Stomis

I see your point but moving out is 2years away at least. I'm not gonna go dumping $3000 on a cadi kit or anything I'm looking in the ranged of $1000 over some time.

MudHippy

Watch those lift-blocks in cold, made mine crack. Didn't get fixed in time, add driveshaft and body work to price of new liftsprings=me an idiot! No add-a-leafs, the other stupid thing I did.

Stomis

Yeah one thing on my list is to get some junkyard rear leafs, unpack them and add a helper and lift spring. Need to do a Ubolt flip in there somewhere but is does that really provide anything besides a place to mount a shock?

CJM

U-bolt flip serves to not have the bolts face down (nuts ont he underside of the axle) so they can be ripped off-it affords you clearance and every little bit helps,.

AxleIke

CJM hit it. when you start wheeling the rocks hard, you'll find that those little suckers hang down good. When you bend one, it sucks really really bad. Flips are to help with that, as well as eliminate one more thing you can hang up on.

Flygtenstein

Best IFS advice I ever got...

Leave it alone. Lock the rear, maybe the front and figure out how much time you spend on the trails. I did that for a little over a year on the hardest trails you take a bodied truck on. IFS, armor, 33's. I was wheeling 3-4 times a month, almost 40 trails total.

Then I cut the thing up. It took a year and I have a bomber rock truck/DD. It is set to go all the same places without breaking every trip.

The problem? Now I have no time to tie up the loose ends or spend that much time wheeling. Bummer, eh?

CJM

I think this is good advice honestly. When I first decided to look into a lift for the T100 I went with procomp or a superlift just b/c its made for the truck and easy to do. Someone mentioned to run away from blocks so I decided to see if I could find a custom spring pack-and I did for ALOT of money and that didnt sit well.

I then decided I really only wanted to run a 33x12.5 tire at themost and to do so on a T100 all you need is a small body lift and wheels with less backspacing (or is it more..4 bs or less iirc).

I then decided to do just that-a small 1-2" (undecided right now) body lift and a small suspension lift using 1.5" balljoint spacers up front and a rear leaf pack for 1.5".

Then there are the odds and ends and such, like armor, sliders, better bumper, tires/wheels, etc.

I felt this was the best route for me as you only really need to lift as much as you can but not anymore than you need. So in this case I am looking at a max 3.5" lift, the lift itself wont run more than a little over a grand and I am set...

Carefully and meticoulsy planned over 6 months of heavy research, and talk with other toyota owners...

AxleIke

Yeah.

This isn't going to get listened to becasue I get the feeling that wheeling is NOT the priortity on this truck. Sounds like from this and other threads, the object is to make it look cool. Lockers, gears, armor, that doesn't look cool. You hit the nail on the head, this is a road truck.

mastacox

I have to jump in and say, my IFS performed much better with under $1000 in upgrades. Travel is increased, comfort off road is far better, and the IFS does an excellent job of sucking up the fast stuff. Also, I don't have to replace my damn idler bushings every other week.

For about $800 you can get the TC Idler Arm, Manual Hubs, T-Bars, BJ Spacers, Bump Stops, Swaybar disco's, and Shocks. Make it an even $1100 for shocks all around and lift springs in the rear. That's less than a SAS, and the performance benefits are seen on and off road. It should really be noted that SASing a truck severely degrades the resale value of it, and you may be tweaking and chasing little problems in it for a long time to come. Obviously if done right (Read: $$$) AND you plan on keeping the thing forever AND you do a lot of rocks it is the only way to go, but that's the far extreme case.

My 0.02

Stomis

This truck is not a road truck. From everything I have learned in offroading from all the guys around here its that clearance is king. That being said I'm already locked in the rear and know that the other things have to come. The truck see's the trails every weekend.

I'm crossing my fingers that i'm gonna get a SAS for cheap from a local guy but this is still relevant seeing as how I dont now if its gonna happen.

AxleIke

clearance means jack.

