Awwww......your such a sweet guy.....maybe someday I will meet a chick as kind as you are. I'm wondering, why people are so afraid of getting flamed. Flame me....my firesuit is on. Sheesh this forum seriously has the sweetest nicest people ever! Sometimes tooo nice. See:---> read what I'm typing...yotatech is even making me sound like the sorry sap that I'm really not. It will be a sad day when the inevitable happens: a smilie of a dude hugging another dude....
Oh well I digress.

 

Welllll .... not really - when a tire hits a bump, it goes up, but the diff doesn't. SO, IFS has more ground clearance at rest and when the suspension is drooped, but less when the suspension is compressed.

This is a HUGE factor of why rockcrawlers use solid axles - as the tire goes up on the rock, the diff is lifted clear with it.

 

I'm a fan of IFS and SaS'd rigs. Although I do have to say, given the choice I would much rather have a coil-over setup. I can't stand the torsion bar set up. If I do anything I'll keep the IFS and go w/ the TC Gen II Caddy Kit.
Me and Ricky Bobby got something in common.
Not my Rig but this is the way I'd go.

 

i am in the process of a sas. i wheeled the out of my ifs, it's done very well. go with what u have till your ready.

 

Opinions are awesome to argue about. It ALWAYS ends in somebody winning.

 

me too......i'm definitely going long travel. i like to jump as well as crawl/run trails, so it also fits my needs well.

 

You can add me to the LT list too and this is why




Deathrunner is my hero

 

have you guys checked this site out www.gocms.com that is a crazy ifs irs setup I want it... I need to find out if its for runners too not just jeeps

 

Hey tc,

The Diff. ground clearance on a straight axle is fixed, and can only be increased by larger wheel/tire size.

The Diff. ground clearance on an independent suspension system is variable

If You drove a sas, and I drove a ifs over the same exact terrain. I would average more Ground clearance then You. Period

I not saying that either system is hands down Better then the other, I'm saying ifs has a ground clearance advantage.

Thanks Kiwi

 

Picture two vehicles, one with SFA, one with IFS approaching an identical obstacle in an identical way. Let's say a rock on the ride side. As the tires go up and onto the rock, consider what you would be looking at:

A solid axle is just that: solid. When the suspension on one side is being compressed, the entire axle is moving. The differential IS, in fact moving upwards as well. There would be more clearance under the SFA differential.

On the IFS rig, only the CV axle (and a-arms, etc) is moving upwards. Essentially, the differential only starts moving upwards as the suspension of the side being compressed reaches max compression. Therefore, there would be less clearance under the IFS differential.

Or do the champion rock crawlers have it all wrong?

 

Hey Taco,

I dont remember talking about rock climbers in My post.

I do remember saying "average", Not "Let's say rock on the ride side".

My point still stands.

Thanks Kiwi

 

Go with portal axles and you get more clearance with smaller tires. Ifs long travel is great for hight speed desert stuff but you cant beat sfa for articulation. Depends on what you do. High speed wide open spaces. IFS slow speed rugged trails requiring lots of articulation. SFA. Each has its place where it shines.

 

Re: average vs. "rock crawler". I still don't see how that changes anything. The physics are essentially the same whether your tire is going over a 6" rock or a 3' rock.

If we are talking about clearance under the differential, I still say that when one side is compressed, SFA has the clear advantage in clearance.

Don't get me wrong. I'm PRO-IFS.
But I've wheeled both pretty hard, and I've watched both be wheeled hard up close.


But hey, in the hippy spirit, wheel what you got and just be happy about it.

Didn't mean to come off like a jerk.

 

Hey Taco,

If one side of IFS was Always compressed, You'd be correct.

Fortunatly, on "Average", its not compressed.

Thanks Kiwi

 

You are pretty much correct. In an ideal situation, yes, absolutely. However, there are only two real world offroad situations where it matters at all, and that is a rock in the middle of the trail, with nothing else around it, or a rutted, two track type trail. Either one makes no difference, because you still have a live rear axle. For the VAST majority of wheeling, (excluding mudding) you'll be flexing the suspension, and dropping the center of the truck down.

Also, a live axle has more clearance under the housing, just not the diff, so you really have one spot that you have to worry about. In fact, it would be interesting to see the actual average height of each. On IFS, you have the center section higher, but the A-arms lower, and on the SA you have a diff, but a housing that is higher. Interesting math problem, I'm going to have to look into that.

That being said, I have a belly pan on my truck. I can drive over rocks that literally lift my front tires, both of them, off the ground. I slide on my belly pan, and come down on the other side. As long as my rear has traction, since I'm locked F/R, i just keep on going, and worry more about my rear axle than the front.

Lastly, you CAN get much more clearance, as you stated, by throwing on bigger tires. 33's to 35's are considered the limit on IFS, before you start running into breaking stuff. Cromo toy solid axles can handle 44's.

 

Kiwi - you ARE an argumentative guy, aren't you?

SFA has more clearance ANY time the suspension is compressed - whether it's one wheel or both. IFS can have more clearance any time the suspension is drooped. BUT since there is little force on the tire when IFS is drooped, the extra clearance becomes kinda irrelevant.

So you say "on average" sure - if you take a long time average of the ground clearance at the centerline of the truck for every instant, yes, the "number" would probably say the IFS has more ground clearance. But who cares? The times I CARE about ground clearance are those few instances where I could put a tire on this high point and lift the "low points" out of the way! Or, like AxleIke, just drag the beefy skidplate over it, which doesn't bother me any...

Not only do the rockcrawler guys use solid axles for this reason, they have a huge offset on the diffs, with them practically out at the wheels to take maximum advantage of it!

 

"On average" is pretty ambiguous too.

Where are we talking about? Center of the vehicle? A SA has a lot of clearance there. Under the diff? sure, IFS has more. Lowest point on the axle? Hard to say. The a-arms hang down low too. You would have to define the point you are looking at, and the terrain you are driving over.

In the end, does it matter?

I would NEVER argue that IFS is better for regular wheeling, excepting high speed desert stuff.

A well built SA truck is superior in every way.

The point I make is that IFS works just fine. Sure, a SA might be better, but IFS is plenty good enough. Spending upwards of 2k to fix a problem you don't have is idiotic.

 

Hey tc,

Yes, I love to argue. I don't believe that is a BAD thing as long as it's constructive.

I will be the First one to admit when I'm Wrong, and I expect the same.

We are all a product of our experiences, and that gives us our different opinions.


The last few replys are all about rock crawlers, that puts a fixed variable into the equation. That helps to overlook My "overall" point.

Thanks Kiwi

 

axleike last sentence hit the nail on the head there.