Okay my friend has this idea for a body lift. Before I say its the type of idea that could be totally genius or completely stupid. Anyhow I'm looking to put a 3" body left on my 2001 Ranger Edge. I really like the look of having the front of the truck just a tad bit higher than the rear. And having a 4x4 that is tough to do without putting a ton of stress on the lower ball joints and CVs. So here is the idea. Would it be okay to take the blocks of the body lift and start with the front ones at 3" then gradually cut them smaller till the rear one is about 2.5" or even 2". I know it will be tough to figure out the exact dimensions to line the rear of the cab up perfectly with the front of the bed. I figure this will give that look that I'm going for without having to crank the T bars as much and stress out the front end. All opinions are welcome, you wont hurt my feelings! Thanks

 

hey man im not going to lie i was having this idea too!!! but you would have to run like a 3 in front and a 2.5 in the rear of the cad and ther same sixe at the front of the bed and go down from there

 

where in paso are you??? my pops is in heritage ranch on the lake

 

hahah crazy.. I live in heritage ranch.

 

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How bout u just take the blocks off the rear end.

 

i would just do like vista said and remove your rear block

 

It would look really weird. The trucks suspension, frame ect would all be strait and the body would be at a angle.

Like what was said above, just take your rear block out of your leafs.

 

you will never get the body lines to line up if you do that

 

I think the blocks would have to be cut at a angle for it to work as well. I just wouldn't bother with messing with the blocks.

 

I have a tapered body lift on mine and it works fine without tapering the lift blocks. The angle is so small that the rubber body mounts take up the slight difference.

 

How big are your rear most blocks and your front most blocks?

 

Zero at the rear bed mount, 1.33" at the body mount under the radiator core support. It is not that difficult to figure out, just a ratio. So it can be applied to any size block or taper.

 

Any t bar cranking? Or did that level out your truck?

 

I usually have them cranked just a little, maybe 1/2~1". Right now it's sitting nose high because the engine is out of it. Obviously it will sit lower with the engine weight back on the suspension. I don't know that it will be exactly level but it should be close.

 

I have seen several tapered body lifts on Explorers and Sport Tracs. The most extreme I've seen is 3" in front, 0" in back. It was on either an Explorer or Sport Trac where the rear axle was changed from spring-under to spring-over. It works fine, there is technically nothing wrong with it, but a big slope like that is a little funny looking from the side (where you can see the frame).

And like Bob said, I haven't seen anyone actually taper the blocks themselves, it isn't needed. Just take measurements and calculate how short each block needs to be, pretty simple.

 

Hmm might try this. Do you think 3" in the front going to about 2" in the back is gonna show a lot of frame? Even if it does will the angle be steep enough to show its off the angle of the frame?

 

thats awesome!!!! the day after thanksgiving ill be up there!!!! i say a mini heritage meet!!!!! pm me your number man

 

Exactly. I did the calculations to give the small tapered lift that what I wanted, then bought a piece of 3" round aluminum scrap and had the metal supplier bandsaw it to the desired dimension plus 1/16" on each of the 8 pieces. Took the blocks home and faced them off on the lathe to the exact dimensions, drilled a hole in the center of each and bolted them up. I swapped the bolts around to different locations and only had to buy 2 new ones. It cost me about $35 total.

If you do a taller than zero lift at the rear bed mounts, you'd need 12 blocks instead of 8. I didn't use a block on the rear mount and the second from the rear would have been so thin that I just used a steel flat washer of the correct thickness instead.

 

You can't really avoid showing frame with any 3" body lift, right?

The angle shouldn't be that noticeable with a 1" taper. If you're actually looking for it, you'll probably see it. Otherwise, I'd say no.

 

rwenzing do you have any pictures of your truck?

 

Not with the body lift.

 

Try exporerforum.com and searching sloped body lift or tapered body lift, I think you'll find a few there to get an idea.

 

Do you happen to remember the lengths of the lift blocks? Because about 1 inch in the front will level my truck out nicely then a little t bar crank will put it at that perfect stance I want.

 

I put the dimensions away someplace where I wouldn't lose them and now they are nowhere to be found. The front under the radiator are 1.33" and the next ones back under the footwells are 1.00" but I don't remember any of the others. I'll post them the next time I find them.

Of course, what I used on mine would only work for a 98+ short bed supercab. Anything else would need its own set of calculations because the mount spacing is different.

 

someone photo shop this