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Tri-County Gear Body Lift

Tri-County Gear Body Lift

Part #:

A friend of mine was originally going to install the Tri-County Gear flat skid and engine skid.  This required a new drive shaft, Motor Mount Lift and Body Lift.  After waiting quite a while for them to ship his stuff he finally managed to convince them to at least send the Body Lift and Motor Mount Lift.  I helped him install these on his Rubicon.  Here is my write up on the Body Lift.  The spacers were nicely machined, but I of course worry about putting aluminum spacers in with steel parts.  I have seen way to much dissimilar metal corrosion in my career.  Especially since I know that these will be exposed to salt.

Additional Parts:
Anti-seize
Tools Needed: 
16mm socket
10mm socket
7/16" socket
7/16" combo wrench
Floor Jack/ wood and a spacer

A couple of notes before you begin this.  The Gas Tank filler hose will be stretched even with the body back down on these mounts, so be careful as to how high you lift the rear of the Jeep.  On the other side with the 2003's is the charcoal canister with it myriad of plastic hoses, these don't stretch, so once again you have something to be concerned with.  The transfer case shifter lever spacer may or may not be needed.  We did TCG's 1 1/2" Motor Mount Lift at the same time so didn't really need to put it in.    You will also need to disconnect the Fog Lights.  The wiring is to short for it to remain in the stock location.  What I did was just pull the clip out of the hole under the fender and leave it hang.  There is an extension for these Extension part # W82203245.

Installation:

This is what the spacers look like.

side view spacers top view spacers bottom view spacers
1. I used a floor jack to lift the body.  I needed to use a cinder block on top of the jack to get enough distance to actually lift the body.  I could have probably done this with a big chunk of wood, but I didn't have any of that.  I did put a piece of wood between the body and the block.  I positioned the jack near the rear part of the door so that I could try to lift the body evenly.
2. I loosened all of the body mount bolts.  There are 6 underneath the doors, 1 underneath the front grill, 2 up above the rear axle in front of the gas tank, and 2 more under the rear corners of the Jeep.
3. I laid out all the pieces of the kit so that i could get easy access to them.  I then removed the 5 body bolts from the driver side and the 1 bolt holding the grill in position.  The grill moved forwards on me as soon as I took this bolt out.  This caused a little concern, but I could push on the grill and it moved easy enough so I figured I could get it back in.
4. I then lifted up the body just enough to clear the new mounts.  Be careful how far you lift it.  The gas fill tube will be stretched on the driver side and over on the passenger side you have to be careful about the plastic lines going to the vapor recovery system.
5. One at a time I pulled the old mounts apart and inserted the spacers in between the pieces and then reinstalled them.  I did need to clean out a couple of the frame mounting brackets to get the spacers back in.
6. Once you get all the body mounts in, slowly lower the body back down on them and loosely install all of the bolts.  You may have some problems with the rear 2 bolts because the nuts are in a channel and move around.  A Philips screwdriver or something else small will help you get them back in alignment.
7. Now repeat the same over on the other side.  This time make certain that you install the front grill support.  This gave me the hardest time lining back up.  Another person would have been helpful, but I was able to get it.  Now tighten all the bolts down to the factory specs.
rear view side view
NOTE: One interesting item of note is that these did not come with any extended length front snubbers for the grill, or an insert to take up the space to the factory snubbers.  Additionally since this is designed to work with the MML, and the belly up skid plate Tri-county gear did/ does not include any shifter bracket.

 

  N-m Ft. Lbs. In. Lbs.
MAIN FLOOR TO FRAME HOLD DOWN BOLT 68  50 -
RADIATOR TO FRAME HOLD DOWN BOLT 60  45 -
REAR FLOOR TO FRAME HOLD DOWN BOLT 47 35 -
TRUNNION BLOCK LOCK BOLT 8-14 - 72-120
TRANSFER CASE NUTS 47 35 -

This page last updated: 16-Apr-2008

Content and Design © 2002-present WanderingTrail,  Ronald Seegert
Common Sense and Safety should always be observed when working on your vehicle or doing modifications. Jackstands, wheel blocks, disconnecting the battery are a few of the basic safety precautions that should be used and may not be mentioned in the write ups on this site. You are responsible for your own installation, these write ups are a helpful guideline and should not be taken as an official installation instruction. My write up may be different from the kits currently out there, so alwasy double check the manufacturers installation instructions when installing anything. I try to keep the site up to date with changes that have occured as I discover them, but may not have the latest unless someone lets me know. If you feel that an install is above your capabilities after reading my write ups, I recommend getting together with a club and getting some help. Only a few times have I needed to employe some actual help from a shop to get something done. Usually welding or A/C work. While I have spent many years working on mechanical systems, I am not an expert, nor do I pretend to be one. I hope these write ups have been useful to you.
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