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H3 2" Body Lift

amrg

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2" Body Lift

I finally started work today on the 2" body lift for my H3. I currently have 1" but going 2" to clear 37s with my less offset wheels. It took time to figure out the bolts needed and those took a long time to ship.

I got the bolts from jet supply and the body lift blocks from zone offroad

Parts (to be updated):

12 bolts M14x2.0x200 mm, zinc plated, partial thread

https://www.jetfitting.com/din-931-...-partially-threaded-coarse-thread-quantity-12

12 blocks 3" diameter x 2" height

http://zoneoffroad.com/zone-offroad-products-body-lift-blocks-2in-/3296

I will update the list as I go, work in progress at the moment. I expect I may need an upper radiator hose and possibly some sort of steering shaft extension but I hope that the stock ones are good enough.

I run an efan so no mods to the radiator expected but my custom intake setup may need to be redone.

(Update: Humvee did a 2" body lift and gis feedback was that on a stock alpha the fan shroud will need 2" of the lower half trimmed and the upper radiator hose slip back on the radiator inlet just abit to give it some slack. Lower radiator hose will also need to be adjusted as to not interfere with the clutch fan)

Update: Final with rock rails rewelded up and bush gaurd extended
731c2a38d2d5530f35f227746f83c367.jpg
 
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jakesz28

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On the steering shaft, not sure if the H3 is the same, usually you heat them up to melt the plastic. Then you can extend it a little bit. After you get it to slide and extend some you can tack weld it to maintain the correct length.
 

SlcHummer

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Salt Lake City, UT
I remember seeing a now 1.25" body lift by outfitter design. Why not go with them?

Cause it's not 2" ;). Jk, probably cause the 1.25" outfitter design body lift still requires some "minor trimming in the wheel wells". I don't know this from experience, just got this info from the outfitter design site.
 
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ConcealedGLOCK

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Utah
Cause it's not 2" ;). Jk, probably cause the 1.25" outfitter design body lift still requires some "minor trimming in the wheel wells". I don't know this from experience, just got this info from the outfitter design site.

I'd definitely want the most lift so I don't blame him lol. I'm curious what the finished look is with 2" of body lift.
 
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amrg

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Well yes 2" is better than 1.25" and better than 1" but at 2" the body gaps are going to be big and I have no idea what to expect!

At least O.D. have tested & created a 1.25" b.l. + some sort of 0.5" spacer to help hide the front bumper/grill gap some which makes the H3 look fine!

But yes my main reason for a 2" is to minimize the cutting and give some fender clearance with the 37s so I dont rip em off at high speed bumps, esp when using those aftermarket wheels.

The picture attached is for another member, 1" b.l. and 37s on similar offset wheels to what Im using. You can see the rear of the front fenders were cut but the vertical wheel to fender clearance is too little imo for what I need!
dcb6d78f90303ff2d3bf59fe266d474a.jpg
 

amrg

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Just a quick update...

I managed to remove all bolts and swapped the passenger side daystar pucks with the 2" zone offroad ones. The bolts Im using are 200 mm which turned put to be slightly long and hit the body when fully bolted. Had to go to the store and get some nuts and washers to use as a spacer.

One thing I noticed was that the old daystar bolts were deformed under use. They were no longer a true 1" and I guess the same will eventually happen to the new ones.

a41e8f59232be9fd8b7575f7464b13de.jpg
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atvspeed4

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Just a quick update...

I managed to remove all bolts and swapped the passenger side daystar pucks with the 2" zone offroad ones. The bolts Im using are 200 mm which turned put to be slightly long and hit the body when fully bolted. Had to go to the store and get some nuts and washers to use as a spacer.

One thing I noticed was that the old daystar bolts were deformed under use. They were no longer a true 1" and I guess the same will eventually happen to the new ones.

a41e8f59232be9fd8b7575f7464b13de.jpg
5844f7d715d9513ae6e0bc89477653bf.jpg
The new ones should not do that. Part of the reason we made our own kit was we did not have faith in a not that high durometer urethane for a spacer along with it being the wrong diameter. 2" diameter should have never been used on an h3.
 

amrg

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Well I was abit busy the past few days but I managed with my brothers help to get some work done tonight.

