Red Wagon

One question for you before I make my final decision. If you had the budget and your wife is letting you get away with quite a lot of upgrades for a couple of months would you get the TC idler arm or still go with the above options?

We're going on an expedition to some VERY remote locations in far Northern Canada just the two of us. At the moment she is happy with me trying to bullet proof as much as possible. Basically I'm getting away with murder spending my paycheque on what I want which I'm sure you understand is bloody rare...... Eventually I'm going to have to start bargaining for parts but not right now!

I am more leaning to a long arm setup in the future as I don't expect to take a full bodied rig extreme rock crawling. If I decide to go that way in future I can look for a beater early 80's model that I don't care about banging off large rocks.

IFS is more road friendly and there is a lot of that between off road spots. I'm aiming for an awesome expedition vehicle with this one.


I really appreciate all your advice and info hippy! I'm still in the know nothing rookie stage of wrenching. For example my current swap out a CV and put in a new front diff is so far a 3 day job. As I type she is still up on jack stands in peices waiting for me to fly back from the mine. By the time I finish it will have probably ended up a 5 day job minus the sway bar because I broke a few bolts getting it off.......

MudHippy

TC Idler Arm ~$400

Autozone FA5040, McQuay-Norris FA5040, Kragen/O'Reilly FA5040 Idler Arm ~$70 + Bronze Idler Arm Bushings ~$35 + Idler Arm Truss/Brace ~$85(?) = ~$190

So, you could buy 2 brand new stock type idler arms with bronze bushings and trusses/braces for ~(or even less than) the price of 1 TC idler arm(including the cost of have it shipped to you).

Is the TC idler arm really worth twice the price of a bronzed bushed and trussed/braced stock type idler arm?

Is it going to get the job done twice as good?

Is it twice as strong?

Will it last twice as long?

If I wheel twice as hard as the next guy, and/or with 35's, will it make my steering twice as dependable?

The answer to all of those questions is most likely NO. IF you're NOT planning on doing some serious rock crawling, serious balls-out desert racing, and/or jumping your rig repeatedly. Then it might come in handy/be worth 2x the $. Other than that though...why bother?

Red Wagon

Well looks like you might just he saving me money! Soooo off topic a bit, where should I spend my savings?

I got gears and a locker, bumper and winch. Now what?


Thanks again Mudhippy.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

more armor - rock sliders, IFS brace, low-profile crossmember, etc. also noticed you don't have a full size spare....then you'll need a way to mount the spare....

Red Wagon

I have a full size spare now. My rear bumper is from trail gear and I am going to try and figure out a way of modding it. I have a welder that I just bought for cheap but don't know how to weld yet and no solid ideas on where to start on that project yet.

I am finalising an order with Addicted Offroad on sliders a bumper and winch now. I have a 3" body lift so my winter project will be flat bottoming her.

Please tell me about the IFS brace. I have seen them but don't know a thing about them. Thanks for the reply. I think one of my favorite parts of this new hobby is all the cool stuff I've learnt from you guys.