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Bodyyy Lift

k5freak44

k5freak44

1/2 ton status
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Hey guys i recently got a 3in body lift for the 91 k5 blazer. The instructions were pretty straight foward. Losen the bolts. Take off one side and jack up one side, blah blah blah blah blah.....

What are some major snags yall ran into.

I can keep the gastank on right? What all should i remove before doing this?

My major question is, are the rear bolts welded to the floor? Or is it just a matter of lifting up the carpet, taking the nut off and then sliding out the old bolt and in with the new bolt?

Thanks. I need as much input as possible!
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What are some major snags yall ran into.
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I did a ORD 1" body lift years ago. Two things I always recommend... and if you do a forum search you'll prolly see me recommending them a hundred times... is to disconnect your tranny linkage and your steering shaft before you start messing with the body mount bolts. Always a good idea and not always mentioned in the instructions for these things. It'd also be a good idea to soak the be-jebers out of the bolts the night before with some wd40 or liquid wrench or something similar. Last thing ya need is to bust the head off a rusty bolt.

I can keep the gastank on right?
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it's easiest with the tank out, but when I did it I just dropped the tank down about a foot (sorta left it hangin by its filler hose, though it was supported some).

My major question is, are the rear bolts welded to the floor?
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if they are, the factory didn't do it.

Or is it just a matter of lifting up the carpet, taking the nut off and then sliding out the old bolt and in with the new bolt?
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not sure what you're working on, but on my 85 the bolt heads stick out of the bed, not the nuts.... and yeah, ditch that crappy carpet.

j
 
you wil have to drill out the plastic stops in the steering shaft so the shaft can extend, you wil also have to weld a extension to the tranny linkage which should come with the kit, pretty much just go around the body and make sure things have enough slack to move (exhaust, wires, etc.)
as for the rear bolts mine are tack welded to the floor, have fun and dont forget to cut your fan shroud :xmas:
 
The factory bolts in the back are tack welded to the floor. If you have bad luck like me, and rust... the bolt head will break away from the weld/floor and spin in the hole, then you have to cut the bolt out...
Good luck
 
85mudblazin said:
you wil have to drill out the plastic stops in the steering shaft so the shaft can extend, you wil also have to weld a extension to the tranny linkage which should come with the kit, pretty much just go around the body and make sure things have enough slack to move (exhaust, wires, etc.)
as for the rear bolts mine are tack welded to the floor, have fun and dont forget to cut your fan shroud :xmas:
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Exhaust is attached to the frame so he won't have to worry about that, good point on the wires though, never thought of that.
 
you will have to modify your fan shroud

watch your battery cable lengths

look at the condition of your body bushings, and you will probably replace them at the same time.

buy a container of anti-seeze, and apply it to every bolt you remove.
 
my rear bolts were tacked to the floor. watch out for the fuel hoses vent and filler i didnt drop my tank i had plenty of room but the filler hose and vent hose were to short all i did is replace them with longer probably needed to anyways since the truck is almost 30 yrs old
 
Things I encountered while installing a 3" body on my '85...

1. The rear most bolts are not welded to the body, they are simply a carriage bolt that sit in a square cut hole in the body. I stripped the square sheetmetal letting the carriage bolt spin inside the floor and I had a very hard time getting to the nuts inside the frame. I called Performance Accessories and they said I only needed to drop the tow hitch, not the fuel tank. They were right and I could just barely get to the rear nuts with the tow hitch out of the way. I wound up grinding the head of the carriage bolts off inside the cab letting the bolts drop to the floor. THe two last bolts were by far the most PITA part of the whole install.

2. Fan shroud, it has to be cut to clear the fan after the lift and if you have a weak cooling system the cutting of the shroud opens a whole new fun door. :rolleyes:

3. Jacking up one side of the body was scary. You have to go higher than just 3" off the frame to get the pucks in because of the angle it sits at. I was getting very nervous the higher we went. If I had to do it over again I would have jacked up both sides together evenly.

4. You have to remove the plastic out of the steering shaft so it will slide. There are two ways to do this....the slow and boring way which is to drill out the plastic....and the fun way, melt it out with a torch. :)

5. Auto tranny linkage. You have to weld on a 3" piece of round stock to the stock shifter rod that is supplied in the kit. If you don't have a welder, you will have a problem. ;)

6. This is a cosmetic thing. The bumpers will look goofy because they will obviously sit three inches lower than the body. I couldn't stand it after about one month and broke out the torch, grinder, and welder and lifted the front and rear frame horns three inches to match the body, looks stock again. :cool:
 
hhmmmm wonder why some bolts are tacked and some arnt, cant be years, mine is a 85 also and they are tacked, must just be a lazy manufacturer thing :D
 
Thanks alot guys! Im going to be doing this at school in my auto body class so i will have prettymuch anything and everything to do it. I have started spraying a couple of the bolts down with this stuff autozone gave me and i have tried at 2 of them and i got them loose in less then 2 minutes. Yea i was planning on replacing the bushings because i know how much of a pita this was going to be.

rjfguitar - thanks alot for the info. My bolt is (im pretty sure) welded to the body. The fan shroud is no biggie. I have never had a overheating problem, and my engine has never stalled out. Jacking the body up shouldent be that big of an ordeal because we have one of those big azz hydrolic lifts that will lift the whole thing up all at once in no time. Yep the kit came with the auto linkage.
I have a welder, grinder, saw. i do plan to fab some bumperthings. Thanks AGAIN!

Jimmy76- Yep mine are, ill wath my hoze too. I checked it today and it looks like it will be ok.

GMCLegacy- Bushings im pretty sure i will replace. Thanks

85mudblazin- Yea i checked my exhause that that ****tard who i let do it DIDNT mount them to the body. That dosent correct the fact that he ran them 1/2 in under my springs in the rear. :crazy: Thanks

84gmcjimmy- floors are rust free in the back. Its almost like some one replaced them because they are clean painted and all very pretty. About the luck, im guna need some. Thx

jekbrown- Thanks man, that linkage will all be off before the body goes up. :grin:


THANKS EVERYONE. I was bombarded with helpful info on this one.
If i have all airtools a big hydrolic lift and all the bolts taken out cleaned and put back in before i go to school, how long do u think this will take to put on?

Best place to find body mounts?

Thanks again
 
well if you have a hydrolic lift that just makes it easier, we did a BL on my dad's tahoe at his work where he has one, just take out all the bolts and use the lift to raise the whole body at the same time, run around adding all the pucks, drop it back down and your done. :xmas:
 
ORD sells body mounts. If you unlucky like me again, the body mounts will be rotted, and STUCK to the frame... bring out the torch :grind:
Exhuast doesn't attach to the body, it attaches to the frame by metal hangers.
 
hey i finally painted my blazer and now that im getting it all back togeather, i need to do something to raise my bumpers.

can u do someitng in ms paint or snap some pics if you can find some time because im not sure where to start.

thanks
jon
 
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