I had 4 bolts which are rusted in the metal sleeve and have had em sprayed with WD-40 for 3 days now. I managed to get 2 out but since I dont have a vice and a bfh the remaining 2 will need to be taken to a press shop to be pressed out! I have installed the 2" blocks all around and got 7 bolts on hand tightened though. For some reason bolt #8 isnt going inside the captive nut inside the body mount so will see how to address that later on....

Now to the important part:

1. The fuel tank to filler neck hose has enough slack in it

2. The lower radiator hose has slack (at least on my Alpha). For someone running a clutch fan it will need to be tied properly to not interfere with the fan

3. The upper radiator hose is fine but I need to remove my intake pipe and take a good look at it

4. The trans shifter cable is fine. Keep in mind the alpha is a two piece cable while the 5 cylinder is 1 piece

5. The steering linkage seeks fine. I cycled full lock either direction and no binding or any strange issues. Obviously im no expert so if there are things I need to look at please let me know

6. Parking cable still meeds checking

7. All wiring in my situation seems fine. I will also need to inspect it carefully.

8. My air intake setup seems to be fine. I believe a stock alpha setup has enough room to work

9. My ground cable seems ok but I have modified it when I did the big 3 setup with the high output alternator

I dont know if anything else needs addressing or looking at but im more than open to suggestions.

One thing I would recommend to anyone attempting this, get new body mounts! My mounts are fine but some have age on them (11 years). I didnt have this in mind before so I didnt get any and the dealer here will charge me $$$$ for them plus a 3 week lead time (It would cost me less but still take the same anount of time if i get em from the states)
 

amrg

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Well I got abit side tracked lately and the truck is still on standby but I got 10 out of 12 bolts installed.
The remaining two I had to go to a machine shop to use a press to push the old bolts out. It wasnt as straight forward, the bolts were too rusted inside the metal sleeve so ended up cutting the old bolts head in order to pull the body bushing out then heating the sleeve itself before having to use the press to get the bolt out (a hammer still wouldnt do it)!

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amrg

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Well I finally got sometime off to work on the truck, doesnt help that the temps hit 115* in the day and 100* at night but anyway, need to finish!
I got everything in and tightened as much as possible. Rechecked everything I can think off again, double checked the fuel lines, radiator hoses, accessory pulley clearances, wiring, etc and nothing looked out of the ordinary. The intake pipe needed to be realigned and did that. The upper radiator hose slipped abit on the radiator inlet but still had room left.
So I started the truck, let it idle for 10 mins, revved it a few times to check how the radiator hoses/air intake act as the engine moves and then drove it around the block. So far so good, it was 1 am so called it a night!
Fast forward to today, its sunny which meant lots of light to work. Rechecked everything, then drove the truck to the local mechanic to borrow the torque wrench. The daystar torque specs list 75 ftlb so I used that as my baseline, 5 of the 12 bolts needed 1/2 a turn, the rest where ok. I then got a much needed wash and took pics!

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Here are the closups

Body to slider gap
397178a981f3b34fca5b78c2da32c983.jpg

Rear gap
a132022d1ad8aba0c428583ba9e9c6ab.jpg

Steering shaft
85558569693b4e4c391d6044c122e65b.jpg

Fuel line to filler neck
9a05ae7f8fe35292db408ca2f5618ff5.jpg
 

amrg

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Front grille amd bumper gap
427a5390fe3a7d9ca5f995dad4c2fdaf.jpg
e6d0c98f815650c0f991a231e589de8d.jpg

My leveled H3 with 2" body lift and worn out 35s vs my bros JK with 2.5" suspension lift and new 35s
969a9082ec11b2deac20b6b480d4e902.jpg
 

cbetts

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One of the gotchyas I had with my body lift was my air intake. The AirDoc is not as flexible and kept popping off on the trail at the air box. I contribute it to the torque applied when climbing steep hills, pulling the body further from the frame and the engine torquing t`o the side. I started making it part of my post trail checklist to re-seating that connection.
 

