Difference between a body lift and a suspension lift?

neither will.

right; there isn't one single method to clear larger tires.
(and that isn't custom fab work; it's deletion)

 

Ok, gotcha. school's out.

 

Neither a body lift nor a suspension lift on their own gives any additional ground clearance. Not a tiny bit of an inch.

 

Body lift won't help you there, because your frame and everything attached to it except for the body itself will still be stock height.

I ran Bilstein 5100s up front at the middle setting for a mild lift with OEM springs on my '03 and hated the way it rode. It felt like the shocks had no travel at all. Typically I've had outstanding luck with Bilstein products, but one of the front shocks blew out prematurely and I replaced the entire strut assembly with Rancho Quicklift adjustable struts, which rode much better in comparison.

Now, about the body lift... funny story. My 1st gen Tacoma was totaled by a texting driver few months back, and I replaced it with, yup, a Ferd. Unfortunately, Ford in their infinite wisdom decided to a. lower the 2010-11 model years to help with CAFE standards and b. make it nearly impossible to do any kind of suspension lift without throwing the stabiltrak into panic mode. So... in order to clear 31" tires, I got *gasp* a body lift. Not my first choice, but, you know what... it's fine. There's more room to work on stuff, the center of gravity stays low and nothing in the front end geometry changed, so I'm not tearing up ball joints. I do think they look less goofy on Rangers than on Toyotas, though, and the suspension geometry of the Toyotas makes it much easier to achieve a decent amount of suspension lift, so... I'd go that route if I were you. Maybe check the pizza cutter tire thread, too, if you want maximum snow traction.

 

Only tires will give you more clearance under the rear axle, but a suspension lift sure helps with the approach and departure scraping and keeps the body away from rocks.