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Whats wrong with a suspension lift and a BL together?

I put a 3" body on my blazerand it comes in rel handy. Especially when getting to the gas lines on the tank. My brother also has one on his '92 Chevy and when we changed the fuel pump it woulda been a b!tch to change otherwise. all in alll i'll take my BL over not having one. 3" IS a little much. I'd have been happy with a 1" though.
 
i'd do 1" if i needed to, but no more. i just don't see as much benefit from them as from suspension lift.
 
A body lift aint bad but the higher you go, the more unsafe it gets. I personaly dont like them, because I dont like to see the frame or a gap between frame and body. If I every had to do one it would only be an 1inch.
The reason I posted this was becuase there are idoits that think they are 100% safe and are better than a suspention lift.
I see no problem running a body lift for floor clearence or other mod on the drivetrain that needs more room. Or for a daily driver or show truck.
 
They're safer than blocks in the front... I don't know why they would say it's better though. Unless they're referring to the extra flex they get from old, tired springs...
 
right you are!! I have seen it though. I've also seen shackles on the front and rear of the front and rear springs. Tell me that's safe...
 
Unless I'm reading the thread on FSC wrong, most of the guys discussing BL's have IFS trucks. I can see where they would be fans of BL's because the cost to lift an IFS is high.
 
Cost may be high, but that doesn't make a bl better. just cheaper. The cheapest (good) bl you could ever get is a handful of hockey pucks and some grade 8 bolts.

I vote that if going suspension on IFS is too expensive, however understandable, then a SFA swap is in order. I think it's cheaper to go four link coiled than some of the high end IFS lifts.
 
Everybody kept on pointing out about how a BL raised your center of gravity where a suspension lift did not. I was reading that at work and just wanted to start yelling at the computer. :yikes:
 
Another thought came to mind as well. These are IFS trucks. That translates into CV shafts. CV shafts in GM IFS don't like flex. Well, none of them do, but you can buy aftermarket shafts that are designed to allow more travel. Limiting suspension travel by going with a couple of inches of body lift on a rig that is only seeing mud actually makes sense to me. It's cost effective, and produces the desired results. Anybody that does much rocks with their rig swaps to SFA anyway, and they enjoy flex so they go suspension lift. By 'much rocks' I mean hard core rocks, not bopping through farmer Dans field every weekend. Bopping through fields I prefer IFS just because you can go 50 mph through a field and not spill your beer.
 
It completely depends on what you are trying to achieve, and also what type of truck you have.

If you simply want to fit bigger tires so it looks cool at the mall, then a BL is for you. You don't mess up any of the factory suspension or steering design. Also, a BL does not raise the CG AS MUCH as the same height suspension. The heavy engine, trans, t-case, and frame all stay at the same height relative to the ground.

Also on an IFS truck, most suspension lifts really don't change the way the suspension works. They just lower the mounting points of the stock suspension, where as on a leaf spring/SFA setup you have the opportunity to change the actual springs and possible increase flex and ride quality.

The biggest benefit a suspension lift has in regards to off-road is that it creates additional clearance under the entire vehicle with the exception of the axles....approach, departure, break over angle are all better...BL does not really help this.
 
right you are!! I have seen it though. I've also seen shackles on the front and rear of the front and rear springs. Tell me that's safe...
Click to expand...

shackles at all 4 mounting points? that's a really complicated way to commit suicide. ha. that would flop all over the place.

i'll admit that there are a FEW advantages to a body lift over suspension. they don't raise COG as much as a comparable susp lift, since the frame, engine, tranny, etc. stay low. and, again, because the stuff stays put, driveline angles and brake lines are not affected. still not a better setup, IMO.

maybe i skimmed the posts too fast, but i didn't see this mentioned; BLs often require changes in wiring, linkages and steering shafts.

i'm not sure where some of these guys are getting the guys on there are getting their prices. you can get a 2 or 3" body lift for a GMT400 (88-98) for under 90 bucks.
 
yes, shackles all around. He wanted 6" lift but was cheap. Hasn't totaled it yet and it's been a couple of years. Magic.

I'm not sure why one of the guys said hockey pucks was a crap bl. They're polyurethane, just like store bought. It only gives you and inch, but it's a cheap inch.
 
i meant 8 mounting points, not 4. :doah:

i've seen "body lifts" done with stacked washers. noisy, unstable and just plain dumb. only problem i see with hockey pucks is that they aren't designed to be stress in that way. first, you're removing material from them, then, applying constant pressure instead of the intermittant shockloading they usually get, in a direction that they weren't meant to handle it. probably works ok, but i'm just pointing out some potential problems with it.
 
I know. Just seeing if you were gonna catch on. Yeah, all 8. Still not sure how he kept from killing himself in a corner.
 
shackles all around can work if you locate the axle some other way such as a control arm. i have seen a 4 link using leafs with shackles all around.
 
Not how he did it, but I can see it working just fine like you described. But, if you're going to go through the trouble of making a four link, why stick with leafs?
 
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