Scofco

This is starting to get embarrasing.



I'm overdue for a locker or a SAS. I'm starting to get shot down by more and more trails lately because I can't drive them without losing a tire to the air.

I just ordered this sticker for my rig:



Grrrrr!!!

Don't flame, I'm just frustrated

HondaTec521

Dont tell me that ! I just sold my 85 xcab today and was going to start building up the Runner.!

Scofco

It's great when I drive around the mall parking lot though

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

I never knew they did that on trails. One I never drove on a real "trail" Just local quad/dirtbike spots and fire roads.
That really sucks for me I guess. I don't do any rock crawling nor do I want to (yet).
I just stick to dirt/gravel terrain till I am ready for the body damage part,
though my paint is messed up a lil.

Yoter

1st stop whining!

2nd learn to air down for max grip

3rd lose the sway bar or get discos

4th dont waste money on ghay decals, they wont help you climb trails.

*If I can do it you can do it. I started out where you are Scofco and there are ways around wheeling core stuff without forking out cash for lockers. I do now have a locker so that puts me up there with the rest of the IFS gods but take some of my advice atleast.

934rnr

Well at least you are not tweaking idler arms everytime you go out on the trail. I know I need a idle arm brace...
I am locked and my last 2 trucks had LSD 3rd's but it still doesn't help the weak IFS steering when it's lifted at all. I pretty much bent IFS stuff on all of them not as much on my nissans because I had a idle arm brace.
It's fine though I am cutting of my IFS off as soon as possible I have had enough of IFS rigs.
I am selling my TJM to gather money to start my SFA project. Besides my friend frabricates bumpers and stuff so I can get a new one for relatively cheap. Hopefully it will be enough for some basic things like a 85 front axle which I can score for about $50, spring hangers, F-350 shock towers and extended brakelines and some used waggy leafs and the list goes on and on...
IFS is fine for most folks who use it as a daily so a SFA isn't for everyone.

934rnr

$350 or best because it has some dents from trails so it has been used as intended and not show quailty. It's less than a year old so no real rust on it. I never had winch installed in it. I put a ad in the local paper it ran today have yet to get calls on it though. I don't really want to mess with shipping since it is bulky.

Flygtenstein

For once, Blue got on the right train.

Let me guess, two open diffs?

That is not a trail in the pic, that is a dirt road and that is the truth.

Wimpy IFS with wimpy 33's have put me on pretty much everything I wanted to drive including most of the famous stuff in Arizona, Colorado and Moab. It has also carried Marmot, Schaefer, Hunt, and countless others over trails that are barely walkable. Oh yeah, they had gears, lockers, and are great drivers too.

Poopooing IFS with open diffs really makes me laugh. Open diffed IFS is going to get spanked just as hard as open diffed solid axle rigs, period. Lots of people spout this same rhetoric when the truth is they just want an older rig to beat so they care less about it.

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

Should I spend my money on SAWs/front OME/rear? I wanted to go 2", but I was reading that the 99's are 2' higher than my '02.
From what I am reading here it might not be worth it. I'm not a rockcrawler, more high speed trails and some dirt. As that is what type of roads I travel on for camping and where I use my BMX and MTN bikes.
I doubt I'll ever do the SAS. If I do, it won't be anytime in the near future.
What would be involved in a 2" lift on an '02?
Should I go 4" to bring me 2" over the stock '99 height?

Yoter

[QUOTE=Flygtenstein]For once, Blue got on the right train.

