T-1000

OK, from what I've read, long travel suspension is pretty much for people who want to go fast on crappy roads, and maybe do some rock crawling too, while SAS is pretty much for rock crawling and bad terrain.

I think it would be pretty cool to have a long travel suspension and be able to cruise over the rough stuff on some old roads, and maybe get some air with a little frame reinforcement.

But it seems like you'd have to spend ~$3000 just to get it on there, not including any body modifications (glass fenders).

I've been thinking that if I were to do this I would use this Total Chaos kit.

Then after that I'd still have to get coilover shocks, T-100 axles, shock mount hoops, and probably some other stuff I'm not aware of.

And then would something like this suspension from Marlin work for the rear? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to afford any of the fancy 3 or 4 link kits after buying the above long travel kit and it's required accessories.

So am I correct in thinking a long travel suspension would be somewhere between $3-4000 just to get the thing rolling? What all exactly, besides the kit, would I need to make it work well?

I guess the real question is would I want to do a long travel instead of just a 4" lift from OME or something similar? Is the only difference wheel travel?

BTW, this would be on a '90 4Runner...A little unusual I guess.

Whitey13

If you don't budget for fenders than there is no reason to get an LT kit IMO. I'd say your looking at $5-6000 to get it done properly.

T-1000

Is it possible to just trim the stock ones?

I guess that would look pretty goofy...

But now that I look the fiberglass fenders are not that expensive, at least in relation to the rest of the stuff...a few hundred dollars at that point is a drop in the ocean of cash haha...

Whitey13

Yes, the glass fenders are a few hundred dollars, and that's fine if you just slap them on and run fenders that don't fit/match your truck. You're going to have to budget another $500-1000 to get those properly fit and painted.

abecedarian

the long-travel kits push the front wheels out 2-3 inches (on each side, 4-6" wider overall) farther than the stock suspension... you need flared fenders if you run the truck on the street.

Whitey13

Another think to consider is; would you be doing the install yourself? One has to be honest with themselves about their abilities before tackling a job like this. Here is a great overview of a TC kit on a 4th gen 4Runner:
http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1870

..And here is a great review of the Caddy kit you posted:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/ar...road-magazine/

CC_yota

You may want to look into longer leaf springs than Marlin's. I don't remember how long they are but All-Pro's are 56" so I would guess they're somewhere around there.

A lot of guys run 62" Deavers or 63" Chevys for prerunning.

Brenjen

Long travel IFS = better ride over rough terrain (jumps,washboards,potholes) than a solid axle & better flexing over stock IFS - a solid axle is inherently stronger & has better flexing abilities than IFS.

I don't see much more than that to it. I have both a solid axle truck & IFS trucks & the solid axle ride isn't that bad but IFS is noticeably better.

norcalsvx

you'll want to run some long travel in the rear
you dont want 13" of travel in the front and 8-9" in the rear i'm looking in to this with mine

http://www.kartek.com/products/truck...p/rearsusp.htm

Brenjen

That's a valid point & I have never seen anyone bring it up before.

T-1000

Thanks for the articles those were great. I would do it myself, I know I could, the only thing I might have trouble with is welding...

T-1000

How much is that kit? How about the ones on this page?

http://www.allprooffroad.com/index.p...ask=view&id=47

norcalsvx

i havent had an exper. with the all pro but i think its more for rock crawling,you want to have more travel in the rear than the front ( helps in the high speed stuff and jumps) i dont know the price on the TC rear kit (probably not cheap)

jped1981

From what ive seen, TC does not make a rear suspension, they have trailing ars on their website under accessories, but thats about it. I think that total chaos is a race ready kit, T-1000 how extreme do you want to go?

I like the Downey kit myself, I really wanted the TC gen 2 kit, but I cant rationalize the price. I went to downey, and they quoted me 3110 for a front and rear suspension.

