Front lift limitations and solution questions.

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

I've been working on my older rigs lately and wanted to catch up here with some lift questions. I have a 1999 land cruiser with the OME heavy lift on all four corners. I have the SPC upper control arms and diff drop installed as well. The ride is great, but I still would like a little more lift in the front.

I know I can adjust the torsion bars up a bit, but then I get into risky territory with retaining enough droop/down travel for safety.

So my questions are:
- Are they any slightly higher lifts out there for the 100?
- Would a longer front shock allow for a higher front setting and more droop without other mods needed?
- I know I can do a body lift to help create more lift, but are they any 3+ inch lifts that are suspension only? I know they have them for plenty of other trucks like the tundra, so why the lack of options for this setup?
- just time to go SAS? Ha! Kidding

Thanks!

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Nope, you're stuck with about 2-3". Tundra vs. LC is coil overs vs. torsion bars.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

So is the torsion bar travel what limits the lift?

 

[CantFly]

So is the torsion bar travel what limits the lift?

Follow..

New poster here (warning)..
I cranked up my stock bars, but it was brittle, chattered, and they dropped height every decent wheel.. My understanding is height and ride are ever opposing, and the sweet spot is often a compromise of both.. (??)
Following to see if aftermarket Tbars can improve on this..

 

[JunkCrzr89]

just time to go SAS?

Yes.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Following to see if aftermarket Tbars can improve on this..

No.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

So is the torsion bar travel what limits the lift?

Yes…and the control arms…and the upper ball joints…basically everything in the front end limits you to < 3”, and really anything over 2” rides like a damn stagecoach.

 

[LandyOverLand]

You would need to fabricate longer control arms, basically reengineering the whole front end.
It's not possible without going completely custom.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

I guess my question now is why hasn't someone done this before? We already swap the upper control arms for some good money, Do a diff drop for better CV angles, and buy longer shocks. The only thing we retain is the lower control arm. Is there something I am missing that would need to be modded besides these three, assuming the CVs would be retained?

 

[JunkCrzr89]

I guess my question now is why hasn't someone done this before? We already swap the upper control arms for some good money, Do a diff drop for better CV angles, and buy longer shocks. The only thing we retain is the lower control arm. Is there something I am missing that would need to be modded besides these three, assuming the CVs would be retained?

100 Series Long Travel Build Video Pt. 1

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[MountaineerLC]

I guess my question now is why hasn't someone done this before? We already swap the upper control arms for some good money, Do a diff drop for better CV angles, and buy longer shocks. The only thing we retain is the lower control arm. Is there something I am missing that would need to be modded besides these three, assuming the CVs would be retained?

I'd imagine that at least part of the answer is that people that need 3+ inches of lift are buying other vehicles better suited for their needs such as the 80 series. Therefore the market would be very small for modding a 100 to have that much lift.

 

[AlpineAccess]

There are SAS options now through trail tailor

 

[jLB]

- Are they any slightly higher lifts out there for the 100?

Slightly with some (off the shelf) fiddling. Anything significant, not really (unless it’s a custom one off).

- Would a longer front shock allow for a higher front setting and more droop without other mods needed?

A longer shock can help a little bit, but can also cause a UCA collision with shock or mount, or cause ball joint and/or CV bind if you’re not careful.

- I know I can do a body lift to help create more lift, but are they any 3+ inch lifts that are suspension only? I know they have them for plenty of other trucks like the tundra, so why the lack of options for this setup?

Not really for the IFS 100 series. It’s a limited production vehicle (limited market), and the front suspension is not well suited to being lifted more than ~2” without a redesign (read as expensive, further limiting market). (I do remember someone advertising a 4 or 6 inch “cosmetic” lift, which might be suitable for the street/mall/Instagram, but I wouldn’t try it off-road [something about “Land Cruiser” and “Extreme” comes to mind])

- just time to go SAS? Ha! Kidding

If you have to have a “big lift” on your 100 series, this might be the way to go.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

Thanks everyone! To clarify, I'm not really looking to get more than a little more clearance in the front while retaining the appropriate droop.

It seems that a longer travel shock may be all that's needed, and maybe the total chaos UPCs that have the ball and socket to allow for the extra articulation.

As many have said, I could go all out and do a SAS, but I have 40 series with great articulation if I want to wheel that hard. As some have also said, if I need that much more lift, I should be looking at another rig (HDJ81?), which I agree with.

It's too bad that the design of the 100 front suspension is so limiting while other rigs (tundra and 200) seem to have made room for coilovers which allows for more mods.

