deathrunner

I believe this to be somewhat of a common misconception as well. There are severla ways to strengthen the 86-95 steering setup without blowing wads of cash.

1. Keep the tie rod angles minimal. (I.e. don't crank t-bars too much or use bj spacers and tbar crank)

2. Get bigger chevy tie rod ends or switch to heim (The latter being more costly)

3. Buy an Idler arm brace from Downey. Or if you want bling get the Total Chaos one.

4. If your vehichle had the recall for the centerlink, get that changed out.

Yota82

Here is my list to make the Gen II steering bulletproof.

1. Get the TC idler arm
2. Ditch single sheard tie rods for double shered heims
3. Gusset the center link

It's really that easy.

deathrunner

Definitely do the manual hub swap if you plan to crank in a lot of lift.

The Porches cv's will let you use low profile droop stops, by allowing your tire to droop more. The cv's bind in the droop. Most of the time you can run low profile compression bumps without binding.

With BJ spacers and porche cv's you can get quite a bit more travel safely, but then your steering will be at serious angles.

As far as I know, there is still know adapter/cv's to change the inner tripod into a true constant velocity joint. All the Porche joint are outers. Most IFS (Inclduding FWD cars) have an inner tripod. In fact, I have seen Suzuki Sidekick guys use Nissan Maxima axles as an upgrade.

tc

Not so sure about that. I bent the brand new relay rod first trip out. The SECOND one seems to be holding up OK. I think Toyota's redesign to eliminate breakage was to increase the ductility (typically accompanied by a loss of strength), so they bend a lot easier. (Of course, you can get home with a bent one, not so with a broken one!)

Flygtenstein

Most of the people who have beefed the steering didn't have any problems before, it is like my polar bear repellent underwear. Correlation and causality and interesting mistresses.

I broke every piece of my IFS steering. Tie rods, connectors, idlers, pitmans. All of it except the center link.

I rock crawl my truck with a crawler, two lockers and a 3.4. A coworker destroyed a Total Chaos arm in 5 trips. He is hard on things rock crawling.

Lots of those fixes work great for go fast trucks, not rock crawlers.

The key to wheeling IFS is to keep it as close to stock as possible. Keep spare CV's around. I broke when I least expected it and when I was being bad.

chimmike

I have the bj spacers, but I have not cranked the t bars at all. Is it worthwhile to get the beefed up t bars?

I'll be looking into total chaos stuff, too.

I'd be doing this more for insurance purposes, lol

Yota82

I don't understand this statement. Is there a recommended set up for rock crawling short of a SAS? One thing is for certain... tie rods suck (Downey will tell you otherwise). How do you destroy a TC idler besides bashing it on rocks? You broke the stock tie rods, stock idler, stock pitman all to be expected. Did you ever upgrade (heims, gusseted pitman and idler) before you SAS'd it? Because if you didn't there is no real proof to back up your statement above.

Bear80

What setup where you running when you broke 6 birfields? When the angles become steep on the joints, the inners become much weaker. You can break an outter birfield with a stock setup and just a locker, here's how: ignor your intelligence about parts, think you can just point the truck where you want and go (ignor trying to pick a good line) turn the wheels hard one way and put the tires on a high traction surface and give the skinny pedal a bump. There is a fine line between 'wheeling smart and just trying to destroy your truck.

The inners can only take so much angle before they blow, the outter can take alot more. That is why you only need the porsche inners and stock outters. 'Wheel smart and be happy with your truck, not stupidly and breaking stuff and talking bs.

Flygtenstein

I reserve the right to justify my stock part breakage in the same way the rest are justifying swapping to upgrade without breaking stock.

