1 inch body lift in swb safari

[jear bear]

Hey guys.. going to do a 1 inch body lift in my safari and just want to know from any1 who has done this small lift if there is any problems..I have heard that the gear shifter may be a problem...but this is from people who have done 50mm. If any1 can give me a heads up it would be appreciated

[SV1K]

Use big washers otherwise you may punch through the body after a period of time, I know as I have done this...

Other than that, you should be ok

[coxsy]

why do a body lift

[jear bear]

thanks... will do. the reason for the body lift is truck just had a brandnew 50mm suspension lift when I bought it and I dont want to have to buy new springs, and dont like the idea of spacers in the springs and want a little more body clearence. not really to keen on body lifts either, but 25mm should be hassle free to do and will give me that little bit of clearence I am after.

[Muzza]

Hi Jear Bear
I have done the 1" body lift with my auto and didn't have any real problems but you will still have to do all the normal 2" lift things like take off the bottom of the radiator shroud and make more room for your 4x4 shifter to move back. I cut a little piece out of the back of the tunnel and rubber gator retaining collar, then banged the back of the tunnel down a little. The rubber gator is retained and looks normal. Definately easier than the 2".
I am not a fan of bodylifts so I procrastinated for a long time before settling on the 1" lift as I had to make up my mind before doing any bar work.
With no lift and on 33" tyres there was only the very slightest bit of rub so I reasoned if I gave it a 1" body lift I could get 35" ones underneath ( 1" up-1" down) with the same amount of rub.
When I increase axle flex I will cut my guards back to give more room.
Raising the body makes it better for putting on "Sliders".
Will eventually go the 3" spring / 1" body lift with drop boxes.

Cheers

[coxsy]

found with my 3'' lift may need to make longer top rear radius rods as gearbox packers are not enought to aline the drive shaft again

[Muzza]

Yeah I know !
It's never ending.... $$$$$$$$$.....
Thats why I've still got the 2" springs.

[albundy]

found with my 3'' lift may need to make longer top rear radius rods as gearbox packers are not enought to aline the drive shaft again

I never had that problem, not the shift stick problem. If I did it all again I would do more suspension lift and leave the body alone. I have ripped out three body mounts in two and a half years and its only 40mm. Safari's don't like body lifts.
Al

[gards]

I have a 4inch lift and 40mm body lift, been running with the body lift in for a year and a half with no problems at all excapt the gear levers.

[jear bear]

Hey Muzza, thanks... good to know... I wasnt to keen on the body lift and have heard pros and cons from different people...most of them tho did 40-50mm lifts. Mine is also a auto and have found the drive-shaft to be longer than the manual. I put the spacers under the Box mount and this made 80% improvement but am going to do the radius arms to align things back up. There is a guy here who makes them..I think he said $160...but will have to confirm that but is spose to be making mine as we talk...he makes them a hell of a lot stronger than factory and has a jig made up so can do them spot on..let me know if you want his email Coxsy....thanks for all the advise tho...good to know what problems others have had before going into it.

[coxsy]

will what happens with it have some long road kms coming up I can make new arms just the cost of new bushes is the killer

[flyingbrick]

I did a 35mm body lift.

Had to modify my transfer case lever to get things to work. Tried trimming the tunnel but then the boot and its retaining ring didn't work... and it was ugly as sin.



Will be taking my body lift and lever out within the next month. Let me know via PM if you wish to purchase as a set.

-Nathan

[jear bear]

Yeah, the bushes are expensive.... specially the nissan 1's, and the nolathane are no good...but I have found some1 who is bringing in aftermarket 1's..and they are spose to be real good. not too sure of price...have been told $50.00, not sure if thats each or a pair.

Thanks Nathan, would have been interested but as my wife enjoys driving as well we had to have an auto. but my mate could be keen, will ask him fri nite and pm you

[flyingbrick]

Mines an auto too.

its the 4x4 selection lever thats the problem

[jear bear]

ohhh.oops diddnt think it lookeed like the auto shifter hehe, how much would you be wanting? did you have any probs with mounts?

[flyingbrick]

Sent you a PM.

no problems with mounts.

