Whats the difference

[david306]

Between a body lift and suspension lift...why do one or the other ???

[Medieval Dave]

Between a body lift and suspension lift...why do one or the other ???

The very basic answer is:

Suspension lift is just changing the springs and shocks for longer ones. it's easy to do and gives more suspension travel, but you cannot do much more than a couple of inches without getting more complicated beacuse the joints in the drivetrain are not designed to turn through more extreme angles. there are other practicalities to having too much travel as well.

If you want more hieght, perhaps to insrease the clearance angles to avoid grounding whilst offroading, you need to look at body lift.

Because the surf is a proper 4x4 with a seperate chassis to which the engine, suspension and drive trail attach, with the body just sat on top, you can unbolt the body (9 bolts i beleive) and jack it up and put some spacers in between. again you can do a couple of inches quite easily before you have to get more clever with extenbing the gearshift, moving the radiator etc.

My surf is stock in this department appart from stiffer springs because it's also my main road car, but a lot of people who offroad seem to have a 2+2 lift, two on the springs and 2 on the body. there's plenty on here who can help if you want to do it.

Go on tony, now you tell him properly!

[david306]

Super thanks, I understand what each involves as i have trawled through the forum , was just trying to clarify the pros and cons of each...

I would not like much more than 3" lift for asthetic purposes, so looks like a 1" body raise and a new set of ES9000 shocks and bigger springs ( or spacers ) ...does this sound about right ????... Then i could go for an 8 inch rim with 32" tyres ... I would like a specialist to do the work for me but its gonna be a logistical problem, so i will have to get my local mech to do it...He is into rallying and changed his left HD to right HD so i reckon he could handle this...

With a ssuspension lift what are the main alterations needed ???

I have just bought a surf, a bold decision... i looked at a few pics and stuck a deposit on it !!!....I live in NIreland and i am flying over to London to get it next week...

Dave........

[Medieval Dave]

There are a number of 'kits' available, and there is plenty of experience on here. I'll not try and give you advice though, I'll let someone who has actually done the mods themselves chime in.

Fill in the type/year of your surf in your profile so it shows up next to your post so people know which vehicle they are talking about.

[stormforce]

the suspension you can do yourself with no probs at all,it took about 3 hours to

do do my 2inch lift but i have just got a 3lt now and will be lifting that aswell but the bodylift i will will do myself but will get help from someone whose done it b4

[That Ruddy Squirrel]

Here's a thread for kits made by members here


Trev