BJ spacers, relaxed t-bars, 33's front ARB, crawler and 3.4

In my mind, having seen them on the trail, the best IFS for rock crawling is locked, close to stock and carrying spares.

mastacox

It's more like a cavernous caonyon IMO. If someone destroyed a TC Idler in 5 trips, he was doing something he shouldn't, because that thing is built like a tank. This is obviously the most extreme case, and despite that how long would a stock arm have lasted I wonder? Probably not longer than 5 minutes. All it takes is a little smart driving and not trying to go up a v-crack waterfall rock buggies barely make. Big toe-in forces are obviously the enemy of an IFS steering setup just based on its design. If you understand that, you're way ahead of the rest.

Amen.

Flygtenstein

And this is why I add to one of these posts a month.

I am actually providing facts, not speculative conjecture.

My friend was wheeling his truck in trails where it belonged, as was I. There is stuff out there besides the bunny slopes and it is hard on parts.

Good luck beefing IFS. Doing so is like pissing your pants, it me seem like a great idea, but you can only truly experience how much it sucks once you have done it.

AxleIke

You are all saying the same thing and aruging over semantics.

You all agree, as do I, that the stock steering on these trucks sucks. In fact, there aren't really enough negative adjectives to describe how i feel about this steering.

There is no solution. Yes, you can beef up the steering in several ways, and spend as much money on new componenents. I like the TC arm, and will be getting one at somepoint in the future. But, no matter what you put into a truck, you'll be able to find someone else who has broken it. Just the way it is.

How did a TC arm break? Who cares, it broke, thats whats important. Doesn't mean it sucks, just means it has limitations like every other piece of equipment you can put into a truck. If you plan to rock crawl, expect things to break. Carry spares.

TC has about the best set up around. Stock height, stock suspenstion all around, and 33's. It works great, and he doesn't break all the time. I'm returning mine to as close to stock as i can get it. I will upgrade as I need.

I have broken numerous steering parts, but i'm getting pretty good at swapping them. If the guy wants to swap in stronger CV's, let him. I will maintain that if he drives smart, he'll never need them. The only guy i ever saw break a CV out right was Flygtenstein. He wasn't turning, he was going straight, but the amount of torque his truck puts through to the wheels destroyed axles. I doubt the 3.0 and a stock case has that kind of oomph. But it's his money, and his truck. Let him go at it.

deathrunner

I would only get bigge rtbars if:

A) your nose is dragging the ground due to a heavy winch and bumper combo.

B) You are bombing it down washes and riding your bumpstops.

If you are looking for a soft street ride and flex on the trail, thicker torsion bars are THE worst thing you can do for your truck.

My reference to cranking tbars refers to the angle of the tie rods, which is directly related to the height of your truck. Keep the arms in the middle of thier range of travel and your steering will like you.

chimmike

well, I have the BJ spacers and OME shocks, and the warn bumper and winch on the front and it sits nice and level (with the OME HD rear springs and shocks, no coil spacers)....so no nose drooping.

I definitely like flex, so no aftermarket bars for me.

I don't 'bomb' down anything. I like to crawl down steep grades (unless i slide). I've been looking at those nitro bumpstops though...I think those are a great idea.

I've been kicking around the idea of poly bumpstops but I've heard bad things about doing lowers due to droop or something.

deathrunner

Nitro bumpstops, are good for fast, The only way to compress them completely is with insane amounts of force. They will kill flex.

Lop Pro poly's are good, for compression, But I think with the BJ spacers, your droop is pretty much maxed. Porsche CV's would allow more travel, but is the price worth it to you. I went long travel, the price was worth it to me. I get 12" of travel and am well within the limits of the stock CV's.

AxleIke

You can go low profile on your lower bumpstops. If you lower the uppers, you will likely go too far in droop and begin having CV issues.

fthertime666

How would you gusset the center link? Maybe cut it in half and slide dom over the center part? I hve been considering the tc steering parts.

Yota82

Like this:


If you bend or break that than you deserve an award

fthertime666

yota82,
Wow okay, bada$$, never saw that on their site for some reason. How many meelyun more dollars is that? Custom trussed pitman too! ...

fthertime666

should/could be sold as a kit to keep consumer costs down?