Actual IFS flex measurments.

[xonetruthcrewx]

I was curious as to what kind of flex i have. I havent seen any actual numbers before, so i figured that i would take care of that. I am running a Sonoral Steel System 7 lift. The rear is actually pretty damn good. I knew that the front is super weak, and i difinitely didnt have high hopes. Well..... Even with low expectations, i was let down. Haha.

Checking the rear flex.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0001-3.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0003-6.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0004-2.jpg

Full stiff in the rear is pretty much dead even with the wheel well. Overall i got 14" of travel. Not bad at all.

Then onto the almighty IFS.

Full Droop.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0008.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0009-3.jpg

Full Stiff.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0010-2.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0011-4.jpg

Overall the front has 4.5" of travel. Ha! What a joke. No wonder my wheels are always coming off the ground. Someday i will go SAS and that will be sweet. Right On.

[Seanz0rz]

ifs is not ment to articulate. it is meant to travel over bumps at speed, but not flex just under the weight of the vehicle on its own.

[ecchamberlin]

Not sure I would consider that full stuff. When oposite corners are supporting the wieght of the Runner it would stuff more than that unless you are running the Tundra coils that do not compress well.

Cool pics though and that would be fun to play around with a fork lift like you did.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Yep, running Tundra Coils. That is as good as it gets. You can see it in these pics also. Whatever though, i was just screwing around.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0174copy.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/IMG_0177copy.jpg

[BruceTS]

here's an old picture, just playin around on a f-toy

http://bruce.calrockx.com/4runner/misc/flex.jpg

[ecchamberlin]

The back looks like it is flexing like a champ. Are you serious about the SAS or going to try a diff ifs set up in front?

[xonetruthcrewx]

The back looks like it is flexing like a champ. Are you serious about the SAS or going to try a diff ifs set up in front?




Yeah the back has mad flex. As far as going SAS, well i gotta do something. Looking at the pic that BruceTS posted makes me think about going Long Travel. The only thing i dont know about there is that the LT widens the front by 7". That just kinda seems odd. How is the onroad handling after that? How is it rock crawling. Just seems like the front and rear are in two different places. Also, does the LT kit still all you to run a skid plate? Maybe a slightly modified one. Care to comment on that Bruce?

[BruceTS]

On-road handling is just fine, the difference in width doesn't affect anything. as for rockcrawling, handling is fine, the weakness is in the driveline. Any aftermarket skid plate will work, no difference there. If you plan to run tires over 35" then SAS is the only option, but on 3rd gens it's so much more work to do it right that I have never considered it. I still like to go fast so the LT works for me.....

[xonetruthcrewx]

Hmmmm.... That makes LT look much more appealing. Like you said, a lot less work and straight bolt on. No fab work. Done in a day rather than done in a month if i was to do it my self. Smooth ride also. 35's are plenty fine by me. I have now made my decision. Time to go work more overtime (if thats possible). How have those modified Tundra CV's held up so far?

[BruceTS]

CV's are easy to DYI, you use a porche 930 boot after trimming the stock joint. Axles have never been an issue, under normal usage. Since I have a crawlbox, it's easy to snap one under heavy loading.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Well i think sometime in the near future i am going to change up the front suspension with a set of Camburg 2.5" race shocks and a pair of UCA's. I will rock it like that for a while and see what i think. If i still want more i will buy the rest of the parts to go LT. Not that the current Tundra setup is bad, it has actually worked very good so far. I just want some more flex in the front. The Tundra setup is a little on the stiff side though. Perfectly fine for rock crawling and on road driving. I do however drive approx. 6 miles a day on washboarded dirt road to and from work. Something that handles the highspeed desert driving would be nice. Those 6 miles a day are a little bone rattling. It will be a little bit before this goes down but it will happen soon. Right On.

[BruceTS]

On the last trip I went on, there was some pretty nasty whoops.....about 1 1/2 ft deep, as long as I was going around 40 mph everything was smooth. But them up comming turns that I had to slow down for were down right bone jarring.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Damn, thats so cool. I just may have to go straight to LT. What are you running in the rear that is able to keep up with the front, if it is?

[ecchamberlin]

With the exception of the lower control arms his is the same rear set up as mine and probably yours to. OME891's/N86 shocks. That set up is uncontested as far as I am concerned. The rear has always been good to go. It is the front that challenges us all.