4 tips

-REMOVE THE GRILLE to access the front bolts. Its far easier than using like 3 extensions and a universal joint dangling down from the top like i did.

-Heat the rear 2 bolts (the nuts, actually) with a heat gun and they will undo nicely. that shits got some pretty extreme loctite on it.

- Remove the lower radiator shroud BEFORE you lift the body it unclips pretty easily.. Its asif nissan realised that people would be wanting to bodylift these things ahahaha.

[jear bear]

awesome mate..cheers...pm me when you got them out...am outta town for next week and a half and quite hard to get to internet and bank...but will be back after next weekend... I will be able to get to a public internet so can check messages.

[gary_in_nz]

i run the 50/50 lift. now relies that i should have gone all the suspension lift. the truck turns out to to look ugly as the bumpers and things done line up. it is relatively easy to do like mentioned before, just the radiator shroud and the gear levers and the loctite bolts at the back to do.

i guess if your hammering you truck around all the time it will eventually break body mounts just from the extra leverage put on them. for what a body lift is worth in dollars terms its definitely a very good bang for buck.

im gona save some $$ for a 4 or 5 inch lift and go that way and recommend doing that from the start and doing it properly with the longer arms and drop boxes.

another positive is that the body lift creates some very usefull room at the front to make up a winch mounting that doesnt stick out half as much as the factory setup.

i went with steel spacers as it was free to steel from work but some people run the umphee ones anyone know what they are like?? do they absorb any impact??

[DaveM]

found with my 3'' lift may need to make longer top rear radius rods as gearbox packers are not enought to aline the drive shaft again

If you lengthen the top trailing arms, your vibes will worsen. You need to lengthen lowers or shorten uppers, but you are much better off getting heavy duty lower arms around 16mm longer, as the originals are weak anyway

[flyingbrick]

I used Uhumpee for mine. Its the most dense plastic you can buy. Never heard a bad thing about it when used in this application.

Nylon is supposed to be softer and thats used without problem too.

I think the key is to use the largest diameter lift blocks you can get in there. Mine are 70mm IIRC. I've seen some store bought safari kits using really skinny shit which cant be good.

-Nathan

[gary_in_nz]

yeah i know what you mean about the shop bought ones. although in saying that i have seen pictures of a few of the aussie winch trucks with these skinny spacers in them and they deal to their trucks every weekend.

[albundy]

If you go on to Patrol forum you will find that most aussie winch challenge trucks do not have body lifts.

[jear bear]

hi, how does lengthening the top arms make the vibes worse??? wouldnt this bring the diff more into line with the box?, I know what you mean about lower arms being weak tho!!!... Interesting about all the pros and cons with body lift, I shouldnt have bumber problems as I have custom built bar on the back and bull bar on the front which will be relatively easy to change the mounts...basically just trying to get a little more height for a club truck so when i go into deep ruts I dont end up smashing the body. altho suspension lifts are the best way to go I was hoping that for just 1 inch it wouldnt impead the vehicle too much...we all know that any 4wd gets a good pounding every now and then and the mounts punching through the body is something I am concerned about... fingers crossed I guess

[DaveM]

You are not trying to get the diff in line. The vibrations are caused by having the gearbox and diff uni's at different angles, you need these to be as close to the same angle as possible, which would mean lengthening the lower arms, shortening the top.

[coxsy]

well with the g/box packers in mine are not inline an long bottom one up the angle back where it was with out the packers

[DaveM]

well with the g/box packers in mine are not inline an long bottom one up the angle back where it was with out the packers

Lowering the gearbox will give less angle at the g/box end, but usually the diff end needs more angle to match

[jear bear]

Hi Dave,its funny that you say that as i was told by another guy that lengthening the bottom was what you do...i just persumed he got it mixed up. mmmm interesting and thanks, I just want to totally rid the vehicle of the vibe...which is very minor now I have done the spacers. but still a slight grumble at 60kmh

[DaveM]

When I first lifted my Safari, I assumed what most people do, that the driveshaft was on too much of an angle, and I needed to tilt the diff so there was less angle. You get to the point with bigger lifts where this needs to be done, but then you need to run a DC joint at the gearbox end.