Hi Guys.

After Christmas I brought a Rough Country 2" suspension lift at a steel of a price for my 08' JK, I plan on installing it in the spring. Now my brother finds me a Zone 2" body lift he on sale in the US while on vacation. Never been a huge fan of body lifts, but then I've never done one. Really wasn't planning on 4" of lift but why stare a gift horse in the mouth!

My question is could I install BOTH? have a 2" suspension and a 2" body lift? I've heard that you can only go one way and not to mix body and suspension lifts! If so why? Is it a stability, centre of gravity issue?

And has anyone installed a Zone lift? The instructions that came with it are detailed and look straight forward, but have no mention of any trimming or clearance issue you think you would find with a manual transmission and the shifter/console when lifting the body!

Thanks Mike B

I've got both types on my TJ. No insurmountable issues. The linkage for the T-case shifter had to be modified and there is a radiator relocation bracket. The only issue I had later was the edge of the radiator rubbed against the AC line and cut through it like a hacksaw. Easy to trim the edge of the radiator a bit if you realize it before the AC goes away. Just realize that a body lift is only good for clearing bigger meats - it doesn't add to suspension articulation. This was fine for me, and it's a lot less $$$, but if you're wheelin' boulders prolly not what you want. But if it gets you where you need to be now, for the price, who cares if you pull it out and sell it again in a few years? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Nothing wrong with having both a suspension lift and a body lift. I have a 4" suspension lift and a 2" body lift on my CJ7.

BTW, if you have a 2" suspension lift with a 2" body lift, you will have a LOWER center of gravity than you would if you had 4" of suspension lift. That's because the last 2" of lift (the body lift) is NOT lifting the frame, engine, and drivetrain, but just the body in order to run bigger tires.

Some potential areas to pay attention to when installing a body lift:

(1) Make sure electrical wiring isn'g getting stretched too tight. I didn't have any problems here, but you should check anyway.

(2) Check the clearance between your radiator fan and the fan shroud. This only applies is you have an engine-driven fan, not an electrical fan. I had to cut away a little bit of the bottom of the fan shroud.

(3) Check your clutch linkage and your tranny shift linkage. I have an auto tranny, so didn't have to worry about the clutch, and I have a B&M cable-operated ratchet shifter, so I didn't have to worry about tranny linkages.

(4) Check the floorboard clearances for any tranny or t-case shifters that come up through the floorboard. Some folks have to enlarge the hole in the floorboard a little.

Don't forget to make sure the bolts you use for the body lift are grade 8s. Not all body lift kits come with them, and when you start doing body lifts, there is a lot of stress on those bolts when they are longer than stock, especially when the rig is bounced around off road.

I'd do the suspension first and see if you even need/want the extra body lift. Older Jeeps don't have 1/2 the wiring these JK's do.
Just try and install and ARB air compressor and you'll see first hand what I mean.
Looks like some creature ate a NASA satellite and barfed it up behind the dash.


A couple things to consider before installing the BL.

Theres alot of wires and hoses attached to the firewall and fenders that will come up while the engine stays in place.
Airbox,radiator,coolant tank, brake booster,ABS stuff and steering linkage too.

In the back there's emergency brake cables,fuel lines, charcoal canister,and who knows what else attached to both the body and frame. Any of the above may not have an extra 2" of slack.

Asthetically your bumpers will sit 2" below the body which might look wierd to you.

I talk to someone who's installed and driven with a body lift on a JK before unbolting the body on your new Jeep.

So Bob, I am curious about (3) the auto tranny and B&M shifter. Do you prefer this for off-roading, and if so, for any particular reason?

I prefer an auto tranny offroad, after having driven offroad with both manual and auto trannies for over five decades, for a number of reasons.

(1) I run a warmed up V8 and fairly low gears, which puts a lot of torque to the ground. The auto tranny is considerably gentler on the drivetrain than is a manual tranny.

(2) With an auto tranny, you only have two foot pedals (accelerator and brake) to manipulate, whereas with a manual tranny you also have a clutch which makes 3 foot pedals. When stopping and starting again on steep uphills and downhills, and in the rocks, it's a lot easier to just manipulate the 2 pedals. In such situations, you can use your left foot on the brake and sort of use it like a combination brake and clutch, leaving the right foot for the throttle.

(3) If you kill the engine on a hill in a vehicle with an auto tranny, it's a lot easier and faster to re-start it and get going again than it is with a manual tranny.

Now, all that being said, there is one serious disadvantage of auto tranny offroad - reduced engine compression braking. However, I have 4.56 axle gears, 2.61 Low Range gears in my t-case (which I almost always use offroad), and a slightly lower 1st gear in my TF999 auto tranny. I have plenty of engine compression braking in my CJ7; even on steep downhills, I rarely, if ever, have to use my brake. For those with an auto tranny and not as low gearing, I'd suggest upgrading the braking system if serious off-road work is contemplated.

Now, the reason I prefer a ratchet shifter is simpler. Most guys that use ratchet shifters use them because they are very fast to shift, and there's no danger of going past the gear you want and selecting an unwanted gear. (Drag racing is a common application.) However, I like it primarily because I can quickly shift gears without having to look at a shift quadrant -- that is, I don't have to take my eyes off the road. In some precarious off-road situations, that's a real help.

I used to use a B&M Quicksilver ratchet shifter, and I still recommend that for a Jeep that's fairly stock because it has a simpler mechanism. However, the Quicksilver depends on a shart upward pull to defeat the safety detent. When I replaced my steel body with a fiberglass body, I didn't want to put that much up-and-down stress on the fiberglass floorboard. So I changed to a B&M MegaShifter, which used a trigger handle forward of the T-handle shifter to defeaat the safety detent. However, it uses the same hardware on the transmission end of the shift cable as the Quicksilver, so changing it over was a no-sweat deal.

Hope this answered your question adequately.

--Bob

Absolutely yes, more than adequately. Thank you, Bob, for taking the time to provide this thorough answer.