so in the june 06 petersons 4wheel 'zine, theres a good article on locking your IFS. as ususal, they state that there are varying opinions, but thats to be expected. a couple excerpts:

woa...37" huh? i thought a 35 would be pushing the limits on our stock axle setups...never heard of anyone running a bigger tire...esp 37's on a toy ifs setup...that would require rediculous lift

interesting..havent seen any for ifs. anyone know who makes some for toys? fairly simple to make?

CV's:

ive read about this somewhere..cant remember where. anyone upgrade to this setup? is it a direct swap?

that sounds about right (i think anyway). id rather beef up things that might bend/break first before thinking about locking the front. odd though, they didnt mention anything about manual hubs. i guess it doesnt matter. of course nothing will compare to SAS'ing, but it seems like our IFS setup is pretty OK...if setup properly and driven carefully. those long travel setups seem like they work well...but boy that sure is some $bling$

anyway..food for though. input/opinions on heavier duty CV's and tie rods please?

btw: available lockers for all toy 7.5" IFS:

no mention of aussie locker..i thought it was available?

 

I wouldn't go to a Ford/Chevy/Dodge/Jeep dealer to have my Toyota serviced - same goes for a magazine that is normally devoted to US manufacturers junk. Take anything they say with a grain of salt.

 

LOL, they aren't even talking about 3rd gens...... simply put their infromation is outdated......

 

yeah, me neither...and i know these sorta mags rarely apply to us, but they do point out some valid stuff, regardless of what its on. i mean ifs is ifs..right? and to praise the toy front setup must say something... "ifs is crap but hey..the toyota's not so bad!"

the beefier tierod & t100 axles is what caught my attention mostly...

 

are the T-100 shafts stronger than the 4runners ??? Id also like to know if its a direct swap. In that case, what about the T-100 CVs ?

 

What's sad is, IMHO, they are the most Toyota-friendly of the 4WD mags (with the obvious exception of Toyota 4WD Owners). Before Toyota 4WD Owners existed, Peterson's was the only mag I could even stand to pick up.

 

Wouldn't you have to go with LT when upgrading to T-100 or Tundra shafts on mini-trucks/4Runners?

 

not sure, just did a quick search, it looked like most of the stuff they talked about was for a 2nd gen. but its late, and im tired, i could have missed something.

 

T100 = 2nd Gen 4Runner

 

thanks jim..that clarifies alot. bummer though...

ric: after a more thorough search, t100 shafts are longer & need either a: TC long travel kit, or b: oem t100 A-Arms and probably steering linkage too? dont really want to run a wider front track..so..

any thoughts on any companies that offer stronger CV's? or should i just bank on the oem/aftermarket ones breaking and start practicing my re & re on em since ive got what looks like torn boot...

i want to start wheelin this thing harder...so i just want to beef it up where it will help before hand

 

What I was asking (well...less asking, more telling with a question mark) above if you needed LT setup to use T-100 (86-95 trucks/runners) or Tundra (96-02/04 Runners/Tacos) axles. I guess I was trying to say...Peterson's looks kind of dumb saying "jsut replace your mini0truck axles with t-100 axles".

 

yeah, it was pretty vague in their content. it really wasnt an article on brand/make specific upgrades...just the ins and outs of locking up front. i guess their info really is outdated...or they just try to sound smart by making a blanket statement like that d'OH :pat: or maybe they just spend too much time wheeling fords/chevies/heeps

 

Is there a difