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. The frame hasn’t gained any clearance from the ground.
A suspension lift is recommended for anyone planning to use their vehicle off-road while a body lift is recommended for anyone that wants to make their vehicle look lifted without the real desire of ever driving off-road. Is this to say a body lifted vehicle can’t go off-road? No. It’s perfectly capable of going off-road. It just won’t perform as well as a suspension lifted vehicle because it hasn’t gained any ground clearance.
Most suspension lifts are built between 2-inches and 6-inches, while body lifts range between 1-inch and 3-inches (never higher because of safety reasons).
A suspension lift is more complicated than a body lift because it alters all of the suspension components that give the vehicle its factory ride characteristics. Installing springs that generate lift will have a harsher ride quality than with soft factory 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. In some cases, the transfer case will need to be lowered and the rear differential repositioned to minimize driveline vibrations as the Jeep Wrangler is notorious for having a short rear driveline that isn’t readily accepting to increased u-joint angles.
Pros: Increases ground clearance, increased approach and departure angles, allows fitment of larger 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: Cheap, can be installed faster than a suspension lift, allows fitment of larger tires, simple (all components come in a small box).
Cons: Appearance (there will be a noticeable gap between the body tub and the frame), additional leverage is placed on the mounting points, ground clearance is not raised.
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 great choice for people just entering the world of off-roading. Their simple installation make them great starter projects for anyone new to off-roading and they can be used with a suspension lift if you decide to install one in the future.