Traction is king. Big tires mean more tire to catch, and you can go through deeper holes and over bigger rocks without lifting a tire, but, once you lift that tire, its over.

The fact that you are locked in the rear is good. Now lock the front, throw gears and a second case at it, and you'll laugh as you crawl by all the guys with 40s' and open.

I know of a guy whos got a toy on 44's. He drives in on trails that would make 99% of the people here cry. For him and his crew, a truck's worth is measured by how far it can drive on its roof before having to get winched back over.

My point is this. Tires only make a difference on trucks that are built already. Stomis, you have to do what you want to do man. The people here with experience are telling you to spend money on a front locker, armor and whatnot. I don't think you want to hear that. We're not trying to be mean, but it just doesn't seem like you want to hear whats being said. That's not a problem, but it makes us think that there is a little bit more emphasis on looks than wheeling performance.

Flygtenstein has driven a 95 4runner on IFS with BJ spacers up trails that most of the SAS trucks here can't even think about. He wasn't joking about the body being the biggest factor holding him back. He knows toyota trucks inside and out, and now has a truck that people drool over. All this advice is just experience talking, from people who've been where you are, built a truck, and now are saying "i'd do this differently".

I also don't want you to feel like we're picking on you, or trying to tell you you are dumb or something, its not that at all. Everyone has been where you are: low fundage, truck, dreams of a bigger better truck. I'm still there. Its just that after wheeling with people who've got lifts and people who've got lockers F/R, the lockers go all the way, the lift only goes part way. Anyway, good luck.

Stomis

I understand where your coming from. This is part of the reason I'm planning my suspenson out to flex rather than just be jacked up more on bigger and bigger tires. I'm gonna start looking into the front locker and in the meantime secure my IFS so its not so squishy. I see how everyone keeps saying leave it stock but whats wrong with beefing my idler, putting a brace in and doing manual hubs? From what I've read manual hubs are on the top of things to do first list.

AxleIke

Nothing wrong with those things at all. Actually, they almost have to be done for IFS to work much at all on the trail. People are saying don't throw a bunch of money at tires that aren't going to help you much, and don't throw a bunch at a lift that won't help you much.

mastacox

Flex and center of gravity are king, for rock crawling anyway.

Flygtenstein

Lots of good universals thrown around here.

Flex is not king.

If you wheel that much on hard core trails, you will sell a kid if that is what it takes to swap it.

You need two lockers and gears to wheel around here.

AxleIke

Traction is universal. Can't go in the mud without it, can't go in the rocks.

Stomis

Well I've done one hard thing thats test the limits of my truck. I'm starting to realise that when i dont put my truck up against my friends on 40's mine is decent size. Basically I think I am happy for now. I'm going to lock my front up this summer. I want to get the suspension prepared to handle wheeling better.

My theory is that all breaks in IFS are cv/axle angle related. Therefor if I use a bracket lift to lift my truck for 4" and balljoint spacers for another 1.5" then back more torsion bars off that 1.5" I'll let the CV's and axles actually sit in a more comfortable than stock position. The way I picture it in my head is that my axles will be a few degrees under stock and since all the breakage is angle related it gives me more room to flex which is probably more than I need considering the bumpstops are there.

AxleIke

you're theory is pretty good. That is essentially it, as long as you aren't too hard on the skinny pedal. You still have angle trouble at full lock when turning, so remember not to gastoo much when you are turned fully, and you'll be good.

Stomis

One small bolt adjustment for man, one giant leap in the right direction for IFS. I think I'm doing the right thing by doing this. Keeping my tires with enough clearance but not too much weight that my CV's are begging for mercy. My tire upgrade will be Goodyear MT/r's downt he road. What a sick tread they have for radials. Its either that or radial baja claws.

Flygtenstein

I broke steering parts 5 to 1 compared to axles.

So when your IFS truck with 33's and one locker is compared to a rockcrawler on 40's it doesn't stack up? Wow, never would have guessed.