I am planning a 3" body lift for my 97 2 dr Tracker.
Which is the most complete/best bang for my buck?

Not sure on "completeness", but, as for best bang for the buck, I made mine out of some 3" box tubing, 3/16ths thick, and then used short welds about one inch long to hold it in place on the frame brackets to keep it from "walking" the body around. I was out around $6 for the hardware to bolt the box tubing to the frame and brackets. My Tracker has the "sliding" style steering column, which I feel helped ALOT with the ease of install.

my .02

get some coil spacers and a 1" body lift (if you must) both available from sky-manufacturing. and wont end up looking ghetto.

If you are looking for body or suspension lift here is a link:

http://www.srcustoms.ca/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=7&Itemid=56

I have spacers already. Pretty hard to run 32s without some body lift.

I have spacers already. Pretty hard to run 32s without some body lift.

you might still have trouble fitting 32's with 3" body and spacers. expect to do some trimming depending on wheel and tire width . if they are 32x11.50's and not some narrow metric size they will rub somewhere. (dont know if it matters to you).

the best solution I have found is alter-ego a-arms. (pricey but sweet)

my .02

get some coil spacers and a 1" body lift (if you must) both available from sky-manufacturing. and wont end up looking ghetto.

X2

... and the body flexing, crushing around the body mounts, and overall horrible driving experience will be minimized.

-Eric

ebewly, not trying to start anything, but, could you elaborate a bit on the "horrible driving experience" please? I have only noticed increased body roll to a limited degree when I have run b/ls' in the past on many different rides. Other than the increased body roll, what other issues are you aware of?

 Regarding the fitment of the 32" tires, the biggest problem that I have with mine is the normal one of the back edge of the front fenders trying to share the same space with the tires. I am getting around this by relocating the balljoints, as was figured out on here. I think that it was in the thread about the 96 tracker build getting serious.

I'm not eric but I will chime in (I know....hard to believe huh  )

most commercially available body lifts (3" for this converse purpose). are only 2" or less in diameter. the amount of holding power with the combined leverage in almost nothing at the bolt head and nut. the body  will begin to flex and stress fracture around the lift "pucks". ultimately a weaker "softer" body will result. carefully watch a excessively body lifted rig in technical off road "flex" and body movement is guaranteed.
now for the annoying cons. shifters almost never work correctly after a big body lift until you trim the floor. then there is poorly fitting boots that allow more road noise, exhaust fumes, water/mud intrusion etc.
steering shafts are almost always taxed beyond safe limits (thats just plain stupid IMO).
did I mention that seeing all the power train and a huge gap between the frame and body is hideous too?

IMO.to do a body lift correctly it would end up costing more than a decent suspension lift.

this I'm sure will spark allot of fires but I feel strongly about it and have seen it enough to make judgment.

and the ball joint relocation you speak of might have been in my Audi powered kick build. I just did that mod. and bent parts modded some calmini a-arms that are plain sick!

Jluck, valid point onthe diameter of the commercial B/L, but when I made mine, they were simply cut from the 3x box at a length of 3" to help prevent the kind of "flex" or "walk" that you are describing, along with the blocks being welded to the frame side. I am going to be bracing the frame side of the body mounts, since I don't like th the thinnes of the steel. Shifters were addressed by the cut/extend method, and for the gap between the body/frame, well, I for one, an going to be using some garden edging that I got for $4 for a 25' roll over at the local Big Lots store. Hopefully, the OP will be able to make an informed decision here, with the back&forth that is going here. As for the BJ relocation, I am going to check into your thread, and also find the thread that I saw the relocation in. From me, at least, THANKS for the input Jluck. And I am sorry about the threadjack taking place, but at least this one stayed on topic.

Okay. The thread that I was thinking of is the "Mr. T " build, pg. 1

ebewly, not trying to start anything, but, could you elaborate a bit on the "horrible driving experience" please? I have only noticed increased body roll to a limited degree when I have run b/ls' in the past on many different rides. Other than the increased body roll, what other issues are you aware of?

 Regarding the fitment of the 32" tires, the biggest problem that I have with mine is the normal one of the back edge of the front fenders trying to share the same space with the tires. I am getting around this by relocating the balljoints, as was figured out on here. I think that it was in the thread about the 96 tracker build getting serious.

Sure, I don't think you're trying to start anything. That's a legitimate follow up question.. The driving experience is 'horrible' in my experience because the lifted body 'floats' and twists as you're driving on the trail or road and gives a real disconnect feeling through the seat and steering wheel. The other issues are as I said earlier, the body flexes on top of the mounts and begins to bend panels, door gap issues arrise, poppped bondo (if you have any) and the body will start to squeak wherever thers is metal to metal contact after awhile... The next issue is that the main frame supports for the body begin to buckle down and fold over themselves... This can be reduced by extending ALL of the mount points and small little 'snub tooties' that are along the frame but it's still happen eventually...

So, I personally stay away from them and try to steer others away from them as well.

Hope you found this info useful.

-Eric

Thanks for the reply, ebewly. I was wondering what "other" concerns would be raised with using a B/L.

I have used and abused body lifts on a 67 Chevy 4wd... a Jeep CJ7... and a Toyota 4wd truck. I never had a bad expierence with any of them. I have also installed many other body lifts on multiple vehicles. But.... I stopped at 2" on tubular mounts. Primarily because you begin to get into alot of additional modification to accomodate the larger lifts. Things like:

Large floorpan cutting around the shifters.
Modifing the steering column.
Modifing bumper brackets.
Extending electrical connections, hoses, lines, etc.

Generally with 2" lifts you won't have to make as many of these type modifications. I beleive with a 2" spacer lift and a 2" body lift you should be to run a 32" tire if you keep the width narrow and utilize a rim with narrow back spacing.