Body Lift

Body Mount and Body Lift

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I have never been a big fan of body lifts.  Generally, they just look goofy when they get too tall.  Most folks in the know do not recommend anything more than a one-inch body lift, if one is needed.   But body lifts can be helpful at times and can be a good cure for common problems.   This project involves the installation of replacement body mounts from Daystar that include a built-in one-inch body lift.

  For my Jeep, the stock body mounts were in pretty bad shape.  Many of the mounts were rotted considerably, resulting in basically a metal on metal ride!   My 33" tires were also rubbing the rear fender flares at times when off-road.   Both problems here were solved with this one kit from Daystar.  The kit includes all of the new mounts and new Grade 5 hardware to make the project fairly simple and complete.

How to...

The installation is fairly straight forward.  If you're considering a body lift and are not sure what all may be involved, follow along and watch a Jeep get one more inch higher off the ground!

	Steps 1-7  Before you begin your project, get yourself some penetrating oil and apply it to all the bolts on your existing body mounts (there are 11 mounts in all).  PB B'laster is really good stuff for this!   Let the oil penetrate and then reapply.  You may want to begin this process several days in advance of your actual body lift installation project.  (If you live back in the rust belt, or the Midwest, repeat steps 3, 5, 6, and 7 twice!)
	Step 8  When you're ready to begin, go around to all the bolts on the body mounts and see if you can break them loose.  If you cannot get any loose, make sure you tighten all the ones you did loosen back up before you drive the Jeep again.  Apply more penetrating oil to the stubborn ones.  If you break a bolt, you will have to result to a drill and an E-Z Out! Assuming you can get them all loose, loosen the bolts all the way around (about half way) but DO NOT REMOVE the bolts at this time!
	Step 9  Before you LIFT your Jeep (two more steps) make sure you remove your radiator shroud from the radiator.  Start by removing the two bolts from one side, then pull back the plastic shroud and reinsert one of the bolts back (in front of the shroud) to hold the radiator up.  On the other side, remove one bolt, and loosen the other.  By doing only this, you will have two bolts holding the radiator (one on each side) and only one (loose bolt) holding the shroud - letting it move up and down.
	Step 10  STARTING FROM THE DRIVER'S SIDE, begin removing all the bolts holding the mounts on this side of the tub.  You can also remove the front (center) mount bolt.  Not counting the front-center mount, there are five mounts on each side of the tub.  AGAIN, DO NOT REMOVE THE BOLTS ON THE OTHER SIDE (you'll need those bolts to hold the body in place when you lift the other side)!
	Step 11  (Because there's always a fun one!)  The fifth row of mounts are located (if you have the stock 20-gallon tank) in the front corners of the gas tank, inside the frame rails.  These are difficult to spot and will be the hardest mounts to access!  The tail pipe will be in the way for starters.  Also, associated with these mounts (both sides) is a metal bracket (about a foot long) that attaches from the base of the mount back towards the bottom of the tub.   You can see one in this photo.  You will have to loosen this part to remove the mounts.  On the passenger side, the fuel lines (between the tank and the gas filler) will be in the way BEFORE the body is lifted, that's why you should start on the driver's side.
	Step 12  Once the bolts on the one side are removed, you are ready to lift the body!  Since I have the Sun Performance Rocker Panel Guards, I was able to lift the whole side of the tub using a Hi-Lift jack directly on the guards.  If you don't have a good rocker panel guard, use a length of 2x4 to help disperse the pressure of the jack.  Only lift the body as high as you'll need to in order to extract the old mount and fit the taller new mount.   You'll also hear some odd sounds (creaking) as the body (and everything attached to it) torques with the shift - this is normal.
	Step 13  Once the body is lifted, remove the old mount and immediately insert the new mount.  Then move on to the next one.   Be careful when you have your fingers/hand between the tub and the frame, just incase the jack slips!  If you can (if the body is not too high above the mount) install the new bolts and washer.  If there were shims (washers) on top of the old mounts, replace them with new ones.
Step 14	When all the new mounts are installed on the side, lower the body down onto the mounts and insert the new bolts, if you were unable to do so in the last step.  Do not fully tighten these bolts on this side just yet.
Step 15	Now remove the bolts on the other side of the body and repeat Steps 11 through 14 for the passenger side.  As noted above in Step 11, with the body now lifted (thanks to the new mounts) on the driver's side and with the passenger side lifted by the jack, the fuel hoses will be far enough above that metal bracket and will allow you room to loosen the bolts holding that bracket.
Things to look out for...
	Tip 1:  You most likely will have to lower the radiator fan shroud.  The radiator (since it is mounted to the body at the grill) should be okay where it is after the lift.  The fan shroud, though, if mounted with the radiator in the higher location may contact the fan.  This is why we removed it in Step 9.  I needed to LOWER the shroud and did so by just drilling four new holes in the plastic shroud about an inch ABOVE the existing holes.
	Tip 2: Make sure you check the shifter in relation to the hole through the floor of the tub! In my case, I had a transfer case lowering kit installed with my Rubicon Express 4.5" Extreme Duty lift kit and that lowered the shifters by one inch BEFORE this project.   Adding the one inch body lift, and my shifters were now two inches lower in relation to the floor.  This caused my shifters to not be able to move to the 2nd and Reverse.  I trimmed the floor panel back to allow the shifter to move.   Ultimately, I just removed the transfer case lowering kit, and that brought the shifters back up to the pre-body lift condition.  Note: The one inch body lift alone should not cause too many problems with the shifters.
	Tip 3: If you have a rack that attaches to your tire carrier (which is attached to the body) AND the rear bumper or the frame, keep in mind you'll need to consider there will be a change in relation between the body and the frame!