hard body lift and misc.

[robcon27]

I have a 88 hard body 4x4 and I cant find a resaonable priced lift anywhere. I know its a torsion bar front suspension but are they really that damn expensive to lift, the only one I found that was a 4 inch was $1200. I see alot of these trucks lifted without the fenders being cut which tells me that not everyone is dumping this kind of money into a lift or doing a body lift and cutting fenders so any info or secrets on this would be awsome. Also I remember when you could look through the mini truckin magazine and find replacement hoods, fenders, bumbers, grills and all that stuff. What happened, it seems to be non-existint now. Does anyone know where I can find good replacement parts? Thanks guys for the help!!

[longtooth]

Well not to rain on ya but 88 was over 20 years ago. The mags keep current stuff.
As far as the lift I dont know what to tell you. Ask the guys you see with the lift. I spent the big money on all my lifts.

[StephenG]

The only way to get a "lift" cheaply is a body lift. Those can be had for around $200 around the internet. If you want a real lift, you have to either fab your own stuff or be prepared to shell out some money for a kit.

[seang]

I don't think there is a cheap way to go that isn't markedly inferior to going all out.

[Desert Rat]

There are A-arm lifts for these that include longer upper control arms that retain front end geometry after a 2-3" torsion bar crank, and AAL/Shackle lifts for the back. At best these lifts give you a couple inches. Unfortunately, they don't do much for allowing bigger tires, as the uptravel is still the same as stock. Fender trimming is pretty easy on a D21, and is only needed on the front. Running rims at or near factory back spacing will also allow a bit bigger tire. Conceviably with a little trimming and one of these A-arm lifts, you could run 32x11.50s on stock rims without issue. Add a body lift to this and you could go up to 33x12.50s, typically. With stock gears and engine, power will suffer badly with anything larger anyways.

The 4" lift out there is the old Trailmaster lift that drops the torsion bar mounts and axle.

Either solution will eventually require a steering upgrade, and this is where it can get expensive. The stock centerlink configuration doesn't lend itself well to lifts and steering failures are common on lifted trucks. Calmini offers the only full steering solution for a D21, however there are others out there by Garage fabricators that install spherical bearings in the centerlinks so they don't twist under the increased leverage of a lift.