Got A Raise

[stevetubbyturbo]

Yesterday i finally got round to doing one of the jobs on the ive been meaning to to for ages and for about 3 months ive been researching and gathering parts to do it.

So i given the Surf a 50mm body lift

To do it basicly i had to seperate the boby from the chassis and then put in 50mm hard plastic blocks heres some pics

Before lift

After lift

[Rookey]

Steve,

That looks great!

Tell me something, I have been looking into lifting an 88 hilux (when I get one!!!)

What is the difference between body lifting and raising the obvious suspension etc ..

I know the 88 hilux's have all round leafs, but I keep seeing the bodylift mentioned!

Sorry to change the subject :)

But rest assured! it looks wicked!

[Fidgits]

nice :D

[stevetubbyturbo]

Steve,

That looks great!

Tell me something, I have been looking into lifting an 88 hilux (when I get one!!!)

What is the difference between body lifting and raising the obvious suspension etc ..

I know the 88 hilux's have all round leafs, but I keep seeing the bodylift mentioned!

Sorry to change the subject :)

But rest assured! it looks wicked!

←

here is a techsite on how to body lift

http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/bodylift.htm

a body lift can be a very big job as ive been preparing it for the last 3 months as you cant just lift the body and be done with it you have to

1 drop the rad

2 make brackets for the bumper

3 alter the body around the transer box gear stick

4 sometimes extend the fuel filler (i didnt have to)

5 if its a manual extend the gear stick (didnt have to mines a auto)

6 get longer bolts to hold the body

The good thing about it is mine cost about £10 for the extend bolts as i managed to get the blocks free as i work for a large college a company gave me some hard plastic bar free and i just machined it on a lathe.

A suspention lift is different all togher you will need a suspension lift kit which come with

Extended leave springs or coil springs

Longer shocks

longer flexi brake hoses

uprated torsion bars

new bump stops

and cost about £450 for a 2" lift (which im thinking ove doing) or £950 for a 4" lift

but if your at the JAE come see me i'll happily talk you through what you will have to do.

[knightrider]

and a 2" lift aswell would look crazy!

love it!

[earpl]

great stuff.

its gripped...... its sorted....... lets go........ OFF ROAD!

[stevetubbyturbo]

Still toying with the idea of taking it up another 2" as i not sure if it would'nt look right as i think it would need bigger rubber and then im looking at £££ and ive still got my other mods to fit, just hopeing i get it all done for JAE

[Rookey]

here is a techsite on how to body lift

http://www.toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/bodylift.htm

a body lift can be a very big job as ive been preparing it for the last 3 months as you cant just lift the body and be done with it you have to

1 drop the rad

2 make brackets for the bumper

3 alter the body around the transer box gear stick

4 sometimes extend the fuel filler (i didnt have to)

5 if its a manual extend the gear stick (didnt have to mines a auto)

6 get longer bolts to hold the body

The good thing about it is mine cost about £10 for the extend bolts as i managed to get the blocks free as i work for a large college a company gave me some hard plastic bar free and i just machined it on a lathe.

A suspention lift is different all togher you will need a suspension lift kit which come with

Extended leave springs or coil springs

Longer shocks

longer flexi brake hoses

uprated torsion bars

new bump stops

and cost about £450 for a 2" lift (which im thinking ove doing) or £950 for a 4" lift

but if your at the JAE come see me i'll happily talk you through what you will have to do.

←

Cheers for the info Steve :)

I'll definately be popping over for a chat at JAE..

I've been speaking to the guys at supertrux about a 10" lift which will be about £1400 all in all .. but I was really just curious as to what difference it makes between going for the suspension lift or body lift, is there any off roading benefit?

I have a nice 2JZ engine to go in too :P courtesy of leeky ..

[stevetubbyturbo]

.

←

Cheers for the info Steve :)

I'll definately be popping over for a chat at JAE..

