Re: Body Lift/Gas Tank Straps

From: Chris Lang (langerdak@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed May 02 2001 - 13:35:11 EDT


I dont believe that the gas tank moved when I lifted my truck. I do know it
sat level and a never took a second look at it. I'd go take a look but I
dont have my 93 anymore it was wrecked in September. Like I said before I
wouldnt worry about the gas tank moving. I used the 3" trailmaster kit for
my truck. I had to replace the steering shaft, the linkage for the
auto-trans and the T-case shifter. The original steering shaft did not want
to come out at first but after a few minutes of looking at it I jacked the
body up a bit more and broke the rust free on it and it came right out. The
linkage for the tranny was pretty simple as well just had to weld the
extension in. As far as the quality of the kit I had no problems installing
it but the instructions were just about worthless. I had a complete
description of the install from Walt Felix which I used as my instructions
and it was very helpful. I had a V8 so I had to deal with the clutch fan
hitting the lower rad hose so to fix that I ended up getting a smaller fan
and eventually an electric one but since you have a 6er you shouldnt have to
deal with that issue. The kit does not come with bumper relocation brackets
but I just ended up drilling new holes in the existing tabs on the front
bumper. That worked out great but it took a couple of people on standing on
each side on the bumper to put the supports on each side back on. The
bumper held up well and saved my ass in the 50 mph head on I had with a z71.
  I never ended up moving the rear bumper up but it would have been just as
easy. Back to the lift overall I'd say the quality was farly good and I
never had a problem with it during the two years I had it on my truck. If I
were to do it again I would stick with the 3" since you'll get more height
out of it and it'll probbably take just as long as a 2". I would recomend
getting some lift lips to hide the gaps in the wheel wells so it looks
better. As for tires I ended up running 31" x 10.5" on the stock 6" rims
and I later switched to AR-767 rims that were 10" wide. I had no problems
with rubbing at all and was fairly happy with the truck offroad. If you
have any other questions feel free to ask.

Chris
had 93 V8 CC 4x4 3" BL - Smashed by Z-71
now 01 V8 RC 4x4 - Gettin' a new manual tranny tomorrow!

>Thanks Chris,
>Ok....one side of each gas tank strap has a hole in it and get slid over a
>bolt hanging down from the bed, and then becomes secured with a nut. The
>other side of the two straps are connected to the frame via little cutouts
>which the straps lock into. If the bed is raised up 2" or 3", the straps
>really would also move up that 2" or 3" and then would cock the gas tank up
>that lifted few inches, wouldnt it? Did you have to do any steering shaft
>mods with that 3" Body lift? If you had to do it over again, would you have
>choosen the 2" over the 3"? Did you use the Trailmaster body lift kit? Was
>the kit pretty complete, part wise? Other than the tcase lever, did you
>have anyu trouble installing it or problems encountered after the lift?
>What
>size tires did you run afterwards? Thanks for any and all info.
>Kyle
>93 Dakota 4x4 V6
>

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