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How to install a Body Lift

46K views 35 replies 14 participants last post by  ferraiolo1 
#1 Ā·
First, let me start by saying this is a fairly straight forward project. My body lift from Zone is a 1.5" and came with very clear, illustrated instruction.

This "How To" will be more of a.....snags I found along the way kind of thing.

First of all, I'd line up someone to help you. It can be done by yourself, but it would be much easier to have someone...to at least grab wrenches if nothing else. Note here, when I'm tearing something apart, I have a tendency to put the bolts right back in the holes after removing them. Helps with losing bolts.

Disconnect the battery. Negative first, then positive. Make sure there's no way for the terminals to fall back where they go.....The memory in the battery cables makes them want to fall right back on top of the battery. We don't want an airbag going off!

I started by removing the top radiator cover. There's 8 retaining clips "nails" in the shroud. Simply insert a small screw driver into one of the notches and pry the center portion of the clip upward. Then put the screw driver under the base and pry up. They'll pop right out.

Then you have to remove the grille shell. There's 4 small bolts on top that need to come out. The shell is also held in by clips from the back side. Just squeeze the center of these clips with a pair of needle nosed pliers. I found it easier to start on the end because there's only one clip on each end. Work your way across, pulling the shell outward as you go. The clips want to jump back in so try to keep a little pressure on the shell to keep them disengaged.

Next, there are 4 small rosebud or Christmas tree clips that hold in the bottom radiator shroud up to your bumper. You only need to disconnect the clips on the bumper side. I have a little tool that is about an inch wide with a V in the end for popping these loose. They're about 5 bucks at the parts store and are a great investment.

Now crawl down under there and disconnect the fog light harnesses on each side. There's a little arm on the connector. Just depress it and pull straight back.

On this particular body lift, the tow hooks are relocated from left to right and flipped over. I marked them Left up and Right up, then took the bolts out and sat them aside.

Now is the time to take out the bumper bolts from the sides of the frame horns. Straight forward. Remove them and save the bolts (in this case) Now remove the bolt that hold the bumper to the bracket from the top.
There's a small ground wire on the RF body mount that can come off while you're there. You also need to remove the Outer bumper supports from the frame. They will be relocated later in the process. Repeat everything on the other side. Remove bumper.

Next comes the upper radiator hose. Theres another rosebud clip holding it in place. Just pop that rosebud loose.

Then, you'll want to remove your air intake tube from the box. Just unscrew the clamp and pull it loose.

There is a braided ground wire that is located just to the right of the brake booster on the firewall. This needs to be removed. (In my instructions it says this is for 2011 models only....don't know if they made it longer or not in later years.)

I ran in the house and jacked some white nail polish for the next step. I made a mark on the steering shaft at the union in the center of the shaft. Mark both sides so the orientation can be put back later. There's one bolt on this with a nut welded to a bent piece of sheet metal.

Next, remove the skid plate. There's 4 bolts in that.

Now, on top of the right frame rail, just toward the back of the wheel well, there's a starter wire, and O2 sensor wire that are held in place on the top of the frame. One has a "nail" and the other has a small bolt. Remove both.

Next is the Ebrake cable. It needs to be separated. I did this by pulling down on the cable and clamping some vice grips against the body mount to hold slack in the cable. There's a small silver piece that holds both cable ends. Its just about under the drivers feet. On the inside of this piece, there's two small detents on the end of each cable half to keep it from sliding out. I used a dremel with a small carbide bit to remove the detent from the front cable. Once this is ground flat, pull the front cable toward the back of the truck and it will lift right out. Then, squeeze the tabs on the retainer going through the body mount, pull the cable out through the body mount.

Now for the good stuff....Loosen but don't remove all of the cab body mount bolts. There's 3 on each side behind the wheels and one on the core support. The ones behind the wheel, come up from the bottom and thread into nuts welded to the inside of the body frame. The ones on the core support go in from the top and have a nut. Once all these are loose, go to the drivers side and remove the bolts. Now, I'm not sure about situations here, but I have Iron Cross step bars and I chose to place a small chunk of 2x6 on my jack and jack the body up from there. Worked like a charm. I put the jack just behind the front step. While jacking, I went up about one pump, then crawled under to check for things that may be getting stretched. Once it was just high enough to slip the pucks in, I put them in with the bolts just started and finger tight. I then went around to the other side and did the same. One pump on the jack, crawled under checking for issues. Once I had all 8 pucks in with the bolts started, I took the bolts out of the drivers side one by one, applying loctite and torquing to specs. Then I repeated this process on the right side. (The truck looks pretty funny now because the cab is so much higher than the bed lol)

Its time to put er all back together now. Just start reattaching everything in reverse order of taking it off.

