hospersc

I have a Downey 2" lift with 26mm torsion bars up front, everything else is stock.

What is the best bang for the buck to get more articulation out of the IFS?

I would like to avoid going with a bigger lift due to garage height restrictions.

evilcow

Low profile bumpstops. Energy Suspensions part# 9102. $9.00 a pair you'll need three pairs.

yotafool

maybe some balljoint spacers.

doink

if you did the balljoint spacers, then put back your stock torsionbars you could get a bit more travel. have you disconnected your sway bar yet?

elripster

First off get rid of the thicker t-bars and go back to stock. Unless you are jumping where you need added spring rate, they serve absolutely no other purpose than to squash flex.

As others have mentioned, spacers and shorter compression bumptops will help.

I think if you dump the t-bars and do the other stuff you'll be pleasantly surprised how nice the truck rides on and off road.

Frank

Scofco

The low profile bumpstops and removing the front and rear sway bars are your best bet.

Here is my articulation as it stands currently:

hospersc

I am going to remove the swaybars this weekend, I have been hesitant of onroad performance when getting rid of them, but I drive it %80 offroad anyways.

As for the stock t-bars when I cranked them I hated the ride, felt funny when I drove. With the balljoint spacers will I have to crank the stock t-bars to get it even with my 2" rear lift coils?

I also got rid of the stock t-bars when I put in the lift. Don't know why I did it though. Also where is a good place to get the balljoint spacers? I have been getting most of my suspension stuff through Downey, I don't really like em though.

Marc P

Here is mine with no front sway bar, BJ spacers, and stock torsion bars turned way down--

Robinhood150

Yup, get rid of the tbars and go back to the stock ones. The 26mm tbars are way stiffer than the stock ones, even when cranked up.

And please reduce the font size of you signature line to a normal size.

elripster

When you add the bj spacers, you'll be 1.5" higher than you are now. You will likely need to uncrank the t-bars. My company sells 'em. www.sdori.com

But, I have to tell you, those t-bars are the biggest roadblock to flex. Stiffer springs simply won't give. Those 26mm bars are MUCH stiffer than stock and have nothing to do with lift whatsoever.

As for the final height, it's really up to you. 1.5" is recommended if you are after long CV joint life. You can go higher, but understand it is at the expense of CV joints and boots. For some, the trade off is worth it, for others it isn't. It's a judgement call on your part. Having manual front hubs makes a world of difference in this area.

Many of us have ran without sway bars on stock t-bars. As for removing them altogether, that's another thing you have to see if you prefer or not.

Frank

the 38 special

OK I love this thread and it already covers a lot SO I am going to bring it back to get a little more detail on the subject
as my signature says. I am on stock IFS and rear springs with blocks in the rear to give it a "sport suspension" rake for towing purposes.. I like it but can swap rear springs to get better articulation.
My 3 inch body isnt going away - but I dont want to go a lot higher.. with the 33's and BL I am risking myself already with washington state laws.. rear bumper is still at stock height but the front is raised to fit the body and is already too high so I have to make a custom bumper soon here.. to stay legal and not look retarded. law forbids adding an extra bumper to lower height and measures height from the HIGHEST point on the bottom of the bumper, so no aftermarket off the shelf bumper will work NOW none the less with a lift.

I want to keep my IFS for a while.. its a daily driven truck but I want to get what I can out of it for flex.

So these ball joint spacers will give me what kind of flex? The pix are all down and I would like to see pictures of IFS rides flexing.
So if you have pix of stock all the way to -- infinitity IFS rides flexing -

Also.. I am told by all the local guy who are of course running SAS's that sway bar disconnects wont get anything out of this setup..

Thinking air shocks up front to better transfer weight to the "less" loaded tire and take some load off the torsion bars to add flex, those ball joint spacers, and sway bar disconnects.
Perhaps new bump stops will be needed?
It would be nice to find this all in a kit.
But will all of this really increase articulation or just maintain the articulation I currently get and lift me up 1.5"?
Sound worth the effort? when I look at the stock IFS it looks terrible. Like they designed it for the autobaughn - where there isnt even a pothole. The A arms just are too short, based too far twards the outside of the vehicle, etc.. just a very limiting design - but I want to make the best of it none the less.

