body lift failure

[Big-wagon87]

has anybody replaced broken body mounts I am not talking about crushed blocks but cab failure. my whole passenger side broke out. looks loike I wil need to make a front and a mid panel to repair the rusted out body mounts. any one done this before. while I am repairing the body damage I will remove the gas tank and go for a fuel cell. any fuel cell ideas or places to get em cheap?

on the body mounts its like just where the nut is at on the cab is eaten away maybe salt and road grime got to em. there is good metal around the mount plenty to weld a plate.

[Kaiser]

This is a VERY common issue for people who run body lifts (esp if running 2"+ body lifts). Was always a question of when (not if). Never saw crushed spacers, but rather cab failure.
1" body lifts seem to be the way to go if you MUST do a body lift. To distribute load on the chassis you can use hockey pucks.

[JeepNOFEAR]

I just cut out the metal to do the rear last night. My back 2 body mounts weren't even connected to the body. If you want pictures I can take some after its welded in this weekend.

This is on my truck without the body lift. I hate rust. :mad:

[grand_wag_85]

So a 2 or 3" isn't a good idea whatsoever if ya wheel hard?

[incommando]

The leverage of those longer bolts puts a lot more strain on the mounting points. I have personally seen bodies seperate from frames in accidents when tall body lifts were installed.

Wasn't it Archimedes who said " give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum strong enough and I will move the world?"

[Kaiser]

The leverage of those longer bolts puts a lot more strain on the mounting points. I have personally seen bodies seperate from frames in accidents when tall body lifts were installed.

Wasn't it Archimedes who said " give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum strong enough and I will move the world?"


BINGO!

A good buddy of mine had a 4" body lift (ah the good old days of high school on the res!). Anyhow, we were going baja when all the sudden we came off a knoll and voila! Off came the entire rear bed of the pickup with the fuel tank!
Just over 60 miles in the middle of nowhere trying to figure out how to remount a fuel tank with a torn gash in it. We got to a highway, but had to walk the last 8 or so miles of it. Lightened the rig significantly.
Again... 1" is okay. Maybe 1.5", but stay away from body lifts in general if at all possible.

[Big-wagon87]

This is on my truck without the body lift. I hate rust. :mad:[/quote

10/4 on the rust thats my whole deal the cab failed due to Ky's crappy weather. as for the pics post them I would like to see how you went about this. I would have had this problem any way the blocks just helped out.

[Elliott]

Tadsal built a leverage defeating lift block design that should work excellent:

http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10011/Lift.bmp

[Jeep4myBoys]

Not to say anything negative about Tad's work, but to actually "defeat" leverage, you would probably need to gusset those pretty well too. Definately better than rubber or poly body lifts, though.

My friend's chero has a 3" body lift, and crawling causes it to shift so badly, by the end of the day the t-case won't stay in low, and he can't manually shift the tranny into 1st, sometimes even 2nd it's moved so far.

[AlsChopShop]

so this thread should be labeled cab floor failure, not bodylift failure as the body mounts are still in tact. the rusty cab is the problem.:huh:

Al

[Brad W.]

they are gusseted... look again, the back of the block is not hollow!

[Big-wagon87]

so this thread should be labeled cab floor failure, not bodylift failure as the body mounts are still in tact. the rusty cab is the problem.:huh:

Al


YEP that sums it up? the blocks look good the cab not sooo good.

I have seen blocks crumble before but most of the time the body will crumble or tear from the added height. looks like tads mounts could keep the body more stable.

[Elliott]

The blocks are also stronger then any other mount on the frame so if something rips it won't be block failure. I know a lot of guys don't like the body lifts, but I think by keeping the frame low and lifting the body it really helps to keep the center of gravity lower then just lifting the entire rig.

[Tad]

Not to say anything negative about Tad's work, but to actually "defeat" leverage, you would probably need to gusset those pretty well too. Definately better than rubber or poly body lifts, though...
Don't wory about it, what I made will not work for you new mount folks anyway, you have a way different setup than the older rigs.

Anywho,
I'm on the same page as Al.
This is about piss poor bodymount design from the get go.
Our older ones were not great, but that captive nut in the floor is just plain dumb.

[yeep74]

so this thread should be labeled cab floor failure, not bodylift failure as the body mounts are still in tact. the rusty cab is the problem.:huh:

Al

Yep.

I have only seen 2 bodylift failures in person: 1 was an old plastic on that got old and cracked. The other was because of inferior mounting hardware. The whole cab of a toyota came off during a rollover.

I used solid aluminum pucks on mine to limit age fatigue failures. My cab mounts were not rusted out aso I did not have to do anythying with them. I still used a 1/8" fender washer up top to spread the load around a little.

[rustywagoneers_com]

http://www.rustywagoneers.com/rockermnt.JPG





i usually start with rusted out junk trucks too. the body mount channels and mounts and floor are usually compromised, at best. i make new mounts while fixing the floor, and i make new rockers, and then tie everything together, so that it cannot tip over, ever, never, no way. the rockers are 3x3 x.25 angle, V pointing down, the body mounts are 2 inch square, 3/16ths (iirc) and the round tubing between the body mounts is 2 inch od, and i think it was a 3/16ths wall, or maybe 7 gage... the stringers from the round to the rocker are 1-1/4 by 3/16ths.

around here there are very few decent examples of FSJ's to start with, so you can either give up or figure out how to make it live, (and to do what you want too)

peace
Dave

[Stumblinman]

I saw a lot of body mount threads so instead of adding yet another one I thought I would just tack my question onto an existing one.

I used rubber for a boat trailer. I do not recommend this unless you need something small with a lot of give. So now I'm replacing them.

The bolts came out easily the first time but I guess all the movement has busted a nut loose. The problem is it's the one right behind the front wheel. OH yeah this is on an '88 Gwagoneer. I dremeled out a nice little window on the side above the mount but all I can feel is smooth. Before I cut holes everywhere I thought I'd check and maybe someone here has come across this. Maybe I have to cut the front of the mount right behind the tire ? Thanks

[imiceman44]

Don't wory about it, what I made will not work for you new mount folks anyway, you have a way different setup than the older rigs.

Anywho,
I'm on the same page as Al.
This is about piss poor bodymount design from the get go.
Our older ones were not great, but that captive nut in the floor is just plain dumb.

Your block has some good aspects to it but leverage defying is not one of them.
The square shape and size matches better the body than the small round poly lifts, the short bolts have less stretch than the long single bolt and the fact that it's bolted top and bottom, there is no chance of the blocks sliding/Shifting if the bolts stretch.
The leverage on the cab mounts still is the same though because you still have the same distance between cab and frame, which is the leverage.
I am using the poly 3" on my waggy but it's only a slow rock crawling vehicle, I wouldn't want any jumping or high speed cornering with poly block and long bolts, they will give and problems will happen.

[Tad]

Your block has some good aspects to it but leverage defying is not one of them.

I think when Elliott used the term "leverage defeating" he only used it as a phrase, I certianly never thought of them in that respect.
For our older rigs (that pic is on a '73 not my rig) we don't get a lot of aftermarket options, so we get creative and make our own stuff.

[j20brett]

I am using the poly 3" on my waggy but it's only a slow rock crawling vehicle, I wouldn't want any jumping or high speed cornering with poly block and long bolts, they will give and problems will happen.

So you are using a tall body lift on a crawling vehicle...Crawling eventually leads to flops/rolls and therefore ALOT of leverage coming down on said 3" blocks usually leading to failure. Even slow rock crawling can cause violent rolls if you roll down romething steep enough...

[orangecherokee]

I run a 2" body lift and haven't seen issue one. I 'm usually under there for some reason and I check things out. I've yet to see anything bad about the 2". I bought it when I was young and dumb. The original rubber mounts are completely squished and I really need to new ones but I just can't justify $100+ for rubber mounts.

At one time I made a statement that I would find the cheap alternative. I think I did that 2 years ago and I haven't even started that quest. I understand hockey pucks but those things don't squish and would probably give you the wagon wheel ride.

[Elliott]

I think when Elliott used the term "leverage defeating" he only used it as a phrase, I certianly never thought of them in that respect.
For our older rigs (that pic is on a '73 not my rig) we don't get a lot of aftermarket options, so we get creative and make our own stuff.

Yes, leverage "defeating" in the sense that you defeat the leverage that would be on the block if a long through bolt was used.

[jeepjerry]

:thumbsdown: No body lifting over 2" for me.

[PlasticBoob]

:thumbsdown: No body lifting over 2" for me.

I have 8" of body lift (ABS pipe is so versatile!), so far so good! :confused:

[Stumblinman]

OK sorry for ressurecting this one. I figured out my problem though :o I thought the nuts were tacked in there. I didn't know it was a square nut with a square cup tacked around it... It just took a little exploratory surgery to figure out. I still don't know why it was done that way...

I am happy to have a body lift because of the easy access you get. I busted every knuckle and I think a couple toes when I had to get the xfer case out when it blew. After the body lift all became much easier. Then when the tranny lost 1st/Rev I was able to take it out w/out taking off the inside cover/rug etc.

[beloth]

Tadsal built a leverage defeating lift block design that should work excellent:

http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10011/Lift.bmp


i can testify to this product being AWESOME!

I have had this in a 2 inch lift version on my jeep for the last 2 plus years with ZERO problems what so ever...i beat the hell out of my jeep too....definitely would recommend this type of a body lift to anyone.