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Need help Deciding on a Body Lift...

nathan.hall1

Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
556
Loc.
Central Washington
I hijack a thread to ask this question, but I thought i would ask in my own thread for a wider response, i have a 69 with a 351W C6 d20 i just put a edelbrock 2181 with a carter/ Edlebrock carb, couldn’t be happier with how that woke that already over torquey motor right up i love the throttle response

i have a rats nest of wires under my hood making the 85 Duraspark system work that was on the donor truck, i wanted to clean it up and make things simpler so I ordered a new HEI distributor,

ok onto my question my hood already barely shuts I’m pretty sure its resting on top of my air cleaner, ( I’m not driving it much not a DD) so I read in the distributor thread about the HEI clearance issues.

So I was looking at WH Body lifts and I’m trying to decide on 1" or 2 " Body lift to give me under hood clearance. I’m guessing my body mounts are squished and flat after 40 plus years and that a 1' will probably be significant... long term plans I am planning about a 2.5 Suspension so I can run 33s with uncut fenders

Please chime in with your opinion
 

BR549

Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
444
Loc.
huntsville
most of the vendors i asked would say 2" bl, but the width of the tire is to main concern. be prepared for tough time to remove stock mounts. i had to cut mine out with a hacksaw. smarter to use power, but hey i'm not that smart.
 

cldonley

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
1,276
Loc.
Robinson, TX
I have a 69 and I'm adding the astro hydro boost and HEI. It was such a challenge to get the old mounts out (haven't even gotten them all done yet) I'd suggest going with 2" so you never have to do it again! I don't think you'll ever have clearance issues 2" of lift. I'm planning on adding the Taurus electric fan so radiator position won't be a problem. There are others out there with more experience who may offer better advice, so I'll be checking this thread before I buy my kit! Glad you started it.:cool:
 

bronconut73

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
9,916
I did the 1" bl from WH. Excellent quality and instructions.
You are right about the squished stock bushings. Before and after measurements indicate a little over 1.5" of lift. This amount looks good too, not too big of a gap.
If I had the 2" lift with new poly bushings it would probably leave a big enough gap that I would ve looking for some of those body lift specific bumpers to hide it.
 

greatguy57078

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
3,429
I prefer the 1" body lift. It does what I needed it to (NV3550) and still keeps it as low as possible. I am only running a 33" x 12.5" tire though.
 

Rocking Bronc66

Jr. Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
103
I installed a 1" wildhorses bl today. The instructions were very good and the job itself was pretty simple.
 

SDlivin

Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
781
Loc.
San Diego
I did a 2" bl and people are right about the gap.... in retrospect I would have done the 1"bl. Still might down the road. Unless you really need the clearance of a 2" I would say 1" is the best way to go.
 

El Kabong

Contributor
Driving stuff Henry built
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
1,493
Whichever one you choose, be sure to follow the instructions regarding taping over the holes in the top of the frame for the mounts that are located behind the front seats. It would make for a bad day to drop a nut down one of those.
 

BowHunter148

Jr. Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
137
Remove your bolts a few days in advance and spray the heck out of the mounts and down the holes with penetrating spray, then when you do go to get those sob's out they will actually break apart. I only had to saws all 2 of mine because the bolts snapped when trying to remove them.
I went with the 2" lift and love it, don't want to have to go back ever again!
There's a tech post on body lofts that give a great bit of tips that helped me
Lift one side of the truck and do those 4 mounts while leaving the bolts dropped in on the other side so the body doesn't slide off their holes
I did mine by myself in about 2 1/2 hours start to finish!
Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 

Apogee

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
6,037
I would go with the 1" BL with the lift in the body pucks...if you ever want more, you can always add a spacer if you want and it would just be like the 2" pucks sitting on stadard height body bushings.
 

cldonley

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
1,276
Loc.
Robinson, TX
Sort of a hi-jack...

If you're running uncut, stock suspension and a 1"bl, how much tire can you squeeze in without rubbing?
 

Rocking Bronc66

Jr. Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
103
I needed to extend my clutch linkage when I did my 1" bl. I will have to extend the brake line from the MC before I take my '66 offroad, but everything else was fine
 
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