If you’ve been considering lifting your pickup truck or body-on-frame SUV, know that some people won’t like your taste in mods. Personal taste aside, you’ve probably heard tell of multiple ways to score that sky-high stance.
Suspension lifts elevate the entire vehicle and increase various clearances for off-roading. Meanwhile, body lifts simply space a vehicle’s body higher off its frame, leaving the chassis at stock ride height. Body lifts accomplish this trick by replacing the stock body mount bushings with a much taller hockey puck-like spacer. Common sizes for body lift spacers range from approximately one to three inches and kits include the necessary longer body bolts.
So if body lifts leave a truck’s frame at stock height, what’s the point? They’re mostly for looks and the ability to fit larger tires, which actually does increase ground clearance. For example, a two inch taller diameter tire increases ground clearance by one inch. Body lifts are less expensive to purchase and get installed than suspension lifts. They also maintain a vehicle’s stock suspension and comfortable ride characteristics. In addition, the center of gravity remains lower by elevating only the body and not the entire body-on-frame assembly, which can result in better handling versus a suspension-lifted truck.
Ground clearance alone isn’t everything
If there’s a downside to body lifts, it’s that there’s many mechanical and electrical connections between the body and frame that may become stretched depending on the height of the body lift. For example, extensions to air conditioning lines, radiator hoses, and shift linkages could be necessary, just to name a few. Also, frame-mounted bumpers may require relocating or some sort of filler panel to avoid an awkward gap between bumper and body height.
Although a suspension lift kit is more expensive to purchase and have installed compared to a body lift, truck owners are getting a lot more functionality. Suspension lifts primarily utilize taller springs to distance a vehicle’s axles further down from the frame. Therefore, the entire body and frame assembly is raised from stock ride height. Typically, a suspension lift is accompanied by longer shock absorbers also, though it’s sometimes possible to add extension pieces to existing shocks.
Ground clearance is measured between the ground and the lowest point on a chassis, which is frequently an axle. By that measure, the ground clearance between body- and suspension-lifted trucks with the same diameter tires will be equal. However, in real life, the suspension-lifted chassis has advantages for off-roading such as greater approach and departure angles to navigate steeper inclines. Likewise, the section of undercarriage between the front and rear tires is more elevated, which could avoid high-centering the vehicle on obstacles.
You can combine both types of lifts
As far as suspension lift drawbacks, a higher center of gravity makes suspension lifted vehicles more prone to rollovers. As well, handling and ride quality will differ from the stock suspension. Depending on the quality and intended usage of the kit, you could encounter a much firmer ride. In all cases, an alignment is going to be required, too.
Suspension lifts vary from approximately two inches up to six inches or more. Larger kits will require changing out even more components than just springs and shocks. Things like control arms and track bars will need to be replaced with specialty components to maintain proper geometry and CV joint angles. That adds to the price and complexity of the endeavor.
Note that for some unibody trucks, like Ford’s popular Maverick, a suspension lift may be the only option toward bigger tires and a taller stance. That’s because there’s no way to separate the body and integral frame. Finally, it’s not unheard of to combine both a suspension lift and body lift on the same vehicle to sidestep potential negatives that exist in relying on just one type of lift for large changes in ride height or ground clearance. For example, a three inch suspension lift combined with a one inch body lift for four inches total lift.