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Suspension vs body lift for JB74

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01 Mar 2023 19:05 #247821 by Grizzlie
Looking to lift a JB74. Wondering what would be the ideal balance. 
My primary intent with the body lift is maybe to be able to get better access to nooks and crannies for cleaning and conservation purposes (especially after watching a recent youtube series by a local youtuber on frame and body rust on the JB74 series).

The suspension lift would aim for articulation and slightly larger wheels (and let's also be real...it looks cool).

I was wondering 2" suspension + 1" body.

Your thoughts and/or experiences?

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  • Lambert
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02 Mar 2023 04:29 #247833 by Lambert
I think it depends on what you are using the Jimny for, if you need bigger tyres as you are off road a lot then fair enough, the compromise to the road manners is probably worth the price. If however you are only doing it for the aesthetic and will be mostly on the road I would think long and hard about making a decision that will make an already quite unstable vehicle worse.

Temeraire (2018 quasar grey automatic)
One of the last 200ish of the gen3s, probably.
ADOS Attention Deficit Ooooh Shiny!

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02 Mar 2023 08:52 #247838 by Busta
A body lift give the clearance you want for cleaning, and the clearance for bigger tyres, and "makes it looks cool" yet keeps the centre of gravity lower than a suspension lift would, and keeps the standard ride quality.

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02 Mar 2023 09:53 #247840 by mlines
Be aware that a body lift does just that, lifts the body.

This means that any component that relies on both the chassis and the body will be affected. The temptation with a body lift kit is to "go cheap" as they can be as simple as some off-cuts of box section "padding out" the existing mount, however you should check with any body lift kit that it covers:

1. Any extension needed to the steering column, usually a spacer or spacer bolts
2. Provision for any rigid brake lines that connect between body and the chassis
3. Provision for any modifications needed to the gearlever or transfer lever (these will "drop" when viewed inside the car), In particular the lever may need bending or the transmission tunnel cutting to reliably select some gears.
4. Bumpers - the standard vinyl bumpers are connected to the body and the chassis. A good kit will have spacer brackets to sort this.
5. Fuel filler - the pipe is attached to the body at one end and the tank (chassis mounted) at the other,

Any good body lift kit will provide any other corrections needed or give advice on how to cover the above points if they are affected by the lift (they may not need any modification, the list is just my guess)

Martin

2003 M13 early KAP build.
3" Trailmaster lift with 1.5 Spacers on front
Customised winch bumper and roll cage
235/85R16 Maxxis Bighorns on 16" Rims, 4:1 Rocklobster, Rear ARB locker and on-board air
Corrected arms all-round, rear disks, Recaro seats and harnesses

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02 Mar 2023 11:45 #247843 by 300bhpton
Can't say I've seen body lifts listed for the Gen 4, although I've not looked, but have looked at a lot of suspension lifts for them.

I can see the benefit of a body lift, i.e. it keeps the centre of gravity lower and allows bigger tyres. But I'm not sure tyre clearance is really an issue on the Jimny. For me, most body lifts generally look awful, but happy to be proven wrong with the Gen 4. But they usually induce gaps where there shouldn't be and makes the profile look odd.

As for suspension. If you want to off road, then yes. I feel the stock suspension is quite lacking in flex and ground clearance. More suspension travel and increased clearance would be good things, at least to a certain point. 2-3" would seem to be the ballpark, although 3" is a lot more money to do properly.

Big tyres would need a re-gear and probably more power IMO.

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02 Mar 2023 15:58 #247847 by jackonlyjack
I fitted 1" body lift for the same reason 
Easy to wash, I believe this is one of the best things I did 
2004 gen 3 all body mounts solid no rot
Like Martin said it's not just a case of fitting them. I have no bumpers fitted didn't need steering spacer only had to make a bracket for brake union 
My kit came from Dave Jones now (zook bob)
These where big 3" diameter polyurethane blocks  

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02 Mar 2023 16:33 #247848 by yakuza
I have done body lifts to a couple of SJ's and was happy with them. Other things to consider is that lifting the body may open for lifting other things further up into the frame. On my SJ I could lift the transfer case up a bit so I got a flat belly pan under the frame. and could lift the tank too, but never got around to it.
Also most often a spring suspension lift is easier and faster to mount. not sure how this is on the JB74 though.

Norway 2005 Jimny M16A VVT, 235 BFG MT, 2" Trailmaster, ARB rear lck, 17%/87% high/low gears.

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