Anyone?

Roofer · January 27, 2001

Anyone have a body lift and step bars? Anyone here have a body lift and thinking about some sort of steps? I have been searching for a long time for a solution, but haven't found much. Anyone, anyone?

Frank S · January 27, 2001

My wifes Tahoe doesn't have a lift but you may want to check into the Smittybilt powdercoats.They bolt into the frame and I know they will look good on your Z.

Shaners · January 27, 2001

I'm no t sure how you'd do it... I just put Westin bars on my truck and although they mount to the frame I had to replace the original bolts that bolt the body to the frame with longer ones supplied by Westin. I'm guessing that with a body lift you'd have to buy even longer bolts, depending on the size of your lift. Other than that it should be relatively simply. I'm sure that the longer bolts would be available at a good hardware or auto supply store. My bars without a body lift on my truck sit about 1" below the rocker panels. The cab mount bolts supplied for my bars were M12-1.75 x 120mm long, grade 5, zinc plated. You would just have to get bolts a couple of inches longer depending on the size of your lift kit is what I'm guessing. The bars and brackets themselves would mount in the same place as mine and the only difference would be the gap between the bars and your body. I could send you pictures if you'd like.

Roofer · January 28, 2001

See, I don't want them to hang down 3" from the body, that is my problem. Maybe black bars won't be as noticeable, but my bed rails are chrome, so that might look funny. I can't believe that nobody makes bars for body lifted trucks yet, it just blows my mind. Thanks for the suggestions though guys.

MountaineerTom · January 28, 2001

Roofer,

Check out Mark2000Z71's page. At the bottom are some pics of some brackets he made to raise his Smittybilt bars 3 inches. I believe his email address is [email protected] He may be able to give you some more detailed info. You may be able to do something similar with another brand of Step Rails if there's another set you have in mind. Good luck.

http://www.geocities.com/mark2000z71/index.html

Frank S · January 28, 2001

Unless I'm mistaken,some step bars are made to be mounted to body bolts.

Check the Westin brand as I think they may be like this.

MountaineerTom · January 28, 2001

Westin step bars do mount to the cab mounts. I just put some Westin CPS bars on my truck a couple weeks ago. They have a couple braces that mount to the frame though. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to make some new braces to fit the new configuration though. The front brace mounts to the bottom of the frame. The rear one mounts to a piece that sticks out of the side of the frame.

Shaners · January 29, 2001

The bracket for the Westin bars mounts to the bottom of the support for the cab mount. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Shaners · January 29, 2001

Here is the picture of the front mount for a Westin bar... it isn't from my truck put I got it from someone on the net who was showing me the proper way to mount these bars because the Westin instruction aren't that great... I can send the picture of the rear mount to if you need it.

MountaineerTom · January 29, 2001

After thinking about it I remembered that they mount to the BOTTOM of the cab mount support. So they will still be in the same place with a body lift. I really feel stupid since I have the same thing installed on mine. LOL!

JohnGMC · January 31, 2001

Is it just me,or do the westins mount to the cab mount bolt-this bolt is supposed to be isolated form the frame with the thick rubber washerss,Westin then goes from the bolt to the frame-effectively tieing them together.You might as well remove the cab cushions.This is a no-no big time.They just ruined all the work GM went thru to build a quiet ,smooth cab.The only steps worth buying are those that mount to the body or the frame ,but never both.Cab and frame should remain issolated.

MountaineerTom · January 31, 2001

The braces are just there to keep the rail from sagging down if you have alot of weight on the bar I think. I havn't noticed any difference as far as noise heard in the cab since I installed mine.

Shaners · January 31, 2001

when I mounted my bars I had to replace the existing stock cab mount bolts with longer ones that were supplied by Westin. I did not remove the rubber cab support between the bottom of the cab and the top of the frame rail and I mounted the bracket to the bottom of the cab support "ear" on the frame and then put the rubber doughnut against the washer and head of the bolt. The bolt is actually torqued against the bottom rubber doughnut an not the steel mounting bracket. Just like stock. The picture I posted (which is not my truck) looks like the bottom doughnut is between the bracket and the bottom of the frame rail meaning the head of the bolt is torqued directly to the step-bar bracket.... I don't think this is right, and the Westin instructions are rather poor. They don't show you which place to mount the bottom doughnut, so I figured I'd try to make it as close to stock as possible and put the bracket tight to the bottom of the frame rail and keep the bolt isolated.

OOPS!!! I just went out and checked and I installed them the way they look in the picture. The haed of the bolt is torqued against the bottom of the mounting bracket which is up against the bottom rubber doughnut. I haven't noticed any problems with this as far as cab noise etc... I'll keep you posted.

(Edited by Shaners at 7:37 am on Jan. 31, 2001)

JohnGMC · January 31, 2001

I took some automotive engineering when i was getting my automotive degree,and the way the westins mount goes totally against the way the truck is engineered to perfrom.Its your truck,but understand that a longer bolt thru the westin transmits the vibration thru the bolt-where it is solidly threaded into the body-that i a direct path for vibration to enter the body of the truck.those bars should be solidly mounted to the frame or the body-not one of each.it doesnt matter how small the frmae brace is,if its there its big enough to transmit vibration.I guarantee you this accesory is not Gm approved for this reason.When buying aftermarket equipment I make sure that it works with the factory designed system.

igbig · September 16, 2001

If any one is intrested in true frame mounted steps, i just installed Manik step tubes on my 2000 Z-71 x-cab. these install on th actual frame itself not the body mounts. i had genuine steel tube steps before this,i didnt like how low they hung down ,and how they flexed when you steppd on them due to to the mounting location. another thing after a few months th body mounts started to squeak wen ever th the truck body flexed (like pulling in to a steep driveway) the maniks are great they sit high and the thing i like the most is the "ends" do not go under the truck. you can see them at www.performanceproducts.com