Body lift for my YJ

I'm just going to come out and say it....  I am a total newbie!!  There now every knows and we can move on.  

My question is do you think that a Body lift is a good idea?  I was thinking a 2" body lift.  I have 31x10.50 on right now and have some rubbing in the right rear.  I one day would like to go to a max of 35's but more than likely just 33's, I would go suspension for those tire heights.  I am just wanting no rub and a better looking ride height.  Is this a good idea to use a body lift of 2"?  Would I be better off going 3" body for the long run?  

Will I have any problems on my jeep with using a Body lift?

Thanks so much you all are very helpful!!  Much appreciated.  

IMHO go with as little body lift as possible. You dont really gain any preformance from a BL. And the only real height you get is from the larger tires.But they are cheap and do give you clearence for your tires. Id look into a 1in Daystar BL.that should give you enough to clear the 31s and you cant see the gap between the body and frame (the real reason i dont like a BL!).Also when you go to step up to the 33s you can get by with a 3in  suspension lift instead of a 4in. Ur choice though!
Good luck and Happy Wheelin!!!  
I'm all JACKED UP on Mtn. DEW!!!

Thanks for the reply.  I'm still kind of thinking of going with a 2" body, I def. understand a BL is not for performance, but i cant afford performance right now!!  Plus the gap doesn't really bother me and you can by gap fillers or whatever they are called...  But you think Daystar is a good kit?  I will look into that.  After I posted about the 4 in susp. lift i read a lot on the forums about susp lifts, duh right...  anyways probably go with a 2.5in or 3in susp lift one day...  thanks again  

Re: YJ lift
Everyone has an opinion or feels what they did is best, all I can do is tell you what I did and it works OK.
I have a ’93 YJ, I installed a 1” body lift, 1” engine mount lift, and moved the fan shroud 1” so it stopped hitting. Installed Rubicon Express 5” extreme (spring under) springs. Great kit, good ride on the street and trails. Also spring under will climb with out wheel hop. 15X8 wheels with 35” MTR’s. You have to extend the bump stops so you don’t hit the fenders. You also have to cut the inside seam of the fenders. If you want 35’s, don’t put on 33’s it’s a waste of money, good planning is all about making a long term plan so you don’t spend good money after bad & doing the same job twice. In my early days all I wanted was 33’s, 6 months later, all I wanted was 35’s, save money and effort do it once.
2 or 3” BL is not a great idea for handling or getting tippy, wait until your very off camber and you will be happy with a lower center of gravity. No matter what you do, have some fun with it.

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I have a 92 YJ with 2 in BL 4in suspension and 1in shackles.  I started with the 2 in body lift and it worked well noticed no feeling of being more top heavy than it already was.  The only thing I had to do other than put the body lift pucks in was to trim the rear of the shifter opening.  This was due to 2nd and 4th gear not engageing completly due to the shifter shaft hitting the transmission tunnel. Only had to take off maybe a 1/4in from the tunnel.  You may not need to do this but be prepared to and it is not diffcult.  And if you want to run 35s and use the jeep on the trails you need to upgrade your stock axles they will most likly not handle the added stress, look into dana 44s or go for full size axles, cheaper in the long run and better than beefing up the stock dana 30 and 35.  But just start working on it and learn as you go and you will figure out what is best for you and no matter what you do to it you will always want to go bigger and stronger, just start at your current knowledge level and work up.  

I have a 92 YJ with 2 in BL 4in suspension and 1in shackles.  I started with the 2 in body lift and it worked well noticed no feeling of being more top heavy than it already was.  The only thing I had to do other than put the body lift pucks in was to trim the rear of the shifter opening.  This was due to 2nd and 4th gear not engageing completly due to the shifter shaft hitting the transmission tunnel. Only had to take off maybe a 1/4in from the tunnel.  You may not need to do this but be prepared to and it is not diffcult.  And if you want to run 35s and use the jeep on the trails you need to upgrade your stock axles they will most likly not handle the added stress, look into dana 44s or go for full size axles, cheaper in the long run and better than beefing up the stock dana 30 and 35.  But just start working on it and learn as you go and you will figure out what is best for you and no matter what you do to it you will always want to go bigger and stronger, just start at your current knowledge level and work up.  

well starting at my current knowledge level I will be starting from scratch i guess  But like they say you gotta start somewhere.  where is the shifter opening?  I would have no idea what to trim there if it needed it...  I have heard that if you run 35s the stock axles will not hold up.  When I start off roading more do you think 33's and stock axles will hold up?  My guess is I would be better off eventually upgrading to dana 44's anyways right?  

