Budget Body Lift CJ, YJ & TJ

By James Towle

 

I am writing this to let you all know how easy and cheap it is to add a body lift to SWB Jeep. The standard hockey puck lift has been around for a long time, the trick is doing it correctly. Start out with as many hockey pucks as you have mounts, from the frame to the body. For a CJ7 that is 11, it is probably the same for YJ's and TJ's also.

Drill a 5/8" hole in the center. This is where the correct part come in; you need to have some steel bushings. The bushings I bought were 21/32" OD and 1/2" ID by 1" long. I personally would not use brass, aluminum or Stainless steel bushings; you would have some dissimilar metal reactions starting if these ever came in contact with the bolts or body.

Now pound the bushings into the hole you just created in the hockey pucks. It should be a nice tight fit. Do this on all your hockey pucks.

You will need 1" longer bolts than what are currently holding the tub to the frame. Then just install the pucks in between the body and the frame, bolt down and you are good to go.

The main gripe people have when using hockey pucks is, they where out. If you use the metal bushing in the center you will get years of enjoyment. The other benefit with doing a body lift this way is cost. Let's take a look; hockey puck $.99, bushing $.50 and new bolt $.50, 11 times makes this entire body lift $22. Compare this to the $75-$100 you will pay at the 4x4 shop.

I can't miss this point, it has been argued that Canadian pucks are better than U.S. pucks. The pucks I used for this demonstration were Russian. We could argue this until the cow came home, just use the ones you like best. For $.99 you can afford to replace a few.

Have a great day.

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