IFS tech

[ntsqd]

Looking for tech on IFS that isn't long travel, desert racing stuff. How to best get it to live, tricks & tips on prepping it to better survive rough use. No, I'm not going to SAS it. That's just not going to happen, I've had an SA truck now I want to mess around with an IFS truck.

Searches that I've run so far aren't turning up much. I realize that this is going to be pretty old stuff, so likely pretty old threads too. Anyone got some old threads saved for ref?

 

[Mudder]

Don't go with to big of a lift without doing a diff drop bracket. Otherwise you'll be having fun changing CV's.

 

[ntsqd]

No drop bracket in my future. I want wheel travel, not lift.

Was sent some tech on this. ~7" of travel is possible by tuning the bump-stops. ~10" of travel is possible by chamfering the inner CV's and possibly some ball-joint clearancing.

 

[jamarquardt22]

No drop bracket in my future. I want wheel travel, not lift.

Was sent some tech on this. ~7" of travel is possible by tuning the bump-stops. ~10" of travel is possible by chamfering the inner CV's and possibly some ball-joint clearancing.

Here is how I got more out of the ifs. The uca's limit drop. I used a 1.5" ball joint spacer and OME shocks. They were longer then the others available. The bj spacers could be used for no lift if you crank down your tortion bars.
Ifs holds up way better at low/no lift. I had 37's on mine like this.
You need to beef up the tie rods, relay rod, idler arm and should also do steering arms too.

 

[ntsqd]

thanks!
Just yesterday I was under the front pondering if some really short "Marlinks" would work for the tie-rods. Not sure that they'd clear given the kink in the one TRE. Might have to order an FJ80 TRE to see how deep it fits in the center-link's tapered holes.

Have looked at the TC idler arm, but not a fan, at all, of rod ends and spherical bearings in street-driven steering. There's no mystique in them for me, I've worked with them often enough to know their problems and I'll stay with the problems that TRE's pose.

 

[jamarquardt22]

thanks!
Just yesterday I was under the front pondering if some really short "Marlinks" would work for the tie-rods. Not sure that they'd clear given the kink in the one TRE. Might have to order an FJ80 TRE to see how deep it fits in the center-link's tapered holes.

Have looked at the TC idler arm, but not a fan, at all, of rod ends and spherical bearings in street-driven steering. There's no mystique in them for me, I've worked with them often enough to know their problems and I'll stay with the problems that TRE's pose.

Maybe you can use Fj80 tre's
I bet you could use a jdm hilux ifs steering box as a idler arm. It should bolt right up

 

[ntsqd]

If it weren't so expensive to start with I'd consider modifying the TC idler to use an FJ80 TRE at the center-link end.

 

[jamarquardt22]

Here's a little more info about what I had for my set up.
1 1/2" BJ spacer
OME shocks
extended brake lines
beefed up relay rod
braced and brass bushings for the idler arm
steering arms gusseted and set up for a double sheer heim joint
Dom tie rods with heim's for the ends.

The BJ spacer shocks and brake lines I have leftover from my sas. If you make me a fair offer I could send them your way.

For the relay rod I actually made 2. I cut in half lengthwise a piece of 1x3" tubing. then welded it to the top of the relay rod as close as I could get to the ends. Make a spare. I no longer bent it in the middle but was still able to bend it at the very ends.

The Idler arm I had the 4crawler bushings and autozone arm. I made my own brace, it was beefier then the TC one. It worked but would still bend the Arm over time. I would return it and put the bushings back in the new one every so often.
As I said a better solution may be a steering box from a jdm hilux or surf.

I managed to snap in half a TRE so thats why I went away from the stock joints. I dont think they were able to handle the extra drop from the ball joint spacer. Its a bitch making a tie rod that will fit behind the relay rod and not hit the frame or the rod. It can be done though.

Some other thoughts.
Carry a spare relay rod, tie rods, and a CV shaft. Even though I never broke a CV even with 37's running black trails at Rausch Creek with Duals 4.7's and a ARB I still took a spare every time.

If you keep it stock height. Your IFS will hold up much better, It will be way easier to change a CV shaft too. You dont need to jack it up or take the tire off. Also knock the studs out of the diff and grind the splines off so they become bolts.

 

[ntsqd]

Thanks, but I already have Roger Brown's BJ spacers. I always make my own braided brake hoses so that I can set the length to what I want/need and I always order one extra of each unique fitting plus enough extra hose to make the longest hose on the truck. The extras get double zip-lock bagged and stay in the truck. I've never needed to build a new hose or field repair one, but I'm ready for it if need be.

I remember back in the day Drew Persson making and selling those idler arm braces. What ever became of him?

I'm hoping to not have to make a new center-link, but if I have to I have to.

This truck, at most, will have 33-10.50's on it. Came to me with 31-10.50's and I'm kinda digging how retro/old school small the truck is overall. Not a lot of lift with as much wheel travel as is reasonable is the goal because one use of the truck is a back-up DD for my 5' tall wife. Another use is taking my 80's yo mother places she wants to see that she can no longer hike to. And it'll be a tow'd behind our camper from time to time.
I know that at some point or other I'll be flogging it somewhere and I want it to live. Our previous '84 Xcab was a Detroit/lock-rite'd 4.88 geared OME/63's Bilstein'd truck that surprised a lot of dedicated pre-runner types. I rarely beat them anywhere, but I wasn't nearly as far behind as they thought I'd be and when the going got really rough (low range) I'd leave them far behind if not stuck.

Need to re-gear as the truck wasn't a 31's truck to start with. Was going to go with an electric locker for the rear, but I'm thinking an ARB is the better idea. I've been waffling on an ARB for the front. Seems like that might be a recipe for blowing it up.