Lift question

[monsterz4]

Hi folks. Last week i bought a lifted Gen 3 petrol. As you will see in the pictures in the 'General', it now sits pretty high, as opposed to standard.
The truck has 'Bilstein' shocks which i think gives some of the lift, along with a body off the chassis lift of about 3 inches (in the pictures, the blue block between chassis and body is 3 inches). I have no idea when or where the work was done, which kind of bugs me, as i don't know if it was done properly, but all seems well, apart from one thing.
When the truck moves around, especially on things like imperfections on the road, and lets face it, there are plenty of them, there seems to be noise coming from the back of the truck. It almost sounds like it is within the cabin, but have investigated and drew blanks.
The noise is alomost like a 'click' or something tapping against something else, somewhere around the rear Left Hand suspension set up.
I have been under the truck and made the following observations. If you sit beneath the truck behind the rear axel, then move the truck body around, you can see some movement in both of the blue chocks that lift the body up. (pictured below)
If you really rock the body about, you can then hear the clicking noise described coming from the Left Hand side somewhere.
Should there be this kind of movement, or is it nothing to worry about? There is only a few mm of movement, and everything looks tight and as it should be. Any suggestions?

[dieselboy]

I have never done a body lift, nor have I ever adjusted any of the bolts which hold the body to the chassis. But sense tells me that the body should not move like you describe.

Another thing tells me that if it were designed to move, then there would be rubber in between the mounts so that the bolts remained tight but the movement was cushioned by rubber. Since yours doesnt seem to have this, then I would think that it should not move.

Have you tried tightening them?

[Albannach]

If the jack on a Turd gen is under the rear passenger seat (like a 2nd gen), check it's stowed tightly.

[monsterz4]

If the jack on a Turd gen is under the rear passenger seat (like a 2nd gen), check it's stowed tightly.

Sadly i checked that already, all is in order there.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Are they 4" lift blocks?

I wouldn't go higher than 2" personally unless there was at least 14mm dia bolts going through them. A lot of stress and leverage are exerted on those bolts as you accelerate/brake/corner.

Could be that the bolts that go through your blocks are not thick enough allowing movment.

[Albannach]

Could be that the bolts that go through your blocks are not thick enough allowing movment.

Aye, I was going to ask that next.

[TonyN]

Are those cracks in the box section above the body block?

Its a big block, I'd expect to see a little 'flex' in them it you give some stick between top and bottom, thats the down side of lifting it like that but it shouldn't 'move'.

Make sure there is nothing loose in the load area pockets, thats caught me out before.

Otherwise check you rear shock mounts, the panhard rod, and the radius arm mounts for movement.

Also the exhaust could be knocking on something to.

If its got an underneath spare, check the winch mech isn't loose, if spare is on the back, take it off and try it then.

[Albannach]

Those are cracks. I thought the spot welded seam looked a bit funny too? If there are bigger cracks at the back, they could be causing the noise?

[monsterz4]

Those are cracks. I thought the spot welded seam looked a bit funny too? If there are bigger cracks at the back, they could be causing the noise?

Cracks? What and where? And how serious?

I'll give it all a clean and take some more pictures.

[Apache]

Are they serious? Cracks where your body attached to the chassis - feckin A1 grade serious!

Thats if they are cracks and not stains of some sort. Get underneath and check very very carefully. Its highly possible given the amount of stress long body lift blocks would exert - particularly if fitted with bolts of insufficient thickness / grade as they'd stretch over time, exacerbating the problem.

[monsterz4]

Are they serious? Cracks where your body attached to the chassis - feckin A1 grade serious!

Thats if they are cracks and not stains of some sort. Get underneath and check very very carefully. Its highly possible given the amount of stress long body lift blocks would exert - particularly if fitted with bolts of insufficient thickness / grade as they'd stretch over time, exacerbating the problem.

I have just been out and cleaned where the box section runs across the vehicle from L-R and which sits on top of the lift block. They are 'NOT' cracks, what appeared to be cracks wiped off.

They are 4" lifting blocks though.

[monsterz4]

Here is hopefully a better pictures of where the top of the Lift block meets the box section. There does not appear to be any cracking, but possible some abrasion around the top of the lifting block. Could this be due to small amounts of movement?

And big ask time, what the solution?

[Apache]

Relief eh?

A way to strengthen the assembly would be to pull the bolts out and fit the biggest diameter (within reason!) ones you can, carefully drilling out where necessary, then with appropriate washers, bolting it all together very tightly indeed to prevent any likelyhood of the blocks 'rocking' in the future.

[monsterz4]

Relief eh?

A way to strengthen the assembly would be to pull the bolts out and fit the biggest diameter (within reason!) ones you can, carefully drilling out where necessary, then with appropriate washers, bolting it all together very tightly indeed to prevent any likelyhood of the blocks 'rocking' in the future.

Thats kind of what i was hoping you were going to say. On an earlier post in this thread, someone mentioned 14mm bolts to go all the way through. Would this be a suitable diameter?

How tough a job would this actually be? I can obviously see the bottoms of the 8 lift blocks, but how do you access the tops, in order to remove them and replace them with stronger ones? Is this a job that can be done one at a time, working round the truck in a circle? The other 6 are all very well secured.

Once again, thanks for the advice.

Mark

[BUSHWHACKER]

You access eight of the bolts from inside the cabin under the carpet.
The other two are behind the bumper.

Can you post a photo of the steering shaft spacer, (you should be able to see it under the wheel arch) I'd love to see what that looks like!