Do I NEED a body lift?

[Sausage]

Evening all

After a long post not so long ago about putting a body lift in my surf to fit some 33's i have another question.....

Got some new tyres and rims today 33x12.5x15 BF Goodrich Mud Terrains on 15x8 black 5 spoke steel rims so was planning on doing body lift tomorrow.....put wheels on truck and it looks like there is a lot of clearance everywhere.... I have already put bigger springs in the back and wound up torsion bars. So my qustion is do i need to do the body lift?????

If yes why? rub? where? etc

Any help would be great

Cheers

[Lynx]

No. I have 33x13.5.16 and the only rub on full lock.

[Sausage]

where do you rub? i know about the sway bar and idler arm but no rub on body? even under compression?

[Sausage]

so why do people do body lifts? if there is no rub (adjust bump stops) then it seems like a lot of hassle for no real gain eg same ground clearance but higher centre of gravity? .... Not a goood thing... just wondering

[J_Dub]

some lift enough to clear rubber and reduce rub, some think the higher the beter. each to their own realy, but yea only go as high as you need to clear ya rubber

[Sausage]

thats what im saying no body lift and it all seems to clear so why does everyone seem to do a 50mm lift to put 33's on a surf?

[J_Dub]

go for a good thrash before you say theres no rubbing at all, hard to get a good indication if your just flexing it in the driveway

[Sausage]

yeah good point might try head down the mak tomorrow and find some bits to get a bit of flex on lol

[chevrolux]

personally I found the worst rubbing happened on the back of the front guard. I was running a 50mm suspension lift with a 50mm body lift on 35s. realisticly, didnt need the body lift but they are so so easy to do. Only way i think to stop it rubbing where mine were is move the front axle forward

[LIFTED]

Maybe able to fit the wheels under but a body lift also gives you a beter approach and departure angle from the ground its only 50mm but sometimes this is all you need to clear someting,center of gravity? body lifts raise the center of gravity only slightly because most of the weight is engine gearbox chassis and mechanical components and your not lifting this? unless you take five fat mates 4wding with ya! but then guesing they probly would get out and watch if you had to tackly some big lean otherwise they would all get jammed up in the car.
If your hard core! Remove all the comfort items in the cab.
I would be more interested in asking the question on center of gravity to people that put stuff on the roof like 50kg carry box two 35'' wheels,high lift jack,four spot lights,spare 20l petrol,water bottle etc.

[Sausage]

yeah understand about the centre of gravity. and was thinking about the approach and departure angle last night might give it a week with the 33's take it for a play in the river today to see if there is any rubbing anywhere and see from there. Just seems alot of work if the only real gain (if there is no rub at full flex) will be a slightly better approach and departure angle, but see this as minimal as the front bumper is only an inch infront of the chassis and the tow bar mount around the back 'bar' wont be changing height

[muddyhilux]

so why do people do body lifts? if there is no rub (adjust bump stops) then it seems like a lot of hassle for no real gain eg same ground clearance but higher centre of gravity? .... Not a goood thing... just wondering

that right there is your answer,y would you go and put bigger tyres on a vechile to make it more capable off road then proceed to limit the articulation of the vechile,its like 1 step forward 3 back that is y if you want to put 33s on a surf,the easyist way to get minimal rubbing is to do a 2" body lift,is cheap in reality (remember if youve put 33s on they require a cert just as much as the bodylift will),keeps centre of gravity down and is easy as hell

[Sadam_Husain]

it can depend vehicle to vehicle, not all tyres are the same diametrer/width and not all suspension is the same hight flex and not all drivings styles are the same and acceptable levels of rub can vary from person to person

[Sausage]

i see what you mean about the articulation but it seems that it is the bump stops preventing suspension travel not the body so with the body lift i would not gain any articulation unless i start modifying other bits... have all the bits in the shed for the body lift and was planning on doing it today but put tyres on first and all seems ok but will take for a bash down the mak this arvo see what happens

[Sausage]

and i mean the steering (full lock) bump stops adjust not the sus travel up and down will do this to stop rub at full lock on idler arm and sway bar so yeah not effecting the sus travel up and down as far is i can tell, please correct me if im wrong

[niblik]

change offset of rims to create clearance for the idler arms and bits..

[muddyhilux]

ok,simple mis understanding,yes i have known people to adjust steering stops,myself included,i have just done this on my brother n laws truck as a temporary measure,we did a body lift aswell but the 35s still caught the chasis,like youve said we slightly adjust the steering and it now only slightly rubs,as said though this is only temporarty as itll be getting a sas soon but if it works and your happy with it i supose just run with it,im still confident youll get alot of rubbing once you head off road

[Sausage]

took it for a spin out the mak this arvo.... a very very little bit of rub under full hard compression bounching all over the show!! the back of the front guards and the same in the back but we are talking a tiny amount, note i only have 33's not 35's. But so far happy will drive it for the week and hopefuly get out the river next weekend to give it another test and see then. Still have all the body lift bolts and blocks if needed.

[UBZ]

your running the same tyres that i am . 33x12.5 bfg's

How much are your torsions wound up? Have much down travel do you have?

First i fitted a 2inch body lift, 3 inch suspension , only rubbed very occasionally on drivers side back of guard under hard compression at full lock. ie dropping into a hole drivers side.

Was stiff as hell and had virtually no down travel in the front and always lifted a front wheel, blew 3 Cv's with this setup.

Then dropped suspension lift to 2inch , wound down torsions a little , had to take a BFH to rear of guard to stop rub at full lock / compression on both sides.
Suspension worked a bit better like this and only did 1 CV. rear suspension working alot better.

Know i have dropped suspension to 1inch lift. front torsions are set so bottom A-arms are flat. Tyre clearance only by body lift.
had to hammer guards some more to stop rub.
suspension works best it ever has. not stiff off road. rear is not trying to do all the work.

As for adjusting bump stops in the front , IFS surfs only have about 100mm of travel in the front total. IMO i wouldn't be reducing the limited amount of travel more by lowering the top bumpstops.

If i was going to do it again i would just cut the offending firewall away and weld in some new plate , clearance issues sorted with no body lift.

body lift also lifts the radiator , lifting the bottom tank out of the way and protecting it behind the cross-member at he front.

body lift lets you work on and clean stuff so much easier as well.