For a body lift on these trucks, I would go 3 inches max since, well, that is the largest produced for the truck. If you are going to go higher, then the sky is litterally the limit, as well as money.

Horror stories... There was an older Blazer or Tahoe or something posted somewhere once that I saw. It was lifted and had a 6" body lift on it. The truck was hit from the side. This ripped the entire cab and everything off the frame, which was then sent flying. Not a good thing in my opinion. Don't remember the end result other than the cab and body were smashed, don't even know how the guy survived.

The pros: A body lift will allow you to clear larger tires without having to modify the suspension.

 

For a body lift on these trucks, I would go 3 inches max since, well, that is the largest produced for the truck.

If the proper grade of bolts is used, there will be no compromise in strength over stock.

I'm not going to use a kit.
I'm going to fabricate a set of longer perches and bolt them to the frame. That way I don't need to use longer bolts (which is unstable and dangerous).

Your best option is to make custom bumpers to fit your body lift. Be sure to attach them directly to the frame with grade 8 or better hardware.

I'm in the process of fabing up a set of custom bumpers.

 

If the proper grade of bolts is used, there will be no compromise in strength over stock. I am running the 3" PA kit and have no complaints. Do note that if you wish to keep the stock bumpers with this kit, the relocator bracket makes the bumpers not useable for pulling anything heavy ( or pulling yourself out of mud). Your best option is to make custom bumpers to fit your body lift. Be sure to attach them directly to the frame with grade 8 or better hardware. Any body lift on a Colorado/canyon greater than 3" would look crappy because there would be a huge gap between the body and frame. When lifting a truck for offroading it is important to remember that too tall may get you into more trouble than a properly sized body/suspension lift and good winch could get you out of. Bigger is not always better, it just looks cooler.

 

uummm, just my two cents here....

1) people always try and say your cheating if you use a body lift..when in fact, teh whole purpose is to get the truck higher so you can use bigger tires anyway...even on trucks with huge susp. lifts, most of teh new height is achieved via larger tires. So in reality, anyway you can get those bigger tires on your ride, do it if that's your thing.

2) 3" pa lifts are the best to use. That is if you have got to buy one and just cant figure out how to make your own for near nothing....A few new hockey pucks, grade five hardware, and a drill and your set. Much cheaper than buying a kit, and just as good I dont give a shit what anyone says.

3) PA kits last time I checked did not come with grade eight hardware....it comes with grade five. Well at least my boys did. And for one reason only that I could come up with..Grade eight will shatter and snap with any kinda of lateral pressure. Instead of bend and give a little, it will just snap. That's teh weak point with grade eight. grade five is almost as strong..but will bend and give a little, but not snap so damn easy. This to me is why they used it in the PA kits. Or at least used to. Been near 6 years since I actually bought a body kit. Once I learned how to build my own I never bought another.
4) Last but not least, if you go overboard and try anything more than a 3" body lift, you are gonna have issues. Body roll from hell, you name it.

Now, as far as other things you need to sweat when considering a body lift...
1) Your radiator is mounted to the body. Hence you will need to relocate it.
2) You will need to move your front bumper up..its easy just install washers under it to lift it up a little and drill new holes in on the bottom mounts and your golden. The rear, you will need relocating brackets. Or...and this is key here..many states you have got to keep your bumpers under a certain height or its illegal... you can install body gap fillers. These go in the space between your bumper, and body to hide the gap left there by raising your truck.
3) Next...never done this on a colly/canyon before..since I lowered mine..but i would check the steering linkage as well. My exploder that I lifted eight inches total was fine, it slid in and out of a sleeve..our trucks hell I dunno I would check that though.
4) Last thing I can think of is to check the fuel lines...or maybe the brake lines. When you begin to lift the truck, just go very slowly and keep looking everywhere for anything that is getting tight!! Then figure out a way to loosen whatever it is up!

