body mount removal???

[Evil-Erik]

I machined 2inch body lift spacers for my tracker out of a piece of 3 inch roundstock Melrin (a.k.a. Acetyle) i have not put them on yet as i do not know how you get the studs out of the body. It looks to me that there is a stud into the body and a nut screwed onto the stud. Is this correct? if so can i replace the stud and nut for a 10mm bolt instead?any info on how to pull it apart would be great thanks.

[MarkB.NV]

Here's a couple of links to body lift installs.

Budget 4 Door Lift

Tracker Body Lift

I used a spacer kit from lowrangeoffroad.com, and when I did mine, the
instructions were something like ...
1. remove grill and then headlights
2. then remove the bumpers, rear has a cover piece to take off first
3. remove the little metal clips that hold the front brake lines to the struts
4. lower the purge canister from its mount, remove center console and shifter
mechanisms
5. release the rubber hose that connects the air cleaner box
6. remove the three nuts on the passenger body mounts, and remove the
one bolt from under the passenger headlight
7. loosen the nuts and bolt from the driver side -but dont remove yet
8. lift passenger side body off of frame using a 2ft long 2x6 to distribute the
stress and prevent warping of the body -be careful to watch for any wires
hoses or other obstructions
9. lift body up ~4 inches and install spacers - there are four through the body mounts and one that gets glued in place between the two center ones
10. lower the body keeping the spacers centered around body mount bolts
and install special nuts (these are countersunk into body spacers)
11. glue the 5th spacer into place under body cushion
12. snug down the nuts / bolts and repeat process for drivers side
13. check the fuel filler hose to see that it does not get stretched - you
may need to add a short extension section, or move the ends up a half
inch on the tank and the filler neck
14. reconnect and then double check all the hoses and air box intake, purge
canister, and brake line clips
15. tighten all nuts and bolts for body mounts
16. replace headlights and front grill
17. using a torch, heat and bend shifters to fit - I bent mine forward about
two inches
18. re-install shifters and center console
I may have missed something

[Evil-Erik]

thanks that helped a little but how would i get my spacers to work i was thinking it would be more like a conventional body lift

[MarkB.NV]

The original body mount has a rubber cushion above and below the frame bracket.




If you have cut the 2 inch square tubing like these parts ...



Then you want to assemble the spacer with the rubber cushions above and below as iluustrated in this pics ...


Does that help answer the question?

[-Lawless]

Wow nice response Mark! Good detailed drawings too!

[Ozzy77]

If i do it do I have to change the Coil Springs, add Coil Spacers and or change Shocks?

[MarkB.NV]

I stole the pics from the two links posted above, so I cant take credit for those.

The body lift is completely separate from the suspension lift. So you can choose one or the other, or both like I did.

For the suspension lift, I used the spring spacers for front (1.5 inch) and rear (2.0 inch spacers) springs. Also, you'll need longer shocks for the rear and either longer struts for the front or spacers (you can also flip the strut mounts, but I used the spacers). For rear shocks, I used a pair of monroe sensatrac for a 1991 Crown Vic.

Lowrangeoffroad.com sells kits or pieces. I got the body lift and strut spacers from them. The service was great.

With the 2 inch suspension lift, 2 inch body lift and 30 inch MT tires, the truck sits much higher. Under the fender well now measures ~36.25 inches. I dont remember what it was before for a stock Tracker with the 205/75x15 tires. Slow speed turns are just a little sluggish. Otherwise the ride and handling steel feels vey much like a stock Tracker. Accelleration is slower, due to the taller tires changeing the final gear ratio. The Tracker is more like a tough jeep than the little grocery getter it used to be. I like it.

[MarkB.NV]

Torn boots ... of course, if you lift the suspension and put a little additonal stress on the original 1991 OEM boots, they will promply crack and split.

ARRRRGH - time to replace the boots. Parts were cheap enough, but I couldn't get the front lower ball joint to drop off the A-arm . So I just took the ball joint off with the three bolts, then I was able to remove the axle to service the boots. CV joints were still in great shape. Dont try this without the special little tool for the band clamps that go on the rubber boots.

And naturally one of the rotors was warped so I replaced both front rotors too.

If its not one thing, its five others...