amrg

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I am running a custom intake and I had enough room to accomodate to the extra 1" body lift but I will surely keep it in mind as I havent tried full throttle launches.
As for your case, you can try and accomodate a hump hose coupler as it will allow for some flex in the intake setup esp in cases like yours
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/hump-hose/hump-hose-coupler-p-431.html

Btw I noticed that the air intake box on the alpha sits lower than the throttle body so a body lift would put it level or slightly higher which the stock intake can easily accomodate
 

amrg

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Just a small cosmetic update....

Added door edge weather strips that were 45mm height to hide the front bumper/body gap. Turned out alright

cff0c7f4cec66d86e0474f6dc445b2a9.jpg
 

Sennin

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come on, you must complete your write-up, give us the full final view :wink:

i'm just trolling here, lead time on my 37"s are 4 to 6 months :gaah:
 

amrg

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Another update, modded the rock sliders by cutting the mounts off and welding an extension. Had them raised 2" and outwards 1". Looks better that way
07ad5b5c17cadf2efa1fc2065ca66b03.jpg
 

StandoutAlpha

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Minnesota
Question about your 2" body lift

Sorry to bring back an old thread. Please excuse me...

Hows the 2" body lift holding up? Run into any problems?

I just recently bought an 08 H3 Alpha and planning to go bigger wheels and tires.
My Alpha already came with 20x9 -12 offset on 275-65r20 approx 34in tires *no rub*.

My next wheel & tire setup will be 22x12 -51 offset on 35x12.50r22 tires.
I know 35's will fit but not with negative offset wheels<--It will but will probably rub**
I'm trying to stay away from any rubbing or any trimming.

I'm thinking of cranking up the T-bar, adding extended rear shackles and possibly a custom made 1.75" body lift.
Why 1.75" because it is not to little and not to much lift.<---bumper gaps kills it
Plus I found some body mount bolts online, M14-2.0x180mm
I did the math if 1" lift uses 160mm(L) bolts then add another .75" lift (.75in=19.05mm) 160mm+19.05mm = 179.05mm *so the 180mm bolts will be a perfect length for the 1.75" body lift*
 

amrg

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What gaps? If you're willing to dive into this dont let body gaps discourage you, they are an easy fix and no one will tell the difference.
If i had to do it again, id go 2.5" amd extend the steering linkage, just coz its possible and for more clearance, which,
With my 37x12.5r17 on -12 offset, I had to trim some of the fender liners and the front bumper where the tires were rubbing. I still need to trim thr body, the other day I went on a rough desert road and my tire went up enough to push the metal piece between the fender and the door out of place, now my passenger door wont open until I readjust that. I dont know if the tire went up and pushed the liner against it, or if the tire hit the fender and it being clipped to this metal piece then pushed it out of place. Im gona start by removing the liner and trimming the sheet metal there.
Eitherway, i love how it ended up. Wish I went more. Recently one guy went 3" on his duramax build, love how it looks.

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StandoutAlpha

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@amrg
The gap can be easily fix but I'm trying keep the cost low. I don't want to deal with extended lines, steering linkage and etc.

Do you think the 1.75" body lift is enough to clear 35x12.50r22 tires on some 22x12 -51 offset wheels? Do I need 2" or more? or is 1.75" plenty?
Like I said I do not want to trim anything worst case a very slight rub on full lock is ok I guess....

Don't want to lift it more than I have to. A body lift is a body lift, a suspension lift is a suspension lift. I prefer a suspension lift over a body lift but these H3's don't have much option on suspension lifts.
I'll only do a body lift If I have to for extra clearance.
 

amrg

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If I had to guess, with 1.75" body lift you may get away up to -30mm offset with 35s. Doubt more. That also doesnt take into account the actual measurement of your 35s. Mounted, the actual measurement can varry from 33.5" up to 34.5", thats a big difference.

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