The Differences of a Body Lift and Suspension Lift
There are essentially two ways to lift your vehicle for off-road use: suspension lift or body lift. Each one has their pros and cons such as performance, price, and ease of installation. First, let’s distinguish between a suspension lift and a body lift.
A suspension lift raises the vehicle’s frame (chassis) away from the ground. This is accomplished with taller springs, lift blocks, spring spacers, lowering the differential, turning up the torsion bars, or any combination thereof.
A body lift raises the vehicle by lifting the body away from the frame with spacers. This keeps the frame at its existing distance from the ground.
A suspension lift is recommended for anyone planning to spend a lot of time off-road. A body lift is recommended for anyone that wants to make their vehicle look lifted with no true intentions of going off-road. This doesn’t mean that a body lifted vehicle can’t go off-road. It just won’t perform as well as a suspension lifted vehicle because it hasn’t gained any ground clearance.
Suspension lifts typically range between 2-inches to 6-inches (though there are some companies that produce “extreme” kits in excess of this), while body lifts range between 1-inch to 3-inches.
A suspension lift is more complicated than a body lift because it alters all of the suspension components that give the vehicle its factory ride characteristics. Taller springs are typically stiffer than factory engineered springs so the vehicle will have a bumpier ride than with soft factory springs. Longer shock absorbers will be needed. The center of gravity will also be raised considerably because the entire weight of the vehicle (everything except the axles) will now be raised further from the ground. In some cases (especially for short wheelbase vehicles), the transfer case will need to be lowered and the rear differential repositioned to minimize driveline vibrations.
Pros: Higher ground clearance, raised approach and departure angles, allows installation of larger wheels and tires.
Cons: Costs more, longer installation time, driveline angles are increased (more likely to vibrate), brake lines need to be re-routed or lengthened, new shocks needed, increased center of gravity.
A body lift is relatively simple in that it primarily consists of a set of spacers that are inserted at the mounting points between the frame and body of the vehicle. This leaves all the heavy parts of the vehicle (frame, engine, transmission, transfer case, etc) at their factory locations so the vehicle’s center of gravity (though increased) will not be increased as much as a suspension lift.
Pros: Inexpensive, can be installed quickly with basic hand tools, allows fitment of taller tires, simpler (all parts necessary come in a small box).
Cons: Appearance (there will be a noticeable gap between the body tub and the frame), additional leverage is placed on the mounting points, ground clearance is not raised.
Bringing all this information together, a body lift’s sole benefit is to allow the installation of larger tires whereas a suspension lift is designed for improved performance off-road (while also allowing the installation of larger tires). If you’re on a budget and want to make your vehicle look like a big off-road rig with no real intentions of ever going off-road, then a body lift would be adequate for you. Contrary, if budget is not a concern and your true intention is to make your vehicle more off-road capable, then a suspension lift is the only way to go.
Whether you choose to install a body lift kit or a suspension lift, all of your off-road parts can be found quickly and easily at MY4BY OFF ROAD. They have an impressive selection of parts for domestic and import Jeep, truck and SUV vehicles.
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