This isn't something that I am doing anytime soon, but I am in a bit of a fix. I am trying to make up my mind between a long travel IFS kit (such of those that Baja trucks have) or a Solid Axle Swap. Either way I get a lift, and I know that, but heres the thing- I am very into rock crawling, but I am also into expedition trips, like desert and forest adventures. I would just like the opinions of those who have done either of these things, and of course if you have a picture, please share it. I just want the controversy to stop in my head!!! THANK YOU

 

well the long travel IFS is friggin kewl i would love to have it but truth is, solid axles are stronger, expecially if you wanna do some rock crawling or expeditionary trips like you said. not putting ifs to shame, heck im prolly gonna keep mine....with some minor modifications

 

LT can be plenty strong and I would argue some LT kits are stronger than doing an SAS. A built SAS compared to a built LT probably cost near the same in the end. LT is more complex too, but nothing beats two knuckles working completely independent of each other. LT even works decent in crawling too. Check out King of the Hammers competition, plenty of IFS and even a full IFS/IRS rig I heard.

IFS can take a pretty good beating and flex good. People just don't seem to wanna take the time to make it work and would rather hack apart a perfectly good system and put in 25-30 year old axles.

 

I prefer the sas purely because of the simplicity of it, less moving parts, lets parts to break, but that's just my opinion, i'm sure the ifs can be made plenty strong.

heres my 86 sas, this is not a store bought kit the axle and brackets all came off a 85. Check my sig for mods

 

IMHO longtravel IFS is the best all-around setup. Almost as much flex as a SFA, but A LOT easier to get to ride well on the street, and easier to keep the ride height (and therefore COG) down.

 

i want it^^^ lmao

 

SAS all the way. Ive done my 89 Runner already. And my 86 Runner is next...

 

Long travel wouldn't perform nearly as well as sas in the rocks. But it would be way sick for desert/dunes.

 

Long travel would be for prerunnin.

SAS if you want strength, stability, reliability and simplicity.

 

a fix to me would be having no front suspension and needing something now. if you stock set up is working, wheel it like that til it breaks.

i know where u r coming from tho. this debate keeps me up at night as well.

 

Im with you!

And if you ever feel like jumping your truck... well have fun!

I can't wait till I can throw a TC kit in my rig!

 

Pro IFS. If I ever have enough extra money, I wanna throw a TC LT on my truck 4runner.

 

I'd like to see the look on people's faces when they count up the number of parts on a SFA rig and find out they are just as, if not more, complex than an IFS rig ... owning one of each, I can GUARANTEE you the maintenance is the same, if not more, with the SFA rig and it generally takes longer too.

To be clear, yes a SFA rig CAN be built stronger than IFS, and yes, at the limit, it will flex better. But IMHO, at the point that those things make a difference, you're out on the fringe and probably just need a buggy anyways.

 

the man has a point

 

yeah i agree with tc on this one.

ive been thinking about sas or lt. Either or its going to be alot of money, work and working out the kinks in the end

 

I imagine it would be easier to find parts for a solid axle, I don't think I've ever seen a pre-95 LT IFS kit on the road, whereas I see SAS trucks daily. What I'm getting at, is that if this is your daily driver, and you break something, chances are it will be easier to find parts for the SAS vs. the LT IFS, at least in my part of the world.

 

I have been debating this too. One thing to think about is that the long travel kit sets your front wheels out a little farther and therfore you will have to add the wider fiberglass fenders from what I have read. The old Willys jeep had a suspension that offset the tracking and some used to consider this a plus. Hopefully some more knowledgeable members will cover this for you. I lean toward the long travel.

 

How would you really know though Troy? You don't maintain Tippy at all.........................I mean seriously. I've lived in Colorado now for 2.5 years and it hasn't moved except to move it in and out of the driveway.

And, no its not the same to maintain. Not even close.

 

Okay i own and have wheeled both an 85 solid axle and an 86 ifs 4runner, and there is absolutely no comparison between a solid axle and ifs when it comes to rock crawling. Anyone saying that ifs can flex as well as a solid axle has no idea what they're talking about. Long travel ifs is for prerunning, were talkin river bed/dunes kinda stuff... And there is no more maintenence on a solid axle than ifs.

 

g cali - were both stock, modified - and how much?

Because I have 'wheeled with stock '85's and the flex ain't nothin' to write home about - the same, or possibly, even worse than stock early IFS.

But this thread ain't about stock IFS - it's about longtravel - and unless you've run a longtravel setup you're not really talking about the same thing.