I know this is a lot to take in...but its easy to do when you are actually doing it. And well worth it if you do it smart!! This along with a good susp. lift of say 2-3" will get you runnning some pretty damn aggressive meats in no time! Hope this helps man...

 

...Grade eight will shatter and snap with any kinda of lateral pressure. Instead of bend and give a little, it will just snap. That's the weak point with grade eight.
Grade five is almost as strong..but will bend and give a little, but not snap so damn easy. ...

I've heard this before when I fabricated my own 3" suspension lift.
So I used both.
I figure if one grade fails, at least I'll have a few of the other grade in there keeping it together till I can come to a stop and fix it.

I need to do some solid research on the bolt grade issue and see what the bolt manufacturers say about this.

 

i dont like body lifts haha there is a vid of a jeep with a boddy lift that is stuck in the mud, the try to pull the jeep off but the body comes off the frame...

This I would have to see....cause only a complete frigging moron would ever ever ever try to pull on the body of a stuck truck. I know xj's are unibody...so It wasn't that kinda jeep..but still, only a dumb ass would not hook to a frame hook, or at least the rear or front axle...

 

i have the 3" kit with no problems. ive used my bumper numerous times to pull myself out and to haul stuff with no problems and i relocated them. i think the relocating brackets are acctually stronger then stock.

 

I also have the 3" PA body lift. Slap on some shackles, crank the TB's, and it was a cheap way to get started. I now have a SkyJacker 4" suspension lift too, pushing 35's.

You will need to re-locate the radiator, extend the steering linkage, lift the throttle body, and extend the fuel filler. Brake lines should be ok.

No pavement pounder here....

 

..and extend the fuel filler.

I didn't even think of that. Though I must admit, part of the reason I'm looking into a body lift is so I can tuck the fuel tank further up between the frame rails. I need the floor of the bed to get the hell out of the way.

 

You will need to extend the steering shaft as well if you make your own body lift. Either way, good luck.

 

how do you lift the throttle body?

 

After looking more closely, I realize it's the air intake......Ooops.:shrug:

My Bad

 

The factory suspension hardware on our trucks is metric grade 10.9, equivalent to Grade 8.
The factory body mount bolts are also metric 10.9
PA lifts say they now use Grade 8 hardware, which can be confusing to the average person.
Grade 8 bolts have either the standard fine or coarse thread, not metric. I believe PA is saying this because more people are familiar with standard bolt grades versus metric.

 

Ok, thanks for clearing that up...I didn't know if they still came with the grade five or had indeed gone with the grade eight now. Either way its strong. I just would still rather have teh grade five myself. For reasons already posted...

 

I'd say no more than 1 inch. More than that IMO looks like crap. It shows way too much frame. It shows more than it should from the factory, why make it 3 inches worse?

 

body lift= bitch lift. lets say you have 32s with a stock suspension and no body lift. alright then you lift your body and keep your 32s. you have gained NOTHING but a higher center of gravity, you did not gain any ground clearance with your suspension, so IMO its completly pointless. However if you did a suspension lift, and did maybe a 1inch body lift thats cool, because atleast you actually made your grond clearance higher. I think you should max out yor suspension lift, then if you want a bigger tire than your suspension lift can handle then do a very small bodylift.

 

Exactly what I was thinking, why spend the money on a lift if you're not getting more ground clearance? :shrug:

 

unless your frame is in great shape I'm not a fan of them. Plus when you do a body lift it drops your engine down inside the body and that makes it harder to work on. just my opinion.

 

sand rider are you 2wd?

 

yessir!

 

I think I just dont like body lifts because theres only desert around me and itd be retarded having a body lift on a truck that isnt used for crawling or something of the sort. If I was around woods?rockcrawling and whatnot Id probably understand a lot better hahah.

 

what lift do you have sand rider?

 

CST 5" spindle with springtech 2" coils (shitty), rear 1" cst shackles with black Fox 2.0 remote reservoirs. My long travel from solo is coming in about 2 weeks though so Ill be selling the lift