I've never done a lift before, and I want to do a small lift my 89 w100.

I figured a body lift would be cheapest, but all I can find for kits are the blocks. No bumper brackets. Is there a company that sells a full kit? What all is involved in a 3" body lift? I figure I'll need at least a steering shaft, longer exhaust hangers and possibly new brake lines? Is it easier to just do a suspension lift?

i would do a suspension lift. i don't like body lifts, particularly because they make the motor that much harder to reach...

What is all involved with suspension lift? The affordable kits I've seen have new front leafs, blocks for the rear, and sometimes new shocks. But wouldn't there be a need to modify the steering, and brake line extensions? And what about pinion angle?

I've done a few 4" lifts using Skyjacker springs. I use the setup without rear blocks. You'll need a raised steering arm and also an adjustable drag link which no one that I can find makes one a 72-93 Dodge. Skyjacker sells one that they say is a Dodge but is a Ford and needs to modified to work properly.
I've also done 3" body lifts. Need to lower the radiator on the core support and modify the bell crank if it is a manual. Rework the brake lines and steering column a bit. Raise the bumpers. Doesn't effect the exhaust.
You could use new front springs with the factory 4" rear blocks.

To raise the bumpers, do i modify my existing brackets or buy new brackets?

When you say factory 4" blocks, where do I find those?

Adam, I did a 1.5" Skyjacker suspension lift and it looked like this:

Yeah, looks pretty in a picture huh?

Well, here's the truth:

Not one wheel arch of that truck measured correctly. One of the fronts was off and one of the backs were off. From the front it was flopped one way and from the back it was flopped the other. It was a full spring set-up in the back (not blocks) and eventually the guy that owned it after me, one of the back springs broke. I have a picture of the entire "after" mess but I can't access it.

The ride was absolutely awful. The front I could live with because I like a stiff front-end but the back was unbearable: like First Gen Cummins one-ton unbearable. I spent the big bucks on Rancho 9000 adjustables and they didn't make a lick of difference on the softest setting.

It vibrated. This is common on suspension lifts no matter what anyone tries to tell you. If some Fool with a lifted truck tells you "no problems at all" don't believe them. I went through 3 to 6 u-joints every 50,000 miles. Those "leveling kits" do the same damage to ball joints and CV's on the new trucks. Google it: you'll see.

If I was to do it again? *Edit* Three options:

1. Leave it. Live with it, these First Gen Rams look great lifted, but they are not meant to be lifted.

2. I might be convinced to have a 1" body lift, and combine it with a 1" lift block on the back and either build my own longer shackles for the front or take out the lower leaf and re-arch them for a 1" front lift.

3. Get a coil spring front set-up out of a Second Gen and the rear spring pack and blocks. There is slightly more forgiveness and just the change-over could get you 2-3". Lots of welding and measuring but that doesn't scare me, I can do it. The improvement in ride quality would be worth it.

Take it from someone with experience: option "1" is the best.

Wow I didn't think a 1.5" lift would cause so many problems

In 1977 I bought a brand new W200 Power Wagon with a 440/727 drive train for $7,700.00. I was living in SoCal at the time and had time on my hands, so I put in new front springs to do the front end and blocks in the back for the rear for a 4" lift. I knew nothing about pinion angle at the time. I put 1200 x 16.5 Formula Desert Dogs on the truck with white spoke wheels. It looked cool to me then and it was a lot of work, doing it myself. I drove it a few thousand miles and the front driveshaft u-joint broke and slapped the 727 pan making a hole. I sold it not long after that, but that was not the only reason. There was a "Gas Crisis" and gas was 45 cents a gallon!!

Now I live in an area that likes lifted trucks and most of them have never been off road, but they do look tough. My newest DD is a '98 Ram 2500 QuadCab with 5.9 Magnum and 2wd and it will be getting a canopy for my dogs to ride in. It will be able to tow the race car trailer when I need it and the dogs won't have to jump so high to get in the bed to go for rides.

You seem to have lots of projects going and I would not do a lift again. Save your money for your other stuff....JMHO

Yeah, neither did I.

Adam, every single person I know with a lift: never gets another. And, count me as one of them.