NicCantDecide

Did you consider searching for IFS Flex? There's a HUGE thread with tons of pictures dedicated to IFS flex, not to mention its not 5 years old.

Skinsfan6

Taking the front sway bar off makes a huge difference, however driving on the road is more like being captain of a sailboat. My sway bar is off until I drill out the broken mounting bolts.

Matt16

^Make quick disconnects rather than taking the swaybar off. Takes 5 sec/side to remove and about a minute to reinstall. I post this up about once a week it seems

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f129...onnects-75746/



Lift won't help IFS flex, often in kills flex. Your aftermarket torsion bars and the fact that they are "cranked" is killing your suspension flex.

Other things that have given me a fair bit more flex (travel and flex) are:

1. BJ spacers ($150 + alignment*** + possibly longer shocks)
2. Relaxed torsion bars after the BJ spacer "lift" (free, do this before your alignment as you have to align after adjusting ride height)
3. Swaybar disconnects ($30)
4. I will be adding low profile bump stops too ($20)
5. If you conceptually include tires under "suspension" (which they are) lowering your tire pressure, will allow the tire on the wheel being stuffed (compressed) to bulge a little more (because it has more weight on it) and maybe gives you an 1-2" of overall flex. It also allows the tire to mould to the terrain a bit better, off road, lowering the tire pressure if very advantageous.

First, ditch the 26mm torsion bars and get the old, stock T-bars, I can't believe the BS advertising on aftermarket swaybars suggesting that stiffer t-bars will somehow make the truck better offroad. Maybe in desert racing or carrying a heavy bumper and winch, but they suck for everything else.

Use the BJ spacers to give a 1.5" lift then adjust the torsion bars so that the truck sits back at stock height (~14" from rim lip to the fender). Add the quick disconnects so that the drooping wheel isn't trying to prevent the compressing wheel from compressing more (and vice versa) through the spring action of the swaybar.

Once these mods have been made, your LCA will come in regular contact with the bumpstop when articulating. Now low-profile bumpstops will help you get at a little more compression of the suspension, which I think could be argued to be more important than droop.

*** You can do the alignment at home if you have a flat space you can work park on. Search "driveway alignment", I did a writeup to pick up where the SDORI (Elripster's company) left off.

Here's a vid of my IFS flexing with all the mods above except the LP bumpstops which would give me maybe an inch more compression in this case.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi28TLAtrCE[/youtube]

Matt16

Removing the front and rear swaybar makes 4Runner handle unsafely. I don't care too much for the handling once the front is removed, but with both of them off, you're beggin for a tip/roll over. Also, contrary to what I thought, the rear didn't travel any more and the rear was too flexible as flexed while the IFS let the rear do all the work. i didn't like it off road and it sucked the sweat off monkey nuts on road. I think taking the rear swaybar off with IFS was the worst mod ever and led to the passenger-side-is-all-smashed-up-because-it-kissed-gravel mod on my truck.

scuba

HOLY CRAP, OLD THREAD FOR THE LOSS

Matt16

I guess I should be answering you're question instead of the guy in 2004 eh.

Here's a bunch of pics: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-warned-88708/

Actually, the "HiTrac" IFS isn't a bad platform. Its pretty tough compared to everyone elses IFS (ie: I'm told Chevy's go out of alignment really easy for instance). The A-arms are short because the frame is a carry-over from the solid axle trucks. Not they could have actually made it any narrower because the engine, steering and diff all need to fit in there as well. Its would have been tough for Toyota engineers to give us any more flex and retain the torsion bar suspension.

Look at the reply i did above, it has some ways to get decent flex.

Alright, its an old thread, so here's a new vid to freshen it up a bit
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrk6vsb77xk[/YOUTUBE]

the 38 special

thanks.. exactly what I was looking for - too bad most the guys arnt flexing up front.. its IFS flex not Solid rear axle flex.
I guess thats what ya get with IFS guys tho huh?
great vid and all your writeups are excellent - have been reading through those quite a bit!

Matt16

Thanks, glad their useful.

With those mods above, you will notice more flex while driving offroad.

IFS travel is limited, but its adequate for way more than a lot of people would have you think. One way of mitigating the underwhelming flex would be to get a front locker- then it doesn't matter so much when the tire is off the ground. i get a kick out of catching a glimpse of my rear tires through my side mirrors as they lift off the ground and I keep going.