Does anyone have a locker in their ifs diff? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a lockright for my 7.5" ifs front. I have one in my rear and love it, but i need more traction for mud bogs. I'd like to hear some personal experiences...will it hold up?

 

IMO a non selectable locker on IFS for a daily driver is a poor choice. Trail only rig not so bad but makes turning fun.

 

Nope, you will be the first one ever to have an IFS locker - good luck.

Seriously, disregard all the folks who saw your CV's will spontaneously explode upon installation of a front locker. The extra traction and the minimizing wheelspin upon loss of traction do more to PREVENT damage than the instances where you can increase damage (namely a tire wedged). ESPECIALLY in the mud.

Sounds like you wheel on low traction surfaces - a lunchbox locker might not "unlock" then, and could make turning difficult. That's why I got ARB's ...

 

This is pretty much my beater/trail truck, and I only run in mud. I would imagine with a lockright that unlocks in corners it wouldnt be too bad.

 

I'm running an aussie locker in the front of my truck. I couldn't be happier with it.

The only time I lock my hubs is when I would want both fronts turning anyway so it was an easy choice for me.

 

Look at the Detroit Truetrac, it sounds perfect for your purpose.

 

The thing that not good about the True Track in the front is that once a tire is in the air you loose your limited slip.

It would be nice to try and retrofit a 4th gen IFS to the front of our rigs.....Personally i just dont think IFS is that bad.

 

on my other 86 4runner i had welded the front spiders had truck for 1 year with no problems and had only changed one axle shaft till i rolled it i ran the truck only in rocks but it did have locking hubs i love it the ifs was more than strong enough do it your never regret it lock it up run with the big dogs good luck

 

He said he needed traction for mud bogging, not rock crawling. JR is right though, if one tire is up in the air, its not going to transmit torque too the wheel with traction.

Why? I doubt the CVs are much stronger. The 7.5" diff is also super strong, due to the lack of bearing towers, thus very little ring gear deflection under load. Its a pretty tough sysem all said.

 

The CVs on the 4th gen are 30 spline but i do agree the 7.5" front is pretty tough cookie.

 

i stated a statement that ifs would be plenty strong enough rock crawling is what i do it still uses 4 wheel drive and 4 wheelin is still 4 wheeling whatever form it might be in you still want as much traction as possible

 

I have a tru trac in my front axle, not IFS, but I works great IMO. At least for what it is. Turning is not problem at all, hardly even notice it. You are right in the fact that when you have a tire in the air in won't have much traction, but thats compared to a full locker. With a tire in the air it still transfers some of the power to the other tire. IMO, this is better for not breaking things

 

Ours are 27 spline right? AFAIK the strength issue lies in the outer joint (designed that way). To get a stronger CV, that outer joint (birlfield) would need to be reworked. THen for safety purposes (if you have ADD) , the inner joint would need to be beefed up to be stronger than the outer once again.

 

I have run a locker in my IFS for almost 2 years. It works fine, and you will greatly appreciate the extra traction. A locker is definantly the way to go for mud, not limited slip. I agree with TC, that it is actually better for your CVs. More Traction is Better IMO

 

My IFS is locked, bought it set up from a guy who SAS'd. He wheeled it to the limit, now I'm getting close to the IFS limit. That limit has nothing to do with strength, I need flex. Trail here are alot of rocks and off camber, I've wheeled them IFS and plan to do them and more with SAS. I'll install an autolocked in the future solid axle. LSD is for towing, don't waste your time or money learning that lesson.

As for breakage, I've had one bent J arm which most likely bent for other reasons than the locker.

I wheel every opportunity I get, solo and in groups. I'm addicted.

 

Plan A LOT and do a TON of research then before you SAS because in off-camber situations, the higher COG and softer srpings you're likely to use to get more flex will make the off-camber stuff WORSE with a SAS than it was IFS...

Having 2 '93 4Runners, one IFS and one SAS, I stand by my opinion that your willingness to take body damage will limit you more than the front suspension does. Sure the SAS rig can do trails the IFS one can't - but that has more to do with the fact it's been rolled already and I don't care what it looks like than the extra flex...

 

Good posting imo!

Don't get me wrong, i would love to sas if i had another dd and then i wouldnt worry as much about damage. Now that being said, i still want to wheel my ifs until i reach its limitations, which i have not done yet.

 

For those of you that DO have locked ifs...what kind of angle do you have on your a-arms/cv axles? parallel to the ground? Angled down? Cranked t-bars?

 

First off where are you? I see skinsfan and think DC area if so I will meet you somewhere one of these days and show you the almost 0 angle I have on mine with a 4" lift and an AUSSIE LOCKER in the front I too don't think it's all that bad but will be going sas soon enough no big rush there.

 

In an extreme low traction situation like mud and water, I'd be afraid that a trutrac would limit traction in some spots because the wheels would float and grab in the mud. I'd feel better with a locker. As for turning in the mud if the tires aren't spinning you ain't turning. Do it and be done with it.

I've been wanting to do it to mine too but my boat keeps sipping up all my extra cash...