Usually I am all hopping on the left one but the right one looked cool today. I use to be all about "jack it up" but it has put me in plenty of close call situations I would rather avoid. I have never rolled my rig yet but am ready for the day it happens. If you are attempting to climb some twisted off camber trails that flex your IFS rig to the point of loosing grip with the ground I suggest what I already suggested for a starters setting but also choose your lines as if playing a game laced with strategic moves. if you loose to the hill while taking a poor line try again. practice makes perfect. dont give up or spend money on something that will likely put your wallet into a tailspin and prolly still allow you to get stuck. Work with what you have for now. become a better wheeler and with your current rig, different settings, and such.
There was this obstacle I have spoke of before in posts that drove me nuts. It would flex the crap out of my IFS, send my rig into sideways slides, and if I knew then what I know now I would have had no problems. i wasnt airing down, sway bar was holding me back, wasnt locked, improper tires, and inexperience. I am still learning but can do that obstacle with ease and cockiness. It does not bite me as I use to allow it to. it knows who is boss. now man up and dont just drive that 4runner, tweak it, know what settings will change its operation, and have fun while learning.

Yoter

"high speed trails"?

Scofco

1) Okay

2) I do air down, just not on trails (roads if you will) like that one.

3) The front and rear swaybars are gone.

4) I like ghey decals

I do like IFS, but without lockers it's such an annoyance sometimes at the lack of flex. Life is getting expensive now, so those are taking a backseat for now

I just had to pop. Looking at photos of solid axles flexing like nobodys business and then looking at my rig, I want to cry :cry:.

At least it's better for camping than my old Eagle Talon was, and that's all that really matters

934rnr

Very true I agree with you totally.
It probably doesn't help the last 4 idler arms I got look similar to a moog one however there are no idle arm braces out there made for them. I do think I need to get a stock one back and get a brace though. Either that or something is very tweaked on my 4 runner causing them to bend like my centerlink or something or possibly I need to put my stock upper bumpstops back on. I don't think it is my driving I don't hammer on my truck offcamber or bounce the front end. The nice part of IFS is the front center is fairly high off the ground so clearing a rock in the front is fairly easy with the solid front you still have issues with clearence the rock that you cleared with IFS you might not clear and smack the axle tube or the pumkin. The other isssue is ride height if I had a solid axle a 3" bl and 4" suspension and 35's I wouldn't be able to go on the trails I run because I would have tree limbs smacking the windsheild. Mine is already high enough to smack the roof and roof rack so another 2-3" of lift would be sketchy not sure on doing more than 33" tires or 35's tops.
However it still doesn't change my plans to torch my ifs in favor of a solid front axle with lockers front and rear. In favor of articulation.

Scofco

[QUOTE=BigBadBlue]Good advice Blue.
I'm still an infant in the off-road world. It's a wild and scary place

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

Yup. I guess like a prerunner would run. I do them at high speeds anyway. Like fire roads for the fire trucks when a fire breaks out. Bumpy and some nice terrain on some.
Other are dirtbike/quad trails that I hit most parts at high speed, except for where I know I'll bottom out.
Plus when I go camping there are some trails that I would like a lift for.
Does that make any sense?

934rnr

If you are blowing beads aired down you need to goto a skinner rim. Lemmie guess you have 33x10.5's on a 15x8. How much are you airing down to? I air down to 12-15 PSI max on mine with 33x12.50's on 15x8 rims.

Scofco

Thanks for that link Jake, it was a wake-up call.
Glad I took the time to read it.

Scofco

I put those quotes in my sig more for a reminder to myself.
I have to say, this forum sure has a lot of patience for inexperienced young fellas like myself who talk out of their



I don't know anyone closely that wheels, so everything I'm learning, I learn off this forum. It's very invaluable to me. Thanks guys!

934rnr

It sounds something like citronella

Scofco

This is what I recommend, it's what I have found works the best for me:



Also, I load up on Vitamin B-1 during the summer months. Even when I don't use a repellent, they still mostly stay away. Apparently it has something to do with an odor that B-1 emits through your pores which the bugs hate, but you cannot smell :shrug:

Even if it doesn't work, I don't think it does any harm

That spray I use contains 27% DEET (I think), so I tend not to use it unless I have to.
Studies have shown that the more DEET (to a point) the better, but if you have something that's 99% DEET, and you spray it on raingear, it will melt right though over time. Anything that can do that, I think 27% of it is far too much.

DEET research isn't very evolved, so I don't completely trust what the scientists say yet.