I may try the All-pro adjustable coil overs or just get another set of Swayaways. THe new 2.0 now that I am out of the salt air environment which distroyed the ones I have on now. As far as flex I have been really happy with them. Medium high speed stuff they are okay and considerably better than the Tundras and the low speed stuff is not too bad. I can hit the bump stops with them and full droop is not a problem either. Kinda talking myself into them again.

[BruceTS]

actually my rear is gonna change soon, I may stay with the same springs, OME are the best, they retain their shape and don't collaspe over time. I'm planning on removing the rear sway bar and going with longer shocks, most likely Bilsteins, but first I have to measure.

[JWBehm]

Disconnect the front sway bar and it will be alot better

Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/jwbehm/CIMG0170.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/jwbehm/CIMG0171.jpg
After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/jwbehm/CIMG0449.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/jwbehm/CIMG0448.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/jwbehm/CIMG0451.jpg

[xonetruthcrewx]

actually my rear is gonna change soon, I may stay with the same springs, OME are the best, they retain their shape and don't collaspe over time. I'm planning on removing the rear sway bar and going with longer shocks, most likely Bilsteins, but first I have to measure.

Have you ever though about ripping the coils out in the rear and going to leafs? That would be much better for high speed stuff. I wouldnt think that you would loose much as far as rock crawling goes either.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Disconnect the front sway bar and it will be alot better


Didnt even think about that, but good idea. Damn did it make quite a difference. Just wondering how much extra stress its putting the CV's under.

[JWBehm]

The sway bar, for me, didnt make the one side droop anymore, it just made it stuff really well on the one side. Since my CV angles were already bad from the 2.5" lift, stuffing the tire didnt make the angle too bad.

[BruceTS]

Have you ever though about ripping the coils out in the rear and going to leafs? That would be much better for high speed stuff. I wouldnt think that you would loose much as far as rock crawling goes either.


I never once considered leafs, when I get the chance, I'll be doing a double trangulated 4-link...

[xonetruthcrewx]

^^^^
That will be sweet.

[xonetruthcrewx]

The sway bar, for me, didnt make the one side droop anymore, it just made it stuff really well on the one side. Since my CV angles were already bad from the 2.5" lift, stuffing the tire didnt make the angle too bad.


Excellent. On my next run i am going to disconnect it and see how things go. Right On.

[ecchamberlin]

WOW I guess I ASSumed you had the sway bar disconnected. I always take the end links off the sway bar and roll the sway bar up out of the way while wheelin. It makes a considerable diff allowing the front wheels to truely act independant of each other. I get better stuff and a much better ride on the trails.

I do however alway hook it back up when done with the trail. Much safer and the front doesn't roll all over the place.

I should have asked you this.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Yeha, yeah, i even saw JWBehm's post on the sway bar disconnect before. Just didnt even think about it. I am anxious to get out on the trail and see the difference it makes. Definitely Hook the sway bar back up for on road use though. Isnt there some quick disconnects for the front sway, that someone sells. I remember seeing them before.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Nevermind, found my options. Pretty much the 4Crawler ones or the WabFab ones. Or i could always be budget and unbolt it and swing it out of the way like you mentioned Eric. Yeah, i think i will be budget for a while. Right On.

[JWBehm]

Yeah I havent actually tried it on a trail I just ran up to the loading ramps near my house and it made a huge difference. I realllllly want to try them like this on an actual trail.

I dont have the $$ either for the disco's, I just do what Eric said.

[ecchamberlin]

I am not a big fan of the disconnects. Some of the designs still require you to unbolt the top nut with a wrench. Doesn't seem so quick to me. I think it was a fad thing that ran wild on YT. Next best newest mod type thing.

Once you do it once or a few hundred times it becomes really fast to just unbolt it. I have a spare socket and wrench set aside in my off road kit just for it. In fact every once in a while I take the links off and wire brush the threads and give them a good coat of grease so that once I break them loose they can be taken the rest of the way off with your fingers.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Yeah, i went out there last night and scoped it out. Seriously took like 47 seconds for each side. That seems pretty quick to me. Haha. 14mm and 17mm socket and shes off. Definitely dont need to go and spend 135 bucks on a pair of quick disconnects. Werd.