where are the 2"-3" 4X2 body lift kits???????

[junkman johnnie]

I want to raise my 70 body off the 2 wheel drive frame about 2"-3".... But the steering gear box is behind the front wheel. I don't think I can raise it because of the steering colum bolts right to the colum. I have two different 4 wheel drive gear boxes I could use. One is inside the frame, infrint of the wheel. And the other one is on the outside of the frame, in front of the wheel. How do I do this lift thing??? My frame is the 1977 F250 4X2 frame. After I lift up the cab I can put my bed on to match the bump sides....

[Redcap]

Why do you want a body lift?

[junkman johnnie]

Because of using the 77' F250 frame. It humps up over the rear axle. I can't get my bed line to match up to the cab line. It just don't look right having a bump side without all of the lines matching up. The only other thing I could do is to cut out the bed where it lays on the frame. Or if you know somehow to make everything work, please let me know.

[FORDification]

Your idea of using a 4x4 steering box and putting it in front of the axle isn't going to work, because you won't have any way of connecting to the steering linkage, which is behind the axle.

So you're saying the box doesn't lay down flat on the frame, that the arch for the rear axle is higher on your '77 frame than on the '70 frame? I've never actually tried it, but talked to dozens of folks who say it's a bolt-on job, so I'm confused on why you're having troubles. Is there any way you can post a pic or two to show us what you're trying to do?

[junkman johnnie]

I would love to show some flicks. But I don't know whaty I am doing wrong. I have alot of photos, which I have tried to download, but it says I have to many pixels for this format. I have photos from start to right now. Motor rebuild, cab switching, trani swap to a NP435, and now lifting the cab. At first the cab and bed looked like it would go together with no problems. But the more I get into it, the more it seems to not wanting to line up. As far as the steering linkage goes, I was going to swap spindels from side to side. Just turn it around the other way. That way the steering linkages would align. But the calipers would be on the wrong side, Front not Back. I wish I could go outside and just bolt my bed on!!!! I just think that I am doing too much at once.

[boots]

jcwhitney.com has body lifts for our f100's, but you have to modify the clutch, and like you said, the steering...

[FORDification]

You can't swap the spindles side-to-side either, because that's going to reverse your kingpin inclination angle....not good.

From what I understand the bed should just bolt straight up, after drilling new holes to match the wider framerail spacing. Set the bed on the frame right where it's supposed to be, and then take some pictures of what you feel are the problem areas and then send them to me. I'm going to send you a PM with my e-mail address. Just forward the pics to me and I'll resize them for you. We'll get this figured out....I think you just need a few folks here to look at things from a different perspective.

[FORDification]

Sorry about the delay. Got these pics from 'junkman johnnie' yesterday and got them edited, but then had a short period of ISP problems (no connection) and then forgot.









OK, from looking at these pics, it appears as if the first one is the frame kickup for a '67-'72 truck and the second one is for the '73-'79 truck, is that correct, jj?

It does appear as if the kickup on the '73-up frame is a bit taller than ours...I guess the question is how much taller? Is this where the bed is hitting, and not being allowed to sit down flat? Where is it contacting the bed....on the bed supports or the bed floor (between the supports)?

I would think that even with the kickup being a little taller on the later frame, it should still clear OK. The bed supports should be on either side of the kickup. Here's a pic of a LWB frame from one of my parts trucks. It's a 2WD, but I don't think there's any difference here from the 4WDs. You can see that there's a bed support on each side of the kickup, and the kickup could conceiveably be an inch or so higher before contacting the bed floor.

[junkman johnnie]

Okay finally, I think I got the picture thing down. Okay if you look at the photo of the 73'-79' frame. It is not the hump that is giving me the problems. It is the lip just above the wiring jumble. The F250 frame has that lip that bends up ward. It does that there and at the back of the frame on both sides. The 70' frame was 34" wide from bumper to bumper. And the 77' frame is 34" wide from front bumper to the back of the cab. The from the back of the cab to the rear bumper it goes to 37 1/4". The humps on the bed bottom rails, for it to lay down on the frame are in the wrong stops. Now can I cut those lips on the frame out? Or would that degergate the tensel strenght of the frame? That is why I was thinking of just lifting the boby 2". But then I would have problems with the steering knuckle to the steering colum shaft.

[FORDification]

ah...no, go ahead and grind those lips off, they're not going to affect the strength of the frame to any degree, but if you're worried about it, you can weld in a small piece of flat steel to give it a little extra support. Or you could just heat it up and bend it down enough for clearance. That would be a LOT faster and easier than trying to do a body lift on that truck and having to deal with all the complications that come from it.

As for loading pictures, here are some links for you to read which should explain everything:

http://fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7877