ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: Tripwired on April 21, 2009, 11:49:49 AM
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I started out wanting to just do a suspension lift of 2 inches on a 2000 4 door tracker. Now I'm thinking while I'm tearing down and modifing the suspension might as well go ahead put a 2 inch body lift on. Just wanting to listen to ya'lls general opinion on the pros and cons of a body lift. As it stands Im just planning on going with 29 or 30 inch tires. Itll be drove on hwy good bit (specially when hunting season hits again), and I dont wanna go with to big and heavy a tire and strain drivetrain trying to do hwy speeds.
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Pro's
-cheap
-relatively easy to install, it's still alot of work though
-makes it way easier to remove your transfer case
Cons
-body lift itself doesn't gain you any ground clearance
-raises center of gravity, especially if you carry lots of passengers or gear, ESP in the roof rack
-ugly
If you just want to run 29" tires I would just go with a 2" spacer lift from Jeff. If you want 31's get suspension lift AND body lift, and regear the diffs at the same time so you don't lose any performance.
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I"ve ordered Jeff's lift set woot woot. Just going over pics of ones without bl and ones with, idk they already have a pretty good rollover rate, so raising the cg not a great idea. 3" suspension lift would be sweet but i dont wanna drop my front dif, whats the point in lifting if u have to lower parts on ur drivetrain. I'm with u on the way they look off a bl gap tween frame and body I never liked to much. Get this suspension lift done and see where she sits then. Find someone to manufacture me a front bumper. U'd think as popular as the things are worldwide be a bit more options for em. Fender flares even a pain to find.
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Pro's
-cheap
-relatively easy to install, it's still alot of work though
-makes it way easier to remove your transfer case
Cons
-body lift itself doesn't gain you any ground clearance (yes it does, your rocker panels are lower than the frame stock so with a bodylift, you gain clearance)
-raises center of gravity, especially if you carry lots of passengers or gear, ESP in the roof rack (yes and no, if you just raise the body, you leave the running gear just as low as it was stock, than its not as top heavy as if you had raised up the entire truck with a susp lift)
-ugly (if you do it right by relocating the bumper brackets, than it doesn't look really much different than stock)
;)
If you just want to run 29" tires I would just go with a 2" spacer lift from Jeff. If you want 31's get suspension lift AND body lift, and regear the diffs at the same time so you don't lose any performance.
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you wanna do all this for hunting....... ???
I hunt and I have not even touched anything in the tires and body/suspension height department....
and I have lots to deal with in just getting to the camp.....45 degree hill covered in snow and ice (never plowed) slush mud all on stock and I have never gotten stuck 2 feet of snow.......you name it.....its really not a vehicle you take into the bush to pull out a deer......you use an atv for that.....thus the reason I have a hitch/trailer/atv for mine...atv pulls out the deer.....deer goes into trailer....tracker take deer to camp
sounds to me like you wanna look cool doing it :P
I am all CON for the body lift idea..... like olija mentioned
no more ground clearance
lots of work......I am sure you have to change some other parts $$$$$$
for what you wanna use it for.....aint worth it...
if you wanna plow through 3 feet(or more) of mudd like some of the guys on this board do lifting your vehicle is a +
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It's not all for hunting, I do some trail riding on the weekends with friends. When deer hunting I use my Polaris to pull the deer to the truck when I hunt club land, most time I old school and just drag em out of the woods by hands(WMA doesn't allow atvs), But the Smokey's has some old logging trails that are miles into the mtns. If I was doing it to look cool Ida kept my 2door Tahoe and lifted it, and put some Dana gear on it.I admit yes I do want it to look good not akward or tacky.I want both fair looks and best perfomance.
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pro's since installing my body lift.. less damage to the rockers, keeps to body out of water/mud more, center of gravity is less elevated than with a suspension lift. body lift and get some big heavy swampers to keep it on the ground!
con's since installing my body lift.. none, the install itself cost a few bucks cause i got no f'in garage or 2nd set of wheels..
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so with a 2 inch body lift there is no need for longer cables of any kind..??? fuel lines what have you...just lift and your ok?......what COULD go wrong
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i have a 3inch one on mine, i had to "relocate" the 2 front brake lines, but it wasn't that big of a deal
i didn't have to replace anything when i did mine, and a 3inch is rather large for the later body style trucks, a 2 inch works just fine and does not effect anything
hell, on my first g/v i took the bottom body mount rubber and put it under the upper one, and i gave me 1 3/4 of body lift for free using stock parts......lol
-Lance
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. 3" suspension lift would be sweet but i dont wanna drop my front dif, whats the point in lifting if u have to lower parts on ur drivetrain.
Why would that turn you away? Solid axle lifts move everything down. The purpose of lifting is to get bigger tires, no matter how you lift it, it's the tires that make the difference when you get down to it.
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. 3" suspension lift would be sweet but i dont wanna drop my front dif, whats the point in lifting if u have to lower parts on ur drivetrain.
Why would that turn you away? Solid axle lifts move everything down. The purpose of lifting is to get bigger tires, no matter how you lift it, it's the tires that make the difference when you get down to it.
And remember your rear diff is still the lowest point of your suspension no matter what suspension lift you get.
I have a body lift on my XL7 running 31"s, I like it becuase my ride characteristics didn't change as they do with a suspension lift.
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if i recall the brake lines had to be relocated, but not extended, basically just disconnected from the factory mounting points.. what could go wrong; all kinds of shit could go wrong, but not likely!
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I plan on using 3" rubber base board ( available at any hardware building store) & screw it to the bottom of the body to hide the space created by body lifting . Surprised that noone else has thought of doing this ! Just a thought.
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I plan on using 3" rubber base board ( available at any hardware building store) & screw it to the bottom of the body to hide the space created by body lifting . Surprised that noone else has thought of doing this ! Just a thought.
Sounds heavy - would it be worth carrying that extra weight?
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I don't think there's anything wrong with a 2" body lift. I agree with what's been said however I don't feel two inches is going to affect the center of gravity all that much but it wil allow you to fit bigger wheels which will greatly improve ground clearance.
I'm really surprised so many people of this forum have done a body lift and yet I can't find any photos of the bumper relocation brackets that people have made!!
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I don't think there's anything wrong with a 2" body lift. I agree with what's been said however I don't feel two inches is going to affect the center of gravity all that much but it wil allow you to fit bigger wheels which will greatly improve ground clearance.
I'm really surprised so many people of this forum have done a body lift and yet I can't find any photos of the bumper relocation brackets that people have made!!
Hahahaha! That's what I was thinking. I'm going to be doing a body lift soon, and I have been scouring for pictures of the brackets.
Anyone...? Bueler?
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I 'm with samuraidan & hcgalvin I'm about to do a body lift and can't find any pics of the brackets either. Someone should have a pic some where.
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If this doesnt bring out some photo evidence then nothing will! :P
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+1 on the bumper relocation bracket pics. I am also a bit on the fence about doing the body lift, I already had a few times when it wanted to roll and high speed corners are exciting again :o
Looking at the stock mounts and they look like they were made for a body lift just take the bottom spacers and put them on top. The front mounts look a little different, may need more work.
If you did the swap on the stock mount would you need a steering extensions?
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My Vitara handles the corners just fine. When i did my suspension lift I took the front sway bar out, but 1.25" wheel spacers in and never looked back.
Besides, a suspension lift would increase the odds of a roll over a lot more then a body lift. But then again, anything worth doing to a 4x4 will probably increase it's rollover potential in highspeed situations.
All you can do is drive carefully and wear your seat belt 8)
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You can roll a corvette if you drive it hard enough and dumb enough.