Suspension lift vs body lift

[borzoi]

So I have no idea what I'm asking, except I've been told that a body lift is mainly for appearance and for bigger tires, while a suspension lift actually increases ground clearance. I don't care what my van looks like, but I do not want to rip off the oil pan (been there with another vehicle) and find myself walking my dogs 30 miles back to civilization. Do overland lifts actually increase minimum ground clearance? Is there a good tutorial somewhere on the forum? Do I have any idea what I'm talking about? WAIT. Don't answer that.
Doug

[chevy57bert]

Welcome to AS
I will not answer your last question

Take a search on this forum, you will find a lot about body lifts.
look at the Build / Projects.. body lift is a cheap way to increase lift / look.
Suspension lift is a other ball game....
it`s like racing... how much money you have to spend. and don`t stop half way....

[borzoi]

Bert - Thanks for the welcome. So are the Overland lifts just body lifts?

P.S. Hung out at Twente for a bit. Beautiful place.

Doug

[chevy57bert]

Couldn`t find it.. but I got it ` GoneBlue lift project` -->> viewtopic.php?f=40&t=7256

Twente is nice:) so you where here? Football??

[bud0810]

tires are what is going to give you your ground clearance no matter what kind of lift you do your rear axle is going to sit at the same hieght untill you put bigger tires on it

[borzoi]

tires are what is going to give you your ground clearance no matter what kind of lift you do your rear axle is going to sit at the same height until you put bigger tires on it

Okay, thanks.
That makes sense to me.

So is this right:
If I add rear shackles, say a 2" lift, and put on tires that raise the rear axle 1", I will have 3" of ride height increase and 1" of additional ground clearance in back.
Stock rear clearance is 7.4", so I'll be at 8.4"
If I put 2" torsion bar lift (can I do this with OVL torsion bar key?) and put on the same tires as rear, I will have 3" ride height increase AND 3" additional ground clearance under the engine.
Front stock clearance is 6.8, so I will end up with 9.8" of front clearance.

And will I also need to install the ball joint relocation kit.

Or am I just confused?

Thanks again you all!!
Doug

[B-rad]

I think you got it! I started with just about 2" in the front via the Tbars, and put air shocks in the rear and left them aired up and did just fine with 235-75-15's on stock rims... every van is different though so you might have some rub but a little triming will be the worst you will do. I can't rememeber if I had to trim mine or not... but I did cut all the plastic off anyway to make it look higher