so recently ive been thinking about doing a 3" body lift to give me a total af 5.5" up front and 5" in the back. i was wondering if anyone can reccomend me the most complete kit. also been thinking about a roll pan instead of rear bumper brackets, and since id have to get my exhaust rerouted since it would be 3" lower probably putting on a magnaflow high flow cat, or redoing the whole exhaust.

id like any input you might have, and what other concerns i should have going into this project. does it require a pitman arm? track bars? or is that only for over 3" susp?

 

I run 3" suspension lift and 3" body lift, and have not had any issues with it. Click on the link in my sig or look in my df garage for pics if you want to know what that combo looks like (though the engine pics I have posted where taken before the BL, so you don't get to see all the extra room i the engine compartment).

Without a doubt, the best kit to get is Performance Accessories. They are probably the best brand on the market as far as having the most complete kits, best quality parts, and best instructions. People on the fourms (mostly those who have never done it) like to say that it only takes 4-5 hours to install a body lift. I call major BS on that, and here's why. When I was ready to do my BL, I had it all planned out to do over a weekend with a guy who used to be a member on here who lived in Denver. He had done it on his truck and had experience on others. He said we could get it done in at least a full day or two afternoons. However, when it came time to do it, I was suddenly called out of town on business for several weeks. I wasn't going to have time to do it when I got back either, so while I was gone, I went ahead and just had a trusted 4x4 shop in town (owned by a guy I used to work with) do it for me so it would be done when I got back. He told me it took his shop 8 hours with 1 and sometime 2 guys working on it during that time. He said it wasn't hard, just lots of little things to do as you go along. Transfer case shift lever extension, transmission linkages, fan shroud movement, steering extension, making sure all the wires and wire looms were still long enough, etc... His shop does BL's all the time, mostly on Jeeps and Yotas, so his guys definitely know what they are doing. And he had no reason to take extra time on mine to charge me more because like I said, he's a friend and I used to work with him, so I wasn't paying his normal shop rates anyway. So I guess I was surprised to find out that with experienced people and a full shop of tools and lifts, it still took them 8 full hours. Keep that in mind as you plan how much time it will take.

I bought my kit new in the box off ebay for a really good price (guy had bought it for his truck, and never got it installed before he sold off his truck). My kit did come with everything I needed, including the stuff to relocate the shroud and all the extensions. I even had the bumper relocation kit with it, even though on a none sport model like mine, you can just redrill the factory stuff and make the bumpers work. I would recommend this kit overall though. The kit has been on for 2 years now, and I have not had any problems with it at all.

As far as happiness with a BL in general, I have a few minor complaints, but nothing major at all. The main nit I have with a BL is that there is some stuff that I hadn't thought of that where affected by it. The location of the tow hooks meant I had to redo the front valance. Also, the exhaust system looks like it is hanging down 3". So you have to have an exhaust shop redo it, or at a minimum rebend the tail pipe so it is tucked back up with the body. I had to do some cutting on my running boards (underneath where you don't see it anyway) because it caused them to rub on something that they didn't make contact with before (hard to explain in typed words, but i could show you in a picture if you are interested). I had to redo the engine ground strap wires because they had no slack in them at all after the BL was installed. That would have been bad to drive it that way for very long. So anyway, just had several little things like this that I hadn't expected.

Some of the pros of it are: lots of room in the engine compartment now, especially under the cowl (makes changing the cap and rotor SO much easier). Lots of room underneath now too. I had enough room to mount an air bubble under there that I take when I go places that I air down or need to have extra air to fill back up. I have plans to put a compressor too. I also think the center of gravity is better then if I had just done a 6" suspension lift because the frame is still at the 3" suspension lift height. With a 6" suspension lift, the frame would have been that much more in the air, so it makes for more body roll.

The other stuff you mentioned (track bar, pitman, etc...) only applies if you are going over 3" on a suspension lift only.

Hope this helps.

 

wow that helps a lot, very in depth. thanks for all the info.

 

I have a 3in body lift, my only regret is not buying the rear bumper brackets, but it would look kinda silly with the hitch 3in lower than the bumper anyways.