Here's the catch....When you get to the Ebrake cable, there's a small tab of metal on the body mount. They say that you can bend this up and get enough clearance for the cable to go back together. LOL. That ain't happenin. I had to adjust enough slack into the cable with the adjuster to get it all back together. Then, I adjusted it back so it would work.

My kit required me to modify the front bumper brackets. There was a really good diagram in the instructions. Had to make 4 small cuts with the sawzall, then weld in a small gusset. The bumper is actually a serious pain to put back on yourself. You gotta get the bolts started and get them just barely snug, crawl out, move the bumper where you want it, crawl back under, snug em up some more, crawl back out..........and so on. Till you get er where you want it and get it nailed down.

My kit also came with brackets to relocate the outer bumper supports. They bolt right in place with no issues.

Also included was a little bracket to extend the ground strap by the brake booster. It came with 4 star washers to dig in good to everything so a good ground can be achieved.

I then just went around checking my instructions backwards to make sure everything I had disconnected was reconnected. Its nice having all the bolts in their holes now. Just take em back out, and reattach.

Pop the grill shell back in, bolts back in, pop the shroud back on, and Voila, the cab is up.

The bed is much easier. On my short bed, there's 3 bolts per side. The front one is in plain sight from the rear wheel well. The other two are back toward the back and up through the frame. Gonna need a long extension for these. I loosed all of the bolts, went back to the left and removed the bolts. (Oh, my buddy just showed up to see if I was "done yet") Whew, this is really gonna be easy now. I was scratching my head trying to figure out where the heck I was going to jack the bed up lol. Well with my bud here now, He jumped under the truck, and I lifted the bed via the wheel well opening. He slid the pucks in, and installed the bolts finger tight. Then we went to the other side, removed the bolts, I lifted, he slid the pucks in and put the bolts in finger tight. I then removed them one by one, loctite, torqued, DONE!

I can honestly tell you that I just followed the instructions to the letter. Wasn't too bad at all. I also know this isn't much of a "How To". I had intentions of photographing all the steps but with the frustration of trying to do it myself, I found I was half done with no pics. However, at the Zone Offroad site, if you go to the body lift section under your appropriate year, there's a pdf you can download with awesome pics of each step. It would be worth printing out even if you got a different lift.

http://4x4media.info/instructions/zon/C9150.pdf That's the link to the 07-12 Silverado 1.5" lift instructions.

I hope that this will help someone in the future. It's not a bad job, and very rewarding when done.
 
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#2 Ā·
how did u not get a single comment on this...thank you for the how to a 1.25" RC kit will be on its way to my house shortly...and then some 295/70R18 trail graps :)
 
#7 Ā·
no u just cant tow using the bumper but if you got a hitch you are straight....the bumper is just relocated and no longer is directly a part of the frame
 
#10 Ā·
Nice Write up Voodoo, I have been doing My Research, and just Ordered the Zone 1.5 with Front and Rear Brackets!!

Hopefully this will keep me Happy for a while, until I save the Cash for a BDS 6", with 18s on 35s to Compliment the Body Lift!! I'm Pumped, and Can't wait to get Started...

You have the Rear Wheel Liners, correct? Do they Cover the Gap Created with the Body Lift? If so, I will be getting a set.
 
#14 Ā·
alright i have a 1.25" body lift from RC coming to me should be here monday!!! now im gonna be itching to put it on! cant wait!!! got it for $80 bucks off a dude from gmfullsize brand new in the box...im pumped needless to say finally gonna have almost a 5" lift...then maybe a 5" kit will still be in the future..
 
#23 Ā·
I know this thread was started a while back, but my question still applies to the content here.

1) I've read the instructions and didn't see anything about the steering linkage needing to be adjusted. In my previous build up of my 4Runner I installed a Flaming River's Steering setup that worked on a large slip-spline, allowing for different lengths of steering linkage. From what I've seen of the Silverado's steering linkage, it's appears to be a fixed length. During the install of the 1.5" LIft, does the steering linkage need to be adjusted OR should it be adjusted.

2) Compared to the Rough Country lift, which claims to have better body mounts to keep the ride quieter, did you notice any sound difference in the ride after installing the BDS Body lift?

3) It appears the Rough Country Body Lift has a few more brackets for the rear bumper (support maybe), do you think it the Rough Country is worth the money?

I was looking at the Rough Country because they claim that their lift retains the "Noise and Vibration Cancelling" characteristics..... Personally, I don't know....
 
#24 Ā·
1) I have installed 1.5in body lifts on a 08, 09, and 15 trucks. The steering linkage gets unbolted to make sure you have enough slack to lift the body up to slide the puck under it. Once you lower the body back down the steering linkage holes line right back up

2) I have only installed Zone body lifts which are similar to the BDS. I had 50,000miles on my 08 with the body lift and not once did anything squeak, rattle, or come loose.

3) my tenant just purchased a RC 1.25in body lift for his truck that we will be installing this weekend, so I can let you know how it compares to the Zone.
 
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