The other choice is JD fab which costs similar to the TC kit, but you can offset the cost of coilovers by using the torsion bar mounts that it comes with. apparently it has mounts for coilovers and torsions so you can run torsions till you can afford coilover set around 1300.

norcalsvx

the tc kit with deavers


1984-2002 Toyota Pickup or Tacoma
62" Long Travel Rear Package

The most overlooked part of any prerunner truck is the rear suspension. You've seen the trucks in the dirt with the rear end always bouncing and kicking off the ground, they usually have stock suspension. We have pieced together a kit to solve that problem. This kit offers up to 20" of travel depending on shock setup and comes with everything you need to put it on your truck. New spring perches are included for 4WD and Tacoma Prerunner trucks. Shock hoops are not included but are recommended for longer shocks. 16" or 18" travel shocks are needed to achieved maximum travel.
*We highly recommend having this kit installed by a professional off-road shop due to the relocation and welding of new mounts.
Parts Included:
Deaver 62" Triple Wrap Spring Packs*
Total Chaos Weld-on Spring Hangers
Total Chaos 9" or 12" Shackles w/ weld-on mounts
Total Chaos Spring Plates
Weld-on Spring Perches (4WD Only)
Short Toyota U-Bolts
Extended, Stainless Steel Braided Rear Brake Line
Weld-on Lower Shock Mount Tabs, Set of 4
Weld-on Upper Shock Mount Tabs
F911 1/2" Shock Bolts w/ Grade 8 Nylock Nuts
Weld-on Reservoir Mounts
Reservoir Hose Clamps
*Available with 10.5", 12.5", or 14.5" arch.

Add on a pair of shocks with your kit!
2.0 Sway-A-Way Shocks
2.5 Sway-A-Way Shocks
2.5 Fox Shocks
2.5 Fox Bypass Shocks

jped1981

Hey Norcal! I didnt know TC made a rear kit, how mucch is it priced at? any ideas?

norcalsvx

no i dont know the price but im sure its pretty expensive

NicCantDecide

If you want to cruise over the rough stuff, get some air, and maybe do some rock crawling and are willing to spend the $3000 just for the suspension, you might as well go with the solid axle swap and get ORS's multi-link front suspension. You're going to have to sink money with the IFS coil-overs and what not, so why not go the extra mile for about the same price (maybe a couple hundred more) and get a solid axle with coil-overs and multi-link?

Either way you go, you're going to need to redo the rear suspension. Trail-gear has a multi-link for the rear that goes for $1000, but it doesn't include the coil-overs. The rear will be more expensive multi-link than leaves though, but if you're willing to go this far, what's another grand? Hell, I've sunk close to 15k into my sports compact in the last couple years....I really should be spending it on college x_x

Anyway, the links (pun intended):
ORS Front Multi-link Kit
Trail-Gear Rear Multi-link Kit

P.S.: after further reading, the rear multi-link requires modifications to the bed (so the shocks fit) and relocation of the gas tank. That's most likely more than your'e willing to do. Long leaves in the back will definitely work also.

T-1000

That's my problem, I'm having a hard time rationalizing the price, even though I know spending any money for off road gear is not any kind of a good investment.

That Downey quote though, that's not too bad...I have heard some negative stuff about them though...Plus, I really like the way coilovers look. Also, the rear lift is just slightly bigger springs and spacers. It doesn't seem to be the caliber of quality required to match the front, to me anyways.

Have you seen this?

http://esbfabrications.tripod.com/esbfab.htm

And I'm not going to race or anything, I just want to be able to go fast over crappy roads/terrain if I want, or maybe do some lighter rock crawling. And have a little more clearance. So the TC is probably a little overkill.

What worries me with all these kits though is that I feel like I'm going to go for it, and then find out I need some other $1k something that I didn't think about.

Like with that ESB kit. You'd also need the

1) Coilovers, be they complete or without springs
2) Some kind of steering kit (from where idk, maybe here http://esbfabrications.tripod.com/esbfab.htm),
3) T-100 axles
4) New fenders
5) A capable enough rear lift.

That's all I can think of, but I'm still not sure it's complete.

Oh yeah, and probably front and rear trusses...

T-1000

I thought about SAS, but it seems like that's for just hard core rock crawling, and I'm probably not going to get into that too much. I might live in Colorado now, but that's definitely going to change within the next few years and there aren't big rocks everywhere. There are crappy roads I can scare people riding with me everywhere though.

IDK...Probably long leaves would be the way to go in the rear for me. I wouldn't mind moving the gas tank, but I'd rather not have shocks poking up into the rear of my 4Runner. I should call and find out how much this TC rear kit is.

Your screen name is pretty fitting for this situation haha...can't decide.

$15k...woo...piles up quick huh. You know, even though I don't live anywhere close to home, and only see my folks a few times a year, I still dread seeing my dad and hearing him say, "You spent how much on this truck? Jesus Christ boy!" Lol....