but it just seems like such a waste.

 

I like the idea of putting a coilover in the front that is lifted for 8" and doing a larger block or spring in the back to get level.

 

Does anybody have experience with that method?

It can be done depending on the lift. Stretching a lift like procomp to 8" may well max out all of your angles. How are the angles on the CVs now? How much room between the Uca and the bump stop? It seems like I recall a guy who stacked a 2" level on top of his procomp and the front end was in a bind.

LifeisthePits Enthusiast

LifeisthePits

Posted
Posted

It can be done depending on the lift. Stretching a lift like procomp to 8" may well max out all of your angles. How are the angles on the CVs now? How much room between the Uca and the bump stop? It seems like I recall a guy who stacked a 2" level on top of his procomp and the front end was in a bind.

Angles are good, right now, snapped a couple of pics. I would get a set of Uniball CA's also.

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2014MallCrawler Enthusiast

2014MallCrawler

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The issue I would worry about is alignment, I talked to a couple reliable off-road shops here and they said hopefully they could get close to stock but if not it would cause excessive tire wear. I have totally been thinking about this same upgrade as well. Both shops said they will not install the 3" body on my truck claimed it to be unsafe?!? They suggested that I blow up bushwackers email and telephone and get them to stop lounging and create the cutout fender flares and I wont have any issue with 37's or with my current setup on 35's and run some UCA's for more travel... Hrmm...


Doesnt help that our 4 wheel drive trucks were lower than my old 2001 2wd tahoe to start out.

LifeisthePits Enthusiast

LifeisthePits

Posted
Posted

The issue I would worry about is alignment, I talked to a couple reliable off-road shops here and they said hopefully they could get close to stock but if not it would cause excessive tire wear. I have totally been thinking about this same upgrade as well. Both shops said they will not install the 3" body on my truck claimed it to be unsafe?!? They suggested that I blow up bushwackers email and telephone and get them to stop lounging and create the cutout fender flares and I wont have any issue with 37's or with my current setup on 35's and run some UCA's for more travel... Hrmm...

 

Doesnt help that our 4 wheel drive trucks were lower than my old 2001 2wd tahoe to start out.

Great information, thank you. That makes me wonder about the McGaughys lift also considering it is a 7" drop bracket with shocks putting it at 9", seems like you would run into the same issue with that set up.

 

The fenders are also more square than ever, even the 07-13's have a bit more angle to them. I have room in back for 37's as it is now and with my Iron Cross bumper the front clearance is no issue at all but that back fender wall of the front tire is super tight, it's close as it is now with 35's.

 

Thanks again.

blackout07 Senior Enthusiast

blackout07

Posted
Posted

Life, your angles are perfect. You shouldn't have any issues stretching it to 8". The new UCAs will be icing on the cake.

 

As to the body lift being unsafe, I'm curious to know their reasoning.

 

And to the alignment issue, perhaps these shops aren't the kind of shops to go to?

 

The '14s have the same suspension at the 900s and the amount of suspensions I've seen both in person, and on these forums, that are "stretched" is more the rule than the exception. I myself have a 1" leveling kit in with my suspension and the alignment is fine.

 

Look at it this way as with Life's truck. His lifted angles are flat. They're basically stock angles. So it's not different than adding a leveling kit to a. Stock truck. It will basically create the same geometry up front.

 

As to fitting 37s. I know the 14s have more room than my gen, but I currently have 10" of lift with 37x12.50 on 10" wides with -24 offset, I've only trimmed plastic but they can still rub pretty good in tight turns, mainly when backing up. So I don't know that 8" alone will allow 37s.

2014MallCrawler Enthusiast

2014MallCrawler

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thats what I told the guys at Sam's Offroad, Ryno 4wd and Harmon 4wd... They said because of the new knuckles there aren't as good of alignment adjustments as the stock knuckles. The reasoning on the bodylift was... on a 3" if youre in a collision your body mounts will sever from the frame. They wont install anything over a 1.5" body anymore they said.

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