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2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?

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Offline olija

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2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« on: August 14, 2007, 07:10:42 PM »
I already have a 1.5" suspension lift and 29" tires but I want to be able to fit 30-31" tires. In order to do this I am planning on making a 2" body lift out of square or rectangular steel tubing. The reason I am going for 2 inches instead of 3 is because I don't want to extend my steering column or shifters and I also don't care for the look of the frame slung 3" below the body. I know 1" isn't going to make a HUGE difference between the two, but that's besides the point. My question is for those who have actually done this;

what is actually involved besides throwing the spacers in? Did you end up having to extend your shifters, fuel filler hose, steering column, etc?

What were the dimensions of the tubes you used? I was thinking 2" tall x 3" wide x 3" long in a 3/16" wall thickness? Does that sound about right? Are there any issues fitting the bolts or washers in the 2x3 instead of a 3x3?

And finally, for those who have this setup and who are running 31" tires... did they rub, or did you need to trim? I mangled my front fender last weekend and my rockers are disastrous so I don't care if I have to trim a little.

Thanks very much! :-\
Austin
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97 Sidekick 4door 5 speed, 1.5 spacer lift, 2" body lift, CJ rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low <SOLD>
01 Vitara 2.0L 5 speed, 2.5" Calmini lift, 2" body lift, Sidekick rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low, 5.13 diffs <SOLD>
03 XL7 2.7 5 speed, 4.5" AE lift with OME springs, 2" AE body lift, 5.13 diffs, 3:1 low, 235/80R17 BFG AT's on Ultra 17x8 with 1" spacers, skid plates, Balmer Fab front bumper
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Offline museboy07

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2007, 07:29:44 PM »
With my 2 in bodylift i didnt have to extend anything but i had to take out my tcase and tranny shifter boots cause they were holding them back from staying in a certain gear.  Also, your going to have a tough time using square tubing for a 2 in bodylift.  The reason why is cause the body "bolts" are actually studs welded to the body.  So its gonna be a tight fit bolting the stud and the bolts you use to a 2in square block...but it has been done
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1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD
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Offline olija

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2007, 07:41:51 PM »
It's not possible to just trim the boots or flip them around somehow? I don't really want water coming in all the way up there! :-\
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97 Sidekick 4door 5 speed, 1.5 spacer lift, 2" body lift, CJ rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low <SOLD>
01 Vitara 2.0L 5 speed, 2.5" Calmini lift, 2" body lift, Sidekick rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low, 5.13 diffs <SOLD>
03 XL7 2.7 5 speed, 4.5" AE lift with OME springs, 2" AE body lift, 5.13 diffs, 3:1 low, 235/80R17 BFG AT's on Ultra 17x8 with 1" spacers, skid plates, Balmer Fab front bumper
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Offline museboy07

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2007, 07:47:00 PM »
yes you can flip the tcase boot..that would work and ppl have done it, but it only takes 2min to pull the shifter out...all you do is push down on the retainer and turn it and it comes right out and any muffler shop could weld an extension on for you
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1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD
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Offline olija

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2007, 07:51:16 PM »
Why haven't you done either of those things then??? ???
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97 Sidekick 4door 5 speed, 1.5 spacer lift, 2" body lift, CJ rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low <SOLD>
01 Vitara 2.0L 5 speed, 2.5" Calmini lift, 2" body lift, Sidekick rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low, 5.13 diffs <SOLD>
03 XL7 2.7 5 speed, 4.5" AE lift with OME springs, 2" AE body lift, 5.13 diffs, 3:1 low, 235/80R17 BFG AT's on Ultra 17x8 with 1" spacers, skid plates, Balmer Fab front bumper
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Offline museboy07

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2007, 07:56:48 PM »
Cause i was in a hurry to get it done because i did it after work one night.  I started around six and was done around ten...this was only last week so I still plan on extending my shifters
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1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD
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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2007, 07:05:55 PM »
I didn't want a 3" body lift either, after thinking of possible ways to make a 2", I ended up buying one from Sky. Having sleave nuts, or internally threaded rod made, buying either steel, or UHMW was going to cost me almost as much as Sky's kit at $129, and the difference just wasn't worth the time I'd have to put in.
With the 3x3 box tube blocks, it's really tight between the factory body studs and the bottom bolt inside the block, you won't be able to do the same thing with 2x2" tube.

