As far as body lift stuff goes, I've only seen links to mail-order kits. There is a cheaper way, the good old hockey puck lift.

All the quantities listed below are for a reg cab longbed. Make sure to count your body mounts to make sure you get the right number of bolts/pucks.

What you'll need:
2x pucks per mount, 28x pucks total for a longbed

8x bed bolts, 3/8" x 3.5" grade 8 bolts

6x cab bolts, M12x1.75x150mm grade 10.9 bolts (these are probably special order, so get them before starting!)

Washers for your bolts

fan shroud brackets - you can get a number of things that will work at depot or switch to electric fans at this point

Shifter linkage add-in, you can get steel rod at depot and weld a piece in your shifter linkage (if auto trans). My manual trans required no modification.

Gas filler hose - your hose will possibly not reach the tank anymore.

Cab bushings - definitely check your cab bushings for wear. Mine were pretty shot, but they were had very cheap at the junkyard.


You'll have to drill out the pucks. Use a 7/16" bit for the bed bolts and 9/16" for the cab bolts. Make yourself a little jig for your drill press to make the holes perfectly center so your pucks stack nicely.

Jig:



Thorough Directions from the kit: http://www.performanceaccessories.co...tions/642X.pdf

You basically just use the same directions as if you bought the kit, but you'll save about 50%. I got the pucks for $1.29ea and used a $10 off coupon to get 28 for about $25. The 3/8 bed bolts were had at depot for about $2 each (with washers), about $16 total. The M12 cab bolts were had at a local screw shop for about $2 each (with washers), about $12 total. That's about $43 vs $117 + shipping (JC Whitney price).

The gas filler hose was about $12, but the kit doesn't include that so you'd still be shelling for that. I've got about $60 into my body lift, pretty good savings!

How it looks finished:

 

Nice write up.

LOL I wouldn't even know where to get 1 Hockey Puck here in the desert.

The body lift price varies, I got mine locally for $80 no shipping.

As for the gas filler hose it extends up so no spacer is needed.

 

Yeah, I'm a hockey nut in a hockey area, so pucks are easy to come by. I probably had enough without buying them, but I went with new ones so they weren't worn.

My gas filler hose isn't reaching from side to side now. I'm not sure if it worked right in the first place, but it doesn't reach now. The tubes are at the same heights, but the hose isn't long enough now.

edit: I'm stupid. The filler tube extends out from the tank and needed no modification. Problem solved.

 

Awesome, this is something I had planned in my build. Though iirc body bolts only need to be grade 5 so there could be money saved there as well.

 

I think the stock bed bolts may have been grade 5, but I decided $.30 of overkill was worth it.

The cab bolts are much bigger/longer than the bed bolts and were stock metric grade 10.9, I'd definitely keep those up to grade.

 

Meh, grade 5 have a 120 ksi rating meaning they've got 120,000 lbs per square inch of tensile strength and about 60% of that resistance to shearing off. Nothing you're doing to your truck should require anything over grade 5 as far as the body is concerned.

 

2 pucks at each mount, that equals 2inches of body lift? What about 3x for 3 inch lift?

 

Picking up a 93 Dakota 2wd ext cab 3.9L v6 to beat the pies out of at the local mud spots in michigan, getting some good tires prolly 31s wanted to do the cheapest lift possible hockey puck lift came to mind, what bolts should i use grade 5 again cheapest but functional thanks guys

 

If I am going to adjust the torsion bars for the front, I just want to put blocks in the rear, do I still have to mess with the directions for the front? I cant imagine I do, but I dont want to get started and then realize I skipped some stuff haha. Can I just apply the directions for lifting the bed? and Do I still put a level amount of pucks for all the mounts? I have only worked on cars, and this will be my first truck project, so bare with me if those questions are ridiculous.

 

A body lift is for EVERY mount. If you crank the torsion bars, the block lift you mean is for the rear springs. Very different, but not hard.