100 Series IFS Long Travel Thread (1 Viewer)

[Newps]

Hey guys I am just trying to get a feel of who would be interested in a Long Travel IFS kit for the 100 Series. There has been a lot of threads about doing SAS. At the end of the day most come to the conclusion that you will still have a huge pig on the trail that rides like s*** (aka a lifted 80 ). I think most would be happy with more wheel travel and better articulation. It's no fun wheeling on three wheels, with the constant loading and unloading of the front end. This leads to broken parts and soiled seats. Sure it works and you can do it all day long but it begs the question is there an alternative? I believe that retaining the IFS design and improving on it would the best solution.

I live in SoCal and my rig is not my daily driver. So I don't mind using it as a test and R&D vehicle. I thinking the cost for the kit will be around 8 to 10k, that will include fully boxed upper & lower arms & spindle, King 2.5×10 Coilovers, King 2.5×10 2 Tube Bypass Shocks, King 2.5 Bumpstops.

This would be a 2 to 4 inch, with around (conservatively) 12" of wheel travel and about 2 inches wider per side. You would mostly likely have to cut your sheet metal or add fiberglass fenders.

There will still need to be a lot of fact checking and Q&A sessions with a couple of fabricators. I believe what I've outlined is realistic.

Compared to a SAS this will be cheap and get you 80% of the way to achieving the goal. In most cases on everything but a rock trail this front end will blow doors off a solid axle rig.

So there it is, lets open a discussion......

and some picts .

 

[rb4638]

You would most certainly have the first 100 series Brorunner.

 

[DMG1]

I don't think many are going to want to spend $10k to get another 4 inches of travel in a 100 series.

 

[re_guderian]

What about CV's and steering?

 

[Krazytoy]

What's your plan for axles?

 

[Newps]

I don't think many are going to want to spend $10k to get another 4 inches of travel in a 100 series.

The kit you are looking at has 16 inches of travel so my estimate at 12 was very conservative. I will need to talk with the fabricator about CV's and steering options, once I get an interest level. If this kit could used the stock attachment points then installation costs go way down. Also the fact the kit could be removed and the truck returned to stock would be another huge plus.

 

[MTKID]

Probably could never justify that kind of cost myself, but others have mentioned aftermarket lower control arms to further improve alignment and likely fitment of larger tires and I bet quite a few people would be on board with that stepping stone. Also, you mentioned fiberglass fenders, which is another thing I think many people would consider for additional clearance. Maybe use your SoCal location to find a fiberglass fender maker willing to do a pre-runner fender for our rigs!

 

[bluecruiser]

Probably could never justify that kind of cost myself, but others have mentioned aftermarket lower control arms to further improve alignment and likely fitment of larger tires and I bet quite a few people would be on board with that stepping stone. Also, you mentioned fiberglass fenders, which is another thing I think many people would consider for additional clearance. Maybe use your SoCal location to find a fiberglass fender maker willing to do a pre-runner fender for our rigs!

Fiberglass fenders just to have fiberglass fenders? That definitely has the makings of a 'brorunner' ready to 'mob' through the desert.

 

[WiscoProud]

I will say that adding long-arms to IFS vehicles is well known to other brands. I previously had a 2nd gen Xterra, and one of the popular mods was to do a "Titan Swap", which involved swapping the Xterra's front suspension for the Nissan Titan's, which is a bolt on mod. While the track is widened 6" total, the main benefits are 3-4" of lift, before any other lifts are applied, and increased travel, which are very beneficial on IFS vehicles

While it will not be as easy on our rig, a long-arm kit does not make it a brorunner by default.

 

[Newps]

It would be a brocruiser not a brorunner and honestly these comments don't contribute to the discussion.

Fiberglass fenders would actually help fit larger tires. Some have done body damage with 35 inch tires and full compression while turning. I am not a fan of fiberglass fenders and would rather cut the sheet metal.

I can see that cost maybe an issue, there are certainly ways to cut these. It would come at the cost of high speed performance but maybe that's not what most want.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I would be interested to see what the cost would be. I know that long arms on a FJC sure work well!

 

[WiscoProud]

I always thought fiberglass fenders looked kinda cheap. Fender flares are common on many vehicles, surely something nicer could be designed.

 

[MTKID]

Not sure what a brorunner is but I prefer the look of a one piece fender rather than attached flares and would only consider them if they increased inner fender clearance. I cut my 80 fenders and although functional I would prefer not to cut my 100.

On topic...seems there must be a smaller step between stock LCA's and spending 8-10k that gives a modest improvement in travel.

 

[yotasavg]

Although the cost is completely out of the question for me (at this time at least), I'm listening. What you're describing is exactly what I wish existed for this truck. Plenty of other Toyota trucks have similar systems available. I've always assumed there was just never a system developed for the 100 due to a limited market. There's no reason it CAN'T be done in my mind, though I see custom axles as the biggest barrier.

For example, the mini trucks are easy because wider T100 axles are the ticket, but on a T100 you're looking at custom axles and I imagine that gets really expensive. Here's a kit for the mini trucks that has always piqued my interest: http://blazeland.us/long-arm-kits/ Anyone seen that or have thoughts on it? Before you hate, there's plenty of videos that show it's capabilities, which are not limited in any way by the kit's bolt on nature.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I have a couple of friends with Blazeland kits on 4Runners. It flat works!

 

[yotasavg]

I have a couple of friends with Blazeland kits on 4Runners. It flat works!

Awesome to hear. I saw one up close a few years ago and was a couple weeks away from pulling the trigger on a kit but then that 4Runner decided to blow itself up on me. I guess the question I meant to ask is: can someone tell me why a kit like this would NOT work for a 100 platform?

 

[benc]

I for one would be more interested to see a mid travel kit with coil overs. Other than the price, I think the wider track width needed for long travel would be a huge disadvantage on the trials I use my 100 series on.

 

[yotasavg]

I for one would be more interested to see a mid travel kit with coil overs. Other than the price, I think the wider track width needed for long travel would be a huge disadvantage on the trials I use my 100 series on.

That's a really good point. I've run some fire roads up north of me near Cohasset that were pretty skinny on the cliff side where rain has deteriorated the terrain.

 

[mcgaskins]

I guess the question I meant to ask is: can someone tell me why a kit like this would NOT work for a 100 platform?

Steering and axle concerns are not insignificant issues, so there's two.

 

[AimCOtaco]

Yeah and the frame needs a bit of re-work to add a proper coil bucket that would have real strength and sufficient height for coil-overs (longer than the stock shocks). Assuming the upper control arm mounts have sufficient spacing for said coil-over, etc, etc.

This is an "idea" but it's a ways from a "design" in my opinion when it comes to feasibility and cost.
All I see is pictures with someones logo photoshopped out from an unrelated project.

Show me a prototype that functions and I'll start to get interested, until then this gets filed away with all the 'cheap easy SAS' threads.