I know that Toyota started producing the trucks with IFS in 86 (right?) and I know people convert from IFS to live axle.

But is the IFS all that bad? If I bought an 86+ I probley wouldnt go as far as swapping.

 

I have a 98 tacoma SR5 4WD, with coilovers. I do go out and wheel but nothing too extreme and I haven't had any problems. Shes goes up anything I point to. It is my daily driver so I do somewhat baby the truck. Yes IFS' arent the strongest if you plan on doing alot of hardcore wheelin. You can put stronger CV shafts that can take alittle more beating then the stock ones can. Its mostly personal preferences about IFS or Solid. So thats just my 2 cents! Solid or not, its a TOYOTA!!! Have fun!

 

Well, this post will probably open up a whole discussion with some people saying that you can't wheel w/out a live axle, and others trying to defend IFS. If you want to, search for something like IFS VS Solid Axle. You'll turn up pages upon pages devoted to it.

IMO this question isn't really something that can be answered. It all depends on what you want to do and how much money you've got. As for the extreme's, IFS is better for sand/desert racing, baja style, etc... while SA is for rock crawling. Most people are somewhere in between. So, you've gotta figure out what works for you. If you do mild offroading, maybe some technical stuff, but no boulders, then IFS with a locker or two is probably fine. Again, I would recomend figuring out what kind of wheeling you want to do, asking "I want to do (insert) with my truck, which suspension style should i get?". You'll probably get more satisfactory answers. Good luck.

 

"As for the extreme's, IFS is better for sand/desert racing, baja style, etc... while SA is for rock crawling. Most people are somewhere in between. So, you've gotta figure out what works for you"

This about sums it up it is all about what you are building your rig for. For racing where it is full throttle across mud or sand where you want control then IFS is better. But when you rock crawl it is all about suspension travel, and nothing beats a solid axle when it comes to travel.

In my personal opinion I like IFS more than solid axle. That is my personal opinion. If I was going to build a rock crawler I would go solid axle all the way, with a 4 link because that is going to give you a ton of travel and ground clearance, but for the a baja car that is going to go as fast as possible over terrain that is rough but relatively flat IFS is the way to go.

 

Well, all Ive done so far is just mudding. I have alot of fun doing it, but I want to try some mild rock climbing sometime.

 

straight axles are nice, but for 90% of most offroad situations, IFS is fine. toyota's A arm suspension beats the heck out of any domestic IFS and most japanese versions. the only IFS setup that came from the factory that is really superior offroad is ford's old TTB setup. but that's for another thread. the unique thing about the toyota suspension is that the torsion bars are on the upper a-arm, so you don't have the ground rakers that most IFS trucks have.

rock crawlers like the straight axle because it's strong, simple, and flex better for less money than IFS. a lot of people just hear "SAS" everywhere and think that they absolutely need it to play offroad. they just need to get off the net and actually have some fun.

 

Ford TTB sucks! granted you get decent wheel travel, but you also get a ton of camber change like the ford 2 wd setups. Fords have sloppy travel. Unless you talk about the new A armed trucks....how long did it take for them to come around????

Sorry, back to yotas. IFS is cool. I decided stock IFS didn't serve my purpose any more. I chose a built IFS over a solid axle. Mine is a daily driver. Off-road it sees mostly twisty, bumpy trails, some mild rock crawling, and a little bit of the high speed stuff. It does fairly well in everything. I am quite satisfied.

There are a couple things that can be done inexpensively to stock IFS to make it much more bareable.

 

if its yoru daily driver i would say IFS all the way..SAS is more flex for the money but if your driving it everyday prepare for a harsh ride and a big loss in handaling.



technicly wouldnt an IFS system be able to flex more than Soild? Yes it would be super expensive but you would be able to have the wheels at incredible diffrent heights and still get traction because your wheels are flat on the surface

 

I love my solid axle. It's my daily driver. I say, if you can do it....go for it. Best thing I've spent my money on in a long time. Brings a smile to my face just thinkin about it now. =)

 

typically, you can't get as much uptravel with an IFS as you can with a straight axle. this is definitely the case with torsion bars but somewhat less with coils or coilovers. you can still get a lot of downtravel though.

that was the nice thing about TTB, it acts like a straight axle and IFS at the same time -- it could both droop and compress really well. unfortunately in the stock form it was usually kind of weak and as has been said, the camber changes as the suspension travels is kind of strange. often known as "tire trashing beam" for that reason.