body lift how to
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
body lift how to
Hey all,
I'm interested in doing a body lift on my 97 ram 1500. I got ahold of some mickey thompson baja's for 300 for a set of four used but in amazing condition. Problem is they are 36 x 14.5 and I need to lift my truck higher to accomidate for them. I already have a three inch suspension lift and plan on upping to a five or seven suspension lift. In the mean time I would like to do a three inch body lift to save myself some money and still use my new tires. I'm just looking for any helpful info on doing body lifts, i.e. What other things do I need aside from the lift kit, what problems to watch out for, helpful hints, or just about anything to make the lift go as smoothly as possible. Much apprechiated. Ekslayer.
I'm interested in doing a body lift on my 97 ram 1500. I got ahold of some mickey thompson baja's for 300 for a set of four used but in amazing condition. Problem is they are 36 x 14.5 and I need to lift my truck higher to accomidate for them. I already have a three inch suspension lift and plan on upping to a five or seven suspension lift. In the mean time I would like to do a three inch body lift to save myself some money and still use my new tires. I'm just looking for any helpful info on doing body lifts, i.e. What other things do I need aside from the lift kit, what problems to watch out for, helpful hints, or just about anything to make the lift go as smoothly as possible. Much apprechiated. Ekslayer.
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From:
RE: body lift how to
Get the Performance Accessories kit and if your interested in raising the rear bumper, don't forget to order those brackets too because the rear bumper brackets don't come with the kit.
The install is really basic and fairly straight foward. PA's kits come with an excellent set of instructions, but some basic mechanical skill is necessary as well. You won't need any special tools outside of a good floor jack and a decent set of hand tools, sockets etc...
Take some measurements of the gap between the cab and bed and write those down to use later when your setting your bed.
Break the kit up into two kits....front and rear. If your pressed for time you could actually complete just half and still drive your truck....don't laugh, I have seen it done.
Follow the instructions on whatever needs to be taken off, relocated or altered first.
Then loosen all of the bolts that hold the body to the frame on the half your starting on. Take the bolts off one side only and lift that side slowly. Make sure you lift about an inch and then do a complete inspection for anything that you forgot to take off or loosen prior to lifting it. Then lift it another inch and then reinspect it agian....and so on...and so on, until you have that side tall enough until you can just slip the pucks in.
Once you can slip the pucks in, install the bolts loosely and then go to the other side and do the same thing.
Once you have that half of the truck lifted, tighten everything down and reinstall anything that was required to be removed or altered.
Then do the other half of the truck the same way.
The only thing I ran into problems with on mine was that the vacuum booster hose that runs to the drivers side valve cover was way too tight after completing the body lift. Some guys have not had that problem and other said it was tight but they left it that way. I went down to Autozone and bought some bulk hose and redid mine.
The kit comes with extra gas tank vent line and fill hose as well as a coupler peice, but I did not use any of that. On mine I was able to loosen the clamps on the vent and filler and get about 3/8" of hose off each end that way and that was enough to hook ot back up. I have been running mine for a year now without any problems doing it that way.
Mine is a 1999 and a stick, so as far as shifters, the only thing I had to lengthen was the stick shift for the tranny, although I drove around with mine short for a week or so before I had time to pull it out and weld in the spacer. On the 98+ the t-case shifter lever is bolted to the body and it will lift up with the body. Just a real simple adjustment to the linkage is all that is required for that. If you have an older Ram and the lever is bolted to the t-case, you will have to extend the t-case shifter. I am not sure what has to happen with the auto tranny, but I think it is a cable operated shifting mechanism so maybe you don't have to do anything???
I did not buy the rear bumper brackets becauseI was going to run a roll pan instead of a bumper. I did however wind up raising the bumper anyway by just redrilling the bumper brackets and frame. The PA instructions show you how to do that, or you can pay $40.00 for the relocation brackets and be done with it. I would recommend the brackets if you plan on runnig a bumper.
Plan on about 6 hours if you have never done one before. I had help and I have done them before and it took me about 4 hours, but my first one was a bout 6 hours.
There is a reason why shops charge $800.00 to install one, because it is alot of time consuming work, but nothing is hard or requiring special skills or knowledge. It is a great mod that anybody who wheels their truck should be able to do, or learn to do. Working on your truck lets you get to know it and it's fun. Heck before you know it you will be tackling bigger projects too!
Good luck to you
The install is really basic and fairly straight foward. PA's kits come with an excellent set of instructions, but some basic mechanical skill is necessary as well. You won't need any special tools outside of a good floor jack and a decent set of hand tools, sockets etc...
Take some measurements of the gap between the cab and bed and write those down to use later when your setting your bed.
Break the kit up into two kits....front and rear. If your pressed for time you could actually complete just half and still drive your truck....don't laugh, I have seen it done.
Follow the instructions on whatever needs to be taken off, relocated or altered first.
Then loosen all of the bolts that hold the body to the frame on the half your starting on. Take the bolts off one side only and lift that side slowly. Make sure you lift about an inch and then do a complete inspection for anything that you forgot to take off or loosen prior to lifting it. Then lift it another inch and then reinspect it agian....and so on...and so on, until you have that side tall enough until you can just slip the pucks in.
Once you can slip the pucks in, install the bolts loosely and then go to the other side and do the same thing.
Once you have that half of the truck lifted, tighten everything down and reinstall anything that was required to be removed or altered.
Then do the other half of the truck the same way.
The only thing I ran into problems with on mine was that the vacuum booster hose that runs to the drivers side valve cover was way too tight after completing the body lift. Some guys have not had that problem and other said it was tight but they left it that way. I went down to Autozone and bought some bulk hose and redid mine.
The kit comes with extra gas tank vent line and fill hose as well as a coupler peice, but I did not use any of that. On mine I was able to loosen the clamps on the vent and filler and get about 3/8" of hose off each end that way and that was enough to hook ot back up. I have been running mine for a year now without any problems doing it that way.
Mine is a 1999 and a stick, so as far as shifters, the only thing I had to lengthen was the stick shift for the tranny, although I drove around with mine short for a week or so before I had time to pull it out and weld in the spacer. On the 98+ the t-case shifter lever is bolted to the body and it will lift up with the body. Just a real simple adjustment to the linkage is all that is required for that. If you have an older Ram and the lever is bolted to the t-case, you will have to extend the t-case shifter. I am not sure what has to happen with the auto tranny, but I think it is a cable operated shifting mechanism so maybe you don't have to do anything???
I did not buy the rear bumper brackets becauseI was going to run a roll pan instead of a bumper. I did however wind up raising the bumper anyway by just redrilling the bumper brackets and frame. The PA instructions show you how to do that, or you can pay $40.00 for the relocation brackets and be done with it. I would recommend the brackets if you plan on runnig a bumper.
Plan on about 6 hours if you have never done one before. I had help and I have done them before and it took me about 4 hours, but my first one was a bout 6 hours.
There is a reason why shops charge $800.00 to install one, because it is alot of time consuming work, but nothing is hard or requiring special skills or knowledge. It is a great mod that anybody who wheels their truck should be able to do, or learn to do. Working on your truck lets you get to know it and it's fun. Heck before you know it you will be tackling bigger projects too!
Good luck to you
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
RE: body lift how to
I was planning on getting the performance accessories kit to do my truck. Have all the tools required. My friends and I did the three inch suspension lift by ourselves so im sure we can figure it out. I do have the automatic tranny but am also not sure what shift mechanism it uses. Ill find out what I need to do before I do it. The only other question I have is whether or not I have to do anything with the brake lines. Thanks a lot. Your info was very helpful.
