1st Gen BL vs 2nd Gen
 

So I have what seems like a pretty stupid question, but there is a method to my madness.

My question is will a 1st gen body lift kit work on a 2nd gen (my truck). I know it won't be directly the same, but would it be possible to make it work? If so, what would be different between the 1st gen and 2nd gens?
I know I'll need to get some sort of bumper brackets but beyond that what else would I need to make it work if it's possible?

The only reason I'm asking is because I got offered a 3" BL kit for a 1st gen from a guy on S10F that lives down the street from me. He only wants $50 for it!! If I can make it work I can't pass up the price :)

Speaking only from my personal experience, aside from the bumper brackets there may be a few other odds and ends you'll need for the second gen. I'm thinking a couple of ground extensions, which you could fabricate easily, and the fuel hoses for extending the filler next and vent line. Again, easy to get a hold of.

And for $50 I would snatch up that deal now! Just download the instructions from BDS, read, re-read, re-re-read and go for it.

Thanks for the info AJ. I think I might pick it up. 3" is bigger then I was planning on going, but it's a steal of a deal so you can't really go wrong.
Are all the bolts and everything going to be the same?

The body mount bolts will be the same but not so sure on the rest. Might not be too bad of an idea to keep your eyes out for a second gen kit and combine the two. The hardest part will be the bumper brackets for the rear, though, but still doable.

One other area that may need a closer look at is when lifting the body you may have to loosen up a few more lines than what the instructions call for on the 2nd gen 2" lift. I'd just lift the body extremely slow and check and double check everything between the body and the frame (brake lines, electrical, etc).

You may also need to do the steering column mod (in the instructions). Most people doing the 2" lift don't need to do it, I didn't, but you might need to with 3".

I've seen one other person that has done this and everything worked out just fine. The only place they kind of skimped on was the rear bumper brackets. Rather than modding the 2" ones he just put them on and now has a 1" gap between the bumper and bottom of the tailgate. Still, this can be fixed with a little bit of fabrication on your part.

Oh, one more thing, if you have a rear receiver, it will now hang down quite noticably. It, too, can be modded to move it up.

Its the common way guys put a 3 inch lift on their 2nd gen since they don't make a 3 inch kit for them. Bumper brackets are the only (beside normal mods) required.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm undecided right now what I'm going to do. I think I'll get some of the maintenance done on my truck first before moding anymore.

At that price, I'd go ahead and pick it up and wait until you are ready to install it. Heck, right now I'd love to get my hands on some 3" body blocks and slip them in on mine.

Damn skippy, you aint gonna find another set like that anytime soon.

Well the good thing is the guy isn't in a rush to sell it. He only mentioned it because I had mentioned over on the other forum I was thinking about a BL sometime this year. He said he'd let his go if I was interested. So I have plenty of time to think about it. I probably will end up getting it, but I have some maintenance I have to take care of first. Brakes being my top priority right now.

ok, i am looking to do something sim.
being a cheap bastard i noticed that the 1st gen lift is half the price of second gen lift (guessing bumper brackets)
i have a post where i put up the parts list to compare...the only big thing i saw was the 1st gen kit was short 2 "small" spacers...everything else looked like it could be solved with a parts run.
if you do this post it up please....could really help.

thanks.