Quote from: olija on August 14, 2007, 07:41:51 PM
It's not possible to just trim the boots or flip them around somehow? I don't really want water coming in all the way up there! :-\
Duct tape and plastic are your friend! Then get a leather or vinyl replacement boot if you want to cover it up ;)
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Offline Jeff@TireBalls

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2007, 07:27:04 PM »
Are the stock body bolts long enough to do a 1" body lift?
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2000 Grand Vitara Limited, 2" lift, 225/75-16 BFG KO's, 5.12 gears, Safari snorkel, roof rack.
1987 Samurai LWB, VW 1.9 Turbo Diesel.
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erik the red

Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2007, 07:36:48 PM »
Quote from: Jeff|removethispart|@TireBalls on August 15, 2007, 07:27:04 PM
Are the stock body bolts long enough to do a 1" body lift?

Yes. They are long enough to do at least a 2 inch body lift. I just put in Sky's 2 inch lift on my 4 dr. Tracker last weekend, and besides some straightening of the bolts themselves, no other "extra" work was required.  Didn't have to fab. a shifter extender. No hoses/lines etc. required unhooking (aside from unclipping the brake line on the driver's side from the frame). It was really an easy job minus the straightening I had to do (as well as re-threading a trashed bolt arggggghhh). I have driven 100 plus miles on it so far and haven't even needed to tighten any bolts, and nothing has shifted. I would highly recommend the 2 inch lift.
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Offline olija

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2007, 07:53:55 PM »
So today I went out and bought some 2x3 tubing to make into the body lift spacers. Judging by what I've read in this thread, it will work, hopefully. I still need to cut it into 3" long sections and drill it out, and right now I've got a clutch cable to replace.
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97 Sidekick 4door 5 speed, 1.5 spacer lift, 2" body lift, CJ rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low <SOLD>
01 Vitara 2.0L 5 speed, 2.5" Calmini lift, 2" body lift, Sidekick rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low, 5.13 diffs <SOLD>
03 XL7 2.7 5 speed, 4.5" AE lift with OME springs, 2" AE body lift, 5.13 diffs, 3:1 low, 235/80R17 BFG AT's on Ultra 17x8 with 1" spacers, skid plates, Balmer Fab front bumper
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Offline museboy07

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2007, 08:22:11 PM »
i was thinkin that so many people say that using square tubing to do a 2in bodylift would be to tight of a fit...well you could easily cut down the body studs...then it would fit fine
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1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD
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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2007, 08:38:13 PM »
Quote from: Jeff|removethispart|@TireBalls on August 15, 2007, 07:27:04 PM
Are the stock body bolts long enough to do a 1" body lift?
If you look under your rig, you'll see there is only about .5" if thread sticking out the end of the nut, so I'd say no.

Quote from: museboy07 on August 15, 2007, 08:22:11 PM
i was thinkin that so many people say that using square tubing to do a 2in bodylift would be to tight of a fit...well you could easily cut down the body studs...then it would fit fine
Maybe... the problem with this is, the stud is mostly 1/2" thick, solid unthreaded stock, and is only threaded for, maybe 1" at the end?
« Last Edit: August 15, 2007, 08:54:21 PM by Uncivilized »
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Offline museboy07

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2007, 09:37:10 PM »
oh wow...i could of swore mine were threaded all the way up when i did my bodylift...well i guess since it was 10:30 at night after working a nine hour day you start to see things
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1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD
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Offline olija

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2007, 10:53:19 PM »
Hmm, we'll see what happens I guess. I know there are people out there who have done it, they're just avoiding this thread.
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97 Sidekick 4door 5 speed, 1.5 spacer lift, 2" body lift, CJ rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low <SOLD>
01 Vitara 2.0L 5 speed, 2.5" Calmini lift, 2" body lift, Sidekick rims, locked rear, 31's, 4:1 low, 5.13 diffs <SOLD>
03 XL7 2.7 5 speed, 4.5" AE lift with OME springs, 2" AE body lift, 5.13 diffs, 3:1 low, 235/80R17 BFG AT's on Ultra 17x8 with 1" spacers, skid plates, Balmer Fab front bumper
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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: 2" Body lift on a 97 4 door...what's involved?
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2007, 05:14:29 PM »
Quote from: olija on August 16, 2007, 10:53:19 PM
Hmm, we'll see what happens I guess. I know there are people out there who have done it, they're just avoiding this thread.
I don't want to sound like I know what I'm talking about, because I don't... but I think if there was an easier and cheaper way to make it(rather than buying one) without cutting & welding, and making changes to your rig, it would have been done and documented on the internet at some point in the past few years.
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