15 Dec 09 Body Lift or Suspension Lift: What’s the Difference?

There are essentially two ways to lift your 4WD vehicle and they are suspension lift and body lift. Each method has its pros and cons which most often involve price, performance, and ease of installation. Before going further, let's first distinguish between the two.

A suspension lift raises the vehicle's frame (chassis) away from the ground. This is accomplished with taller springs, lift blocks, spring spacers, lowering the differential, turning up the torsion bars, or any combination thereof.

A body lift is much simpler in that it raises only the body away from the frame with spacers. The frame remains in the same location relative to the ground.

A suspension lifted vehicle will perform better than a body lifted vehicle off-road. This doesn't mean that a body lifted vehicle can't go off-road. It simply won't perform as well as a suspension lifted vehicle because the frame hasn't gained any ground clearance.

Suspension lifts are most often made between 2-inches to 6-inches, while body lifts range between 1-inch to 3-inches.

A suspension lift is more complicated than a body lift because it alters all of the suspension components that give the vehicle its factory ride characteristics. Installing springs that generate lift will have a harsher ride quality than with soft factory springs. Longer shock absorbers will be needed. The vehicle will also have a higher center of gravity because the entire weight of the vehicle (everything except the axles) will now be raised further from the ground. In some cases, the transfer case will need to be lowered and the rear differential repositioned to minimize driveline vibrations as the Jeep Wrangler is notorious for having a short rear driveline that isn't readily accepting to increased u-joint angles.

Pros: Increases ground clearance, increased approach and departure angles, allows fitment of larger tires.

Cons: Expensive, installation usually takes longer, driveline angles are increased (more susceptible to vibrations), re-route or lengthen the brake lines, new shocks needed, raised center of gravity.

A body lift is relatively simple in that it primarily consists of a set of spacers that are inserted at the mounting points between the frame and body of the vehicle. This leaves all the heavy parts of the vehicle (frame, engine, transmission, transfer case, etc) at their factory locations so the vehicle's center of gravity (though increased) will not be increased as much as a suspension lift.

Pros: Cheap, can be installed faster than a suspension lift, allows fitment of larger tires, simple (all components come in a small box).

Cons: Appearance (a gap between the body tub and the frame will now be visible), extra leverage is placed on the mounting points (this is especially true for higher lifts), no increase in ground clearance.

Bringing all this information together, a body lift's sole benefit is to allow the installation of larger tires whereas a suspension lift is designed for improved performance off-road (while also allowing the installation of larger tires). If you're on a budget and want to make your vehicle look like a big off-road rig with no real intentions of ever going off-road, then a body lift would be adequate for you. Contrary, if budget is not a concern and your true intention is to make your vehicle more off-road capable, then a suspension lift is the only way to go.

Now that you've been educated on the differences of suspension lifts and body lifts, you might want to visit MY4BY OFF ROAD and browse their ever-growing inventory of off-road parts and decide for yourself what type of lift is best for you and your driving needs.

categories: car parts,auto parts,cars,trucks,autos,vehicles,repair,maintenance,driving,suspension,chassis

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