JB Conversions Body Lift Review

JB Conversions Body Lift

By Todd O'Connor, Feature Vehicle Editor
tc@off-road.com

Since mounting up a set of 35" Goodyear MT's on my Wrangler, I found that I needed more room for the tires to move. I was already at 3-1/2" of suspension lift and cutting the body dramatically was not something I wanted to do. I also didn't want to limit suspension travel so severely that I would bottom out by just going over a speed bump. What I needed was a body lift to make more room for the big Goodyear MT's. I determined that a 1" body lift would solve my problems and not lift the Jeep so high that I would need a ladder to get in.

Product Tested

There are several body lift manufacturers but there are very few that make them in 1" size. One such company, though, is JB Conversions. I called John White at JB Conversions and ordered his 1" Body Lift Kit for a Jeep Wrangler.

The Body Lift Kit arrived in a timely manor, securely packaged and with no pieces missing. I know when I do business via mail order the last thing I want to happen is for the product to either arrive damaged or have the shipment to be incomplete. That was not the case today.

Construction

The body lift is a two piece unit. The top half (white material) is made of extruded delrin machined to a contour to match the shape of the OEM body mount and washer. The bottom half is machined aluminum and the combined pieces measure 1-inch high. The bottom piece has a recess so as to surround your existing body mount and washer. This will ensure that the body lift is positioned correctly on the body bushings. Another advantage of the recess is that shifting between pucks or on the base OEM body mount is eliminated.

Dissimilar metal corrosion is prevented due to the delrin cap. All of the body lift pucks are the same diameter. The only difference is the center bolt hole, which on a few pucks, is larger to accommodate the larger bolts used on the center of the vehicle.

Installation

Installation was straight forward and took about 3 hours. The general process is as follows:

Loosen all of the body mount bolts
Remove the body mount bolts from one side of the Jeep
Using a floor jack, jack up the side of the Jeep that you removed the body mount bolts from. Check all wiring, hoses and cables for adequate clearance.
When the body is high enough, insert the JB Conversions pucks between the body and OEM mounts.
Lower the body and insert the longer replacement body bolts and washers. Loosely tighten the bolts to keep the body aligned while you proceed to lift the other side of the Jeep.
Repeat the process on the other side. Again, make sure you check all wiring, hoses and cables for adequate clearance.
With all of the pucks in place, lower the body and tighten the body mount bolts.
Recheck all of your brake lines, cables, hoses and fan blade clearance before driving. It may be necessary to lower your fan blade shroud due to the body now sitting 1" higher.

Performance

The body lift has lived up to its expectations. It has not moved or shifted in the time that I've had it installed. As a matter of fact, two body mount bolts worked themselves loose and actually fell out! Due to the design of the pucks with the recess in the bottom, I did not lose the body lift pucks. I made sure when I replaced the bolts to torque them to factory specs. The extra 1" that the body lift provides now gives me plenty of space for the 35" Goodyears.

Summary

Since this product was installed, JB Conversions has changed the design slightly. Now the pucks are a one-piece unit available in black delrin or optional aluminum. JB Conversions has Body Lift Kits available for Jeep CJ's, YJ's and TJ's. The kits are extremely well made and would make a great addition to any Jeep in need of a body lift.

To find out more please contact JB Conversions at:
JB Conversions
Dept. ORC
P.O. Box 2683
Sulphur, LA 70664-2683
(318) 625-2379

And tell 'em you saw it first on Off-Road.com!

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