Really? I have a 79 regular cab shortbed and a 78 ramcharger both with skyjacker 2.5" lift, consists of new springs front and add-a-leaf rear with factory blocks, i swear by this lift,it rides and drives as good as any stock suspension truck. Skyjacker is not cheap but great quality. Trucks look like they should have come this way from the factory, running 32 11.50 tires

Yes Pete I do.. but I couldn't pass up a deal on this 89 w100 I came across. It was cheap because the front end needs a rebuild, and possibly steering box work. It wanders back and forth and has a wobble. I figured since I'd have the front steering system apart I would like to do a lift. Body lift sounded easy and cheap at first. Think I'll just do the front ended and freshen up the engine instead after looking into these replies.

And then there's the fan / radiator shroud, steering column, shift linkage, been too many years now. IIRC, the bumper mounts were a custom only deal.

Robert

We used a Borgeson steering shaft, I don't recall any brake plumbing issues.

They make tapered shims to adjust the pinion angle, can't recall how we took care of the front, guessing we had shims there too, I remember we had to have a custom front drive shaft.

Robert

I wanted a small lift on my W350. I used front soft ride springs from Skyjacker. I believe they were called 1.5-2.5 because the height could vary depending on the application and weight. My truck had 5 leaves on the front originally and with the new springs gained about 2". The originals were under arched (like upside down) The new springs are almost strait across to slightly arched up. No other components on the front were added except new shocks.
For the rear I had standard rear springs with out overloads. Since I do pull trailers with it. I didn't want to change to a lighter/softer spring, And I didn't want the extra thick Add-a-leaf, But still needed 2 to 3" to level out the truck. This truck had 3" rear blocks originally, The Cummins trucks around 90-93 had a 6" block. So i picked up a set from the salvage and swapped them in for the 3" lift in the rear. I used rear shocks for a 92 W250.

The truck rides well for a 1 ton. The long wheel base helps too...(crew cab) I don't have any drive line vibrations. Really no reason too as its all OEM components other than the front spring.
Not sure if these rear blocks would work on your W100 But I know the front spring will. Sorry if this got a little long....

Do a suspension lift and not a body lift.

Used rough country stuff on a new 87 ramcharger. Did springs in front and blocks in the rear. The blocks corrected for pinion angle. I also put in 4:11 gears front and back so I could run 33.5 tires and have some pulling power. It had a 360 and a quadrajet 4 barrel from the factory.

I used it as a DD for 8 years and 88K miles plus towing a 21' boat back and forth from Lake Cummberland in Kentucky for like 5 years. Then I sold it to a local mopar guy who still owns it. I also raced it with nitrous oxide both at the drag strip(ran 14.5, same as 5.0 mustangs at the time) and in the sand at the sand drags.

When you pull the steering box out, look carefully at the frame one of the guys in the club had to weld in a repair in that area, of course his is a '92 W200 with a 12v Cummins so it is front end heavy. Might explain the steering wander.

As with anything, doing it the right way makes all the difference. I used a 4" soft ride lift from Skyjacker. Springs on front and rear. I don't recommend that approach. The rear springs are too long for the distance between spring hangars. The shackle will go through its entire travel and you won't have much articulation at all. I recommend rebuilding the hangars so you can flip the rear shackles and lower the front of the springs the amount needed. You can use the stock springs for the best ride. I deleted the blocks entirely due to axle wrap, but didn't take articulation into the equation. Shims to angle the pinion up (on the back) and a driveline with a CV at the transfer case, otherwise you'll have driveline vibration. A drop pitman arm as mentioned will help with the steering. You might want a custom front shaft with CV's at both ends or you'll limit your speeds with the hubs locked in. Using angled shims isn't an option because you'll lose all your positive caster.
As always, there's more than one way to do it, but the above is what I've dealt with personally. Hope it helps you out.

You don't want to do a 3" body lift. It causes all sorts of issues and doesn't give you any more ground clearance anyway.

Best compromise for you is to do a 1-1.25" body lift and a 1-2" suspension lift. 1" body lifts don't usually cause too many tough problems to deal with. A 1" suspension lift can usually be done with lift shackles. Some add-a-leaf helper springs may give you an extra inch which may be not so much of a lift as much as helping your sagged out oem springs back to their original height.