I've been speaking to the guys at supertrux about a 10" lift which will be about £1400 all in all .. but I was really just curious as to what difference it makes between going for the suspension lift or body lift, is there any off roading benefit?

I have a nice 2JZ engine to go in too :P courtesy of leeky ..

←

If your really going for a high lift like 10" then you want a suspension lift as a body lift will only give you 2" maybe 3" max as for the off roading benifits a body lift helps with your departure angle so every time you climb you dont rip off your rear fog light and bumper.

I wish i had the money to do a 10" lift but i think realisticly id be looking at £3000 to do mine after the kit, wheels and tyres so im going to stick with my body lift for the time being as i also use the car every day.

But when you get yours done how do feel about meeting up and going off road?

[Rookey]

.

←

Cheers for the info Steve :)

I'll definately be popping over for a chat at JAE..

I've been speaking to the guys at supertrux about a 10" lift which will be about £1400 all in all .. but I was really just curious as to what difference it makes between going for the suspension lift or body lift, is there any off roading benefit?

I have a nice 2JZ engine to go in too :P courtesy of leeky ..

←

If your really going for a high lift like 10" then you want a suspension lift as a body lift will only give you 2" maybe 3" max as for the off roading benifits a body lift helps with your departure angle so every time you climb you dont rip off your rear fog light and bumper.

I wish i had the money to do a 10" lift but i think realisticly id be looking at £3000 to do mine after the kit, wheels and tyres so im going to stick with my body lift for the time being as i also use the car every day.

But when you get yours done how do feel about meeting up and going off road?

←

Would be good, it's going to be a while yet though.

We are getting everything drawn up for it, and looking into the whole expenses as I want to have it finished before I take it off-roading or to shows ..

Off roading scares the cr*p outta me :P you feel like the car is going to topple over at any moment!hehe great fun :P

[stevetubbyturbo]

Ok mate

Im off roading this weekend with the Peterborough 4x4 club i'll be the only Toyota there but i intend to have a great time and get the car covered i'll probably post some pics up.

But come for at a chat at the JAE as i'll more than likely have some more mods on there you might be intrested in doing:thumbsup:

[Rookey]

Ok mate

Im off roading this weekend with the Peterborough 4x4 club i'll be the only Toyota there but i intend to have a great time and get the car covered i'll probably post some pics up.

But come for at a chat at the JAE as i'll more than likely have some more mods on there you might be intrested in doing:thumbsup:

←

Brilliant,

Will do :)

[knightrider]

could you raise a RAV4?

permanent 4wd, 3s-ge engine, hmmmm now theres an idea,

[Rookey]

could you raise a RAV4?

permanent 4wd, 3s-ge engine, hmmmm now theres an idea,

←

There are plenty of kits out there for a rav4 :P

Would be pretty fun!

Have to do the gte swap though ;)

[knightrider]

could you raise a RAV4?

permanent 4wd, 3s-ge engine, hmmmm now theres an idea,

←

There are plenty of kits out there for a rav4 :P

Would be pretty fun!

Have to do the gte swap though ;)

←

hell yeah, sister has one and its being left with me come september :P

[scionic]

Steve,

That looks great!

Tell me something, I have been looking into lifting an 88 hilux (when I get one!!!)

What is the difference between body lifting and raising the obvious suspension etc ..

I know the 88 hilux's have all round leafs, but I keep seeing the bodylift mentioned!

Sorry to change the subject :)

But rest assured! it looks wicked!

←

A suspension lift gives you more wheel travel and suspension flexibilty in addition to better angle of approach and departure.

A body lift is more for appearances or for clearing larger tires, though it does improve angle of approach/departure.

Neither actually improves ground clearance, only larger tires can do that.

If you have leaf springs all around a suspension lift is easy and cheap to do. If the leafs are mounted on top of the axle, you could simply add leaves. If they are mounted underneath (like my old Land Cruiser) then you could have them adapted and remounted on top of the axle. That would give you about 4" of lift.

[Fidgits]

Steve,

That looks great!