Re:  TCSCBrent
I am trying to plan out the long term for my YJ.  I just don't know if I will end going with 33's or 35's...  right now it was the 2.5L and I figure 33's will be pushing it anyways, but I do have dreams of engine swaps so I don't know.  To me I am not going to care too much on having 33's or 35's but what would be more useful off road?  

thanks a bunch for the replies...  

95RedYJ
As buckit said you will at some time need to up grade to larger rear ends, with those comes more choices, bigger axles, which rear ends, lockers, gear ratios, disk brakes all around or drums, 5 on 51/2” bolt pattern or stock 5 on 41/2” enough to make your head spin. It’s the dumb but true joke JEEP stands for “just empty each pocket”
I know two jeeps in our group who have 35’S and stock rear ends (Dana30 & Dana35) you need to be very smooth, no hopping and be prepared for them to break someday, not if but when.
I have a Dana 44 up front and a Dana 60 out back, I did my build about 6 years ago, today you have more choices. I also planned on a engine up-grade one day, that’s why I put the 60 in the rear. I have a LT-1 V-8 now and very happy I planned ahead and installed the 60. Re: 33’s vs 35’s as someone else said bigger is better. The cost difference between a 2” or 3” spring lift kit is hardly any different then the 5”. The BL needs to be done either way. Even when you plan the project, there will be many one step forward and two steps back days. Ask questions, ask manufactures lots of questions.

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RE: TCSCBrent


No kidding on all the choices there are..  I am not anywhere close to making these upgrades but one day.  Do you think I should go with a 2" bl or 3"?  Definitely going to be keeping the 31x10.50's for a while still have ~85% tread.  Do you think the 3" will make the Jeep top heavy or not much different than the 2"?  Thanks again for all the replies you guys are a great help!  

For the question of where to trim just pull up the shifter boot on the floorboard and put the shifter in to second or forth gear and you will see how close it gets to the body, and since the shifter handle is curved back towards the rear of the jeep as you move the body up off of the frame the shifter stays in the same place so the bend in it starts to hit the body not allowing the trnas to go in gear.  How much you trim off is how much needs to come off before the trans will go in gear.  2 or 3 inch BL not much difference in center of gravity, so not much difference in body roll.  It does make a difference in how much of the floorboard you have to trim off for the shifter and then you need to make sure that all your wires and lines that are attached to the body have enuff slack to allow for the lift.  

Ok I got you.  Good point on the wires and lines... Didn't think about that either.  Thanks a lot  

I had no problems with the 3 inch BL it came that way 5 years ago. Ihen I swapped in a twenty gallon fuel tank then I had to get new hoses and splice in a metal tube on one . Then when I did the 3 inch BL on my other newly aquired YJ(350 Chevy) that still had factory hoses and factory twenty gallon tank .There were no problems .I don't know,took a couple hours by myself to install following the directions frome Performance Accessories ,bought the complete kit for 50 bucks from a guy on craigs list.after thatI installed with 1 1/4 over shackelsDon't tell my 4banger there missing and it might nat notice geing down graded to 30's I'm running 33's on the other (they came off with the shackles under the Obama plan) no problem .If I had lockers in the 4 banger before the parts fell victom to the change it would go any most where a RUBICON would except over 55 on the highway, but if ya have a Cherokee and a tow bar you don,t even notice .

lockers and gears would be great but who wants to throw that much money at it and still not have A/C

4banger

V8  
88 YJ V8 , 89 YJ 4- banger ,99 XJ 4.0 all 4X4 all American Savannah Ga.