suspension or body lift?

[maddog]

well another inexperienced question lol! how can one tell the difference between a body lift and a suspension lift? i have never installed nor remaved any kind of lift and dont know the first thing about them.

[75K30]

Body lift: Pretty cheesy way to gain lift. Spacers placed between the body and frame to create romm for larger tires. This does not increase ground clearance (breakover angle) nor does it do too much for off road performance increases.

Suspension lift: Many options here and quite a few from low cost to very expensive. You get what you pay for here.
Suspension lifts will increase both approach and departure angles as well as the ever important breakover angle. Increased suspension travel is usually achieved with suspension lifts.

[junior3382]

Originally Posted by maddog

well another inexperienced question lol! how can one tell the difference between a body lift and a suspension lift? i have never installed nor remaved any kind of lift and dont know the first thing about them.

For a good quality Suspension lift on an IFS all you would have to do is look at the front diff. It will be lowered from stock, so there will be newer crossmembers and probably control arms then the originals. On a solid axle, it would depend whether the lift was blocks, or add a leaf. Either way easy to discern.

But the Body lift, now that you can see right away. The frame will be exposed more, and there will be a noticable gap between the top of the rails and the bottom of the body.

If you were trying to see if a truck had a lift and what kind, take a look imediately at this gap, if it is there, then it is a BL, if not, but ride is most definitely higher then stock, then it would be a suspension lift.

Now to add to 75K30's comment, a BL is a cheap way to go, and will not change approach angles, but allowing for larger tires, will in turn give you more ground clearence. Infact, regardless of the lift, the Ground clearence does not change from stock until larger tires are added.

[liftedAV]

another way on the IFS is if the torsion bars are below the frame ,that would suggest a suspension lift was installed.......if you measure from the LCA bolt at the frame to the ground,then measure from the end of the lower ball joint bolt to the ground,then subtract..that is how you tell how much lift it has......

[jdfenske]

my 2 cents, just look and laugh

you will swear every time you need to load/unload something.

[Taco2aHD]

LOL YEAH dirtbikes suck getting out of a lifted truck

[keithr0005005]

body lifts seem so simple but they are actually way more of a pain to install than a suspension lift. i would never put one on my truck after doin one on my friends jeep. it was a nightmare.

[maddog]

Originally Posted by Taco2aHD

LOL YEAH dirtbikes suck getting out of a lifted truck

atv's are even better. oh and sleds! gotta find a perdy tall snowbank!

[junior3382]

Why are you guys not using ramps? Seems like you are making it harder for yourselves....LOL.

[724x4]

Body lifts are a pain in the *** to install vs Suspension lifts as ive done both....the question is what kind of truck are you putting it on...my body lifted truck is a 93 k1500....body lifts are the cheaper way to go with an IFS truck as most suspension lifts are more pricey for these trucks...trust me i priced them before i did it....body lifts are usually only good for 33" tires...which leads to another question what kind of driving do you plan on doing....once you go over 35" i would recommend regearing your axles with 33's its still streetable with the factory gearing....also a little side note off topic, i have a 3" body lift on 33's, my budy has a 6" suspension lift on his ford, from the rear diff cover i have 14" of clearance on pavement on worn down 33's vs his 12" of clearance parked in the same spot on brand new swampers.....so theoretically i can go more places than he can for less....and once you put in a front end kit assuming you have an IFS truck and not a straight axle....no more going to autozone for certain components...instead your going to be wating for the lift manufacturer to ship you a replacement part....there's pro's and cons to both....but it pretty much boils down to what your going to be doing with the truck....in addition....you will overheat more with a body lift as your radiator shroud will move up with the body while your engine remains on the frame, you will have to remove or cut the lower section of the shroud to clear the fan, only way around this is I bought two lower sections and cut and then spliced them together to make a complete shroud.