So any recommendations on how to get that last inch-or-so safely with shocks, UPCs, etc. would be welcome! Any brands you guys love or hate?

 

[jLB]

Thanks everyone! To clarify, I'm not really looking to get more than a little more clearance in the front while retaining the appropriate droop.

It seems that a longer travel shock may be all that's needed, and maybe the total chaos UPCs that have the ball and socket to allow for the extra articulation.

As many have said, I could go all out and do a SAS, but I have 40 series with great articulation if I want to wheel that hard. As some have also said, if I need that much more lift, I should be looking at another rig (HDJ81?), which I agree with.

It's too bad that at the design of the 100 front suspension is so limiting while other rigs ( tundra and 200) seem to have made room for coilovers which allows for more mods.

So any recommendations on how to get that last inch-or-so safely with shocks, UPCs, etc. would be welcome! Any brands you guys love or hate?

The 100 series front end might be “limiting” for those trying to do a 3+ inch lift, but it also seems kind of flexible in that you can dial in a 1” lift with a pair of coil spacers, and turning a 30 mm socket.

If you really feel motivated, and you have deep pockets, you could convert to a coil over front end:

100 Series Coil Over Conversion Kit

Contact Info- Killer Off Road Fabrication (805) 727 - 0551 Korfab1479@gmail.com We have just finished designing our 100 Series Land Cruiser coil over conversion kit, and we are very excited to release this kit. Our kit was designed in Solidworks and is fabricated from .125 and...

forum.ih8mud.com

I’ve enjoyed the Dobinsons extended IMS shocks, and have them on two out of three of my 100 series, and have another set to install on our third.

Icon, Radflo, Slee & King also offer extended front shocks, but Dobinsons seemed to offer the right price/feature/performance/service requirements, for my needs. Some additional information on shock lengths is available here:

Shock Length Thread

Hey guys, first thread though extensive lurker/reader... I am about to pull the trigger on these shocks and need to get the right rear springs so I really need to know the dimensions of this shock???I have emailed ICON and they have not gotten back to me so if anyone has this info it would be...

forum.ih8mud.com

Even with the additional shock length, I’ve only taken one to 21.5” (center of front hub to fender), because the ride comfort still suffers as ride height is increased. The others are at 21” & 20.5”. Full (front) droop is ~24.75” with the IMS extended shocks on my vehicles.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

I love the idea of the cushy bump stops. Thanks for the info!

 

[awesomeissquid]

A longer shock can help a little bit, but can also cause a UCA collision with shock or mount, or cause ball joint and/or CV bind if you’re not careful.

What is suppose to limit the suspension droop? I feel like I learned at some point that the shock length should not be the limiting factor in the travel or it can cause issues with the shock failing earlier.

Sorry for sidetracking the thread.

 

[BreckenridgeCruiser]

Oh... And I'm running 295/75r16s on the truck in question.

 

[jLB]

What is suppose to limit the suspension droop? I feel like I learned at some point that the shock length should not be the limiting factor in the travel or it can cause issues with the shock failing earlier.

Sorry for sidetracking the thread.

I’ve not seen any droop bump stops or limit straps up under there to limit droop.

When I’ve changed from stock to aftermarket shocks (and between aftermarket brands/models), on the IFS 100 series, The amount of droop seems to change. On one brand of shocks that I had, droop seemed to change in small amounts by how much you tightened the top nut and squished the bushings.

It may be “bad”, but everything that I’ve seen seems to indicate that it is the first thing that maxes out (on the IFS 100 series).

As I implied earlier, you need to check if you’ve got “other limits” that might be put under stress by just slapping in some longer shocks.

If a shock limiting droop is “bad”, on a typical street driven vehicle, what is supposed to have this role? Some of the other things that I can think of as candidates would be much more “interesting” if they failed while in motion.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

I’ve not seen any droop bump stops or limit straps up under there to limit droop.

When I’ve changed from stock to aftermarket shocks (and between aftermarket brands/models), on the IFS 100 series, The amount of droop seems to change. On one brand of shocks that I had, droop seemed to change in small amounts by how much you tightened the top nut and squished the bushings.

It may be “bad”, but everything that I’ve seen seems to indicate that it is the first thing that maxes out (on the IFS 100 series).

As I implied earlier, you need to check if you’ve got “other limits” that might be put under stress by just slapping in some longer shocks.

If a shock limiting droop is “bad”, on a typical street driven vehicle, what is supposed to have this role? Some of the other things that I can think of as candidates would be much more “interesting” if they failed while in motion.

Yeah, I would much rather have a shock blow out from being the limiter than a ball joint.