Tell me something, I have been looking into lifting an 88 hilux (when I get one!!!)

What is the difference between body lifting and raising the obvious suspension etc ..

I know the 88 hilux's have all round leafs, but I keep seeing the bodylift mentioned!

Sorry to change the subject :)

But rest assured! it looks wicked!

←

A suspension lift gives you more wheel travel and suspension flexibilty in addition to better angle of approach and departure.

A body lift is more for appearances or for clearing larger tires, though it does improve angle of approach/departure.

Neither actually improves ground clearance, only larger tires can do that.

←

Eh?

The body is further from the floor... how is that not improving ground clearance?

next you'll be saying lowering springs dont make a car any lower???

[scionic]

Eh?

The body is further from the floor... how is that not improving ground clearance?

←

The lowest point is the differential/axle, between the wheels. Lifting the body has no effect on the axles which are what you have to straddle and get up and over things. A body lift will do only a little for off-road performance on its own. Larger tires are the only thing that get the axles higher off the ground. Every 1" of tire height gains you an extra 0.5" of actual ground clearance.

[Fidgits]

Eh?

The body is further from the floor... how is that not improving ground clearance?

←

The lowest point is the differential/axle, between the wheels. Lifting the body has no effect on the axles which are what you have to straddle and get up and over things. A body lift will do only a little for off-road performance on its own. Larger tires are the only thing that get the axles higher off the ground. Every 1" of tire height gains you an extra 0.5" of actual ground clearance.

←

I disagree..

From my understanding - ground clearance is the distance from the body to the ground. As shown:

The axle is articulated and is sprung - so while yes, in some conditions will get trapped, and may be a factor, it isnt what i would refer to as ground clearance..

[scionic]

The lowest point on the vehicle is the center of the axle. Anyone who knows about off-road knows that the single best way to increase ground clearance is to get the entire vehicle up, not just the bumpers.

The ground clearance is measured from the lowest point (at least by honest manufacturers selling genuine 4x4's) and that includes Toyota, and they measure from the axle center.

I've driven off-road for years and I don't mean farting around on the beach or whatever passes for off-roading in the UK. Once again, I speak from experience.

[Fidgits]

as an example - speed humps.

You need a certain ground clearance to get over them - the axle is never going to hit is - as it is directly connected to the wheels, so it is always the same distance from the hump.

Whereas, the body can strike the hump if it does not have enough ground clearance.

[scionic]

I understand what you're saying and if you use your 4x4 for driving over speed bumps then that is perfectly logical.

However in real off-roading, straddling rocks and crossing fallen logs one wheel at a time is required.

Now envision that for a moment and my point should be clear to you.

[Fidgits]

ref my picture:

And lets be honest for a minute - for a vast majority of SUV/off roaders in both our countries, speed bumps are the closest they get to 'off road'...

[scionic]

Your picture represents one of a trillion possible scenarios and even then only applies to a solid axle vehicle like the Wrangler. That isn't straddling a rock, BTW, if that's what you're after.

Straddling a rock is driving OVER a rock with a wheel on either side when there's no way round it.

You're right though, that most people with 4x4's never go off road in any real sense so it's a moot point for them. In that case though, they should skip the lifts because all they are doing in essence is raising the center of gravity and making the vehicle less safe to drive on the road.

Raising the center of gravity doesn't help off-road either. That's why every inch needs to count. You make it count by starting with tires and resort to a suspension lift when you need to, to increase travel and/or make room for larger tires.

[stevetubbyturbo]

I can clearly understand what scionic is saying and yes hes right that the axle is the lowest point but most of the time when off roading you walk the area first to make sure you can get over it a general rule of thumb is "if you cant walk it you cant get over it".

The idea of the Body lift which i have done is to get a better departure angle which is where starting a climb the front wheels go up and the rear wheels are still on the level but the back end is getting closer to the ground and sometimes the bumper hits but by rasieing the body you get that extra 50mm of clearance