100 Series IFS Long Travel Thread
- Thread starter Newps
- Start date
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The 100 Series platform has been around for a long time now. A 98 100 is 17 years old at this point. These LC's are more popular overseas and have been available for aftermarket development and engineering for almost 20 years now. 4WD experts from all over the world have been modifying and upgrading these trucks with no real revolutionary suspension breakthroughs. Sure the aftermarket is much deeper than it was 10 years ago when I bought my 100 but it's mostly bumpers, armor, shocks, etc. I guess my point is if it was relatively easy and made sense someone would've released a long travel IFS kit or a SAS package long ago. Both projects would be awesome but I bet five years from now not much will have changed and same discussions will be going on from new hundy owners.
I still really think the lower control arm with the ball joint located 1-2" forward would be the way to go. Not sure if it would still work with the SPC type upper to get a 2.5-3 degree caster measurement but the long travel thing would not work for what I use my truck for. Some of the trails would actually be much harder with a long travel setup due to the width.
bluecruiser
SILVER Star
@bluecruiser tweets all the time, don't let him lie to you. #metromedia
- Thread starter
- #46
I get what you are saying. I very much doubt it will be easy. There are a lot of reasons why no one has developed a long travel kit for these rigs yet. I think the biggest reason is interest from the user. Most on here (Mud) think it would be cool but only one person has stepped up and said they would be interested in buying it.
Keep in mind one the most important reasons people buy Toyotas and specifically Land Cruisers is reliability. When you start changing the extremely well designed nature of the truck, you're compromising the reliability. When people start thinking they can change something to make it better than the engineers at Toyota, I think most end up disappointed with the result which is why most of the mods available don't dramatically alter the 100.
I feel like this is kind of like the 80's 3 link thing... some people are into it, others are not. For me, it's not that I wouldn't be interested in, it's just that I can't sink that kind of money into this truck at this point in time. Would I go for it in the future? Yes. Would I like to see this become real? YES.
bjowett
Supporting Vendor
IME, think more towards modifying the stock parts side of things, like Blazeland does for the mini trucks. I've done several ATV/UTV and snowmobile long arm systems in this way. It's a cheap way to R&D and figure things out… it works well. Even Toyota has gone this route, the 2nd gen Tundra is 3.5" wider than the 200 upon which it is based. Toyota obtains the extra width with longer arms, axles, and outer tie rods.
That is serious travel and a lot more appealing than 12 inches but the price point would be a problem for me. I put together a mid travel kit on my Tundra for around $2k. Camburg UCAs, used Icon coilovers, Icon rear springs, Total Chaos gussets, rack bushings, longer 5100s in the rear, etc. I get almost a foot of travel and it is stock width.
I would not widen the front end of any full size I DD. I need to,park in the city and thread through the trees in the woods. Plus widening the track width wouldn't pass inspection here without big flares.
How about a mid travel coilover conversion front that maintains factory track width? Or mid travel that maintains the torsion bars with longer shocks? That would hit a more moderate price point and be more versatile on the trail and highway.
This.
It fun to talk about cool, oddball stuff... And maybe throw around a few design concepts.
But ultimately, one person has to make the huge financial and time commitment to actually chop up a truck and try to fit all of that "theoretical" design work to the actual space. And if the person who designed the suspension, isn't the guy with the skills to actually build it... The project is as good as dead.
Nobody is wealthy enough to pay a fabricator for the hundreds of hours it will take to get the parts built and mocked into place, to cycle the supension looking for clearance issues, fixing interferences, and then dealing with all of the collateral issues (expected and unexpected) that are always a part of massive projects like this.
I just finished up a solid-axle portal-geared front 3-link project on my Chevy. I ended up with 14" of shock travel per side and full articulation and steering lock-to-lock without any interferences. It took me something like 18 months from start to finish. I did all the design work and fabrication myself in my spare time. It was a really fun project, and I learned a lot......
Mostly what I learned was humility, and respect for anyone who has ever scratch-built a long travel suspension themselves.
-G
bjowett
Supporting Vendor
Long arms are relatively easy.
Reminds me of the old 4x4 mantra:
"Reliable / Cheap / Quick
You can have any two of those!"
-G
bjowett
Supporting Vendor
LOL, that is usually quite true... Building new or modding old arms into a longer arm IFS system is just not that involved. With that said, the extras can add up, coil conversion, new fenders, etc.
- Thread starter
- #55
I think you have to understand the company I am dealing with. This type of suspension is chump change to them. They build trophy trucks and are about 5 minutes from my house. Everything is built in solidworks and tested before a piece of metal is cut. This is not rocket surgery. This is what they do day in and day out.
^ I don't have a dog in this fight...but statements per above remind of the nasty, failed and expensive experiences I've had with similar off-road fab shops. Yeah...even a Rod Hall certified builder/racer/fab shop that builds expensive desert/Baja race trucks. Their understanding of "our" needs, which includes their ability to execute in our realm of expectations, could be put into a thimble.
Your's might actually be in the 1%...but step cautiously.
Your's might actually be in the 1%...but step cautiously.
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- Thread starter
- #57
The difference between the shops is that this company already has a line of suspension systems for daily drivers, Ford, Toyota, Cheve etc. If they build it they will want to reproduce it for sale.
Still with such little interest and the design limitations already expressed in this thread finding common ground will be extremely difficult. I think I have enough information to at least talk with them. Looks like it will be as mid travel design with 10 to 12 inches of travel, upoer and lower arms with a single coilover. Not sure about a spindle and track width yet.
Still with such little interest and the design limitations already expressed in this thread finding common ground will be extremely difficult. I think I have enough information to at least talk with them. Looks like it will be as mid travel design with 10 to 12 inches of travel, upoer and lower arms with a single coilover. Not sure about a spindle and track width yet.
I've got to say that my concern would be that such a shop may over think this, making it crazy expensive, although I'm sure it would be of excellent quality... I'm with @bjowett in the fact that this could be done in a much more simple manner, like the extensions we both mentioned. If you're going to talk to them, could you please at least throw this idea out there and see what they say? I'm genuinely interested to hear thoughts on that approach, even if nothing will come of it.
Im all about it! Ive been dying to see a long travel kit on a 100 series LC. Personally i think it would be badass and super lux to drive. Granted my "playground" is the desert and someone that lives in the mountains might not want that kind of style suspension.
Can i afford it, not now. In the future, probabaly? Do i want something like this, Yes! Do it do it.
Can i afford it, not now. In the future, probabaly? Do i want something like this, Yes! Do it do it.
duggy
SILVER Star
I am saddened to see all of the negative nancy's in this thread even downing the thought of a long travel kit. I understand, widening the track width of the truck by 12 inches is probably a no-go for most folks but if it's an increase of an inch or two (if possible), I'd be interested. I'd at least be interested to see how everything fits together since it seems like this company does this for other daily driver cars also.
It's like the folks here that say you cannot run 35s, and even give opinions that wheeling on 35s does not give an advantage to 33" tires. Blasphemy.
It's like the folks here that say you cannot run 35s, and even give opinions that wheeling on 35s does not give an advantage to 33" tires. Blasphemy.
