Hey YotaTech'ers,

I have an 85 4x4. I bought it last year and had limited knowledge of the wonderful Toyota 4x4 when I bought it. After driving it for a year I am considering swapping my SFA for IFS. From what I have read the main benefit to SFA is articulation and durability on trails when crawling and doing serious off road driving. The IFS from what I understand provides a smoother ride and somewhat better maneuverability.

I take my truck off road, but never do any rock crawling or anything that would be too brutal on my truck. So I am wondering if I would be better off in the long run going to an IFS system.

My second question to all of you is whether the swap from SFA to IFS is fairly straight forward, does it require major fabrication or modification? Do I have to make changes to the transfer case if I go over to IFS?

If you have bought a SFA or IFS set up, how much did it cost you?

Buying a new truck is completely out of the question for me. I have spent too much on this one to go back now. And I can't afford to buy another. I would rather keep the SFA and deal with a bumpy ride than sell the entire truck. I have also grown fairly attached to my little beast. I have spent so much time wrenching on it, sending it off to someone else seems like a crappy thing for me to do.

Thanks.

 

front of the frames are different from SA to IFS if I recall correctly.
Frame swap would probably be your best/easiest bet..

 

the ifs isnt really much smoother

 

Keep the SFA. Different springs and shocks might help with the ride.

 

keep the sfa, sounds like you need/want simplicity and if you take on a swap like that there are many more possibilities of things to go wrong in the long run. If you want a smoother driving truck, go buy a new one. You're 30 year old truck has never driven smoothly. so a 30 year old truck with a 29 year old suspension design isn't going to change much.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

After thinking about it all day I kind of realized keeping the SFA is probably the better option. The thing I love the most about this truck is it's durability. And I do not want to sacrifice that for comfort. The idea of new springs and shocks sounds like a very good investment.

I know this was a pretty crazy question to begin with. Kind of seems like blasphemy to go from SFA to IFS when everyone wants to do the opposite.

NothingBetter, is the IFS a smipler system than SFA? It seems like SFA is a simpler system. But I don't know as much as most of you.

 

if you upgraded the springs and shocks with a small 3" lift and matched the rear suspension with lift and more travel i think you will be suprised how much better the ride and handling will be. adjustable shocks will smooth out the ride.

i have owned both and i think it is cheaper and easier to upgrade a solid axle than ifs.

 

I would do as others have suggested and look into different springs and shocks. The ifs is more complex as there are a lot more parts and separate components in the system. The SFA is simple and easy to work on.

 

I will look into some adjustable shocks and some new springs.

Does anyone have any recommendations, or warnings on some to stay away from?

Lots of people give recommendations, but I tend to trust people on Yotatech who I know are not shills for product over some random review.