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 raises the vehicle by lifting the body away from the frame with spacers. This keeps the frame at its existing distance from the ground.
A suspension lift is recommended for anyone planning to spend a lot of time off-road. A body lift is recommended for anyone that wants to make their vehicle look lifted with no true intentions of going off-road. This doesn’t mean that a body lifted vehicle can’t go off-road. It just won’t perform as well as a suspension lifted vehicle because it hasn’t gained any ground clearance.
Suspension lifts typically range between 2-inches to 6-inches (though there are some companies that produce “extreme” kits in excess of this), while body lifts range between 1-inch to 3-inches.
Suspension lifts are more complicated than body lifts because they alter the suspension components that give the vehicle its factory ride characteristics. Taller springs are typically stiffer than factory springs so the vehicle will have a harsher ride quality than with original equipment factory engineered 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. Depending on the vehicle, the transfer case may need to be lowered and the rear differential repositioned to minimize driveline vibrations. This is especially true for short wheelbase vehicles such as Jeeps because of their short rear driveline that isn’t readily accepting to increased u-joint angles.
Pros: Higher ground clearance, raised approach and departure angles, allows installation of larger wheels and 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: Inexpensive, can be installed quickly with basic hand tools, allows fitment of taller tires, simpler (all parts necessary 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.
Body lift kits are a popular choice for people new to the sport of off-roading. Their ease of installation make them great beginner projects for anyone just starting to get into off-roading and can be used in conjunction with a suspension lift should you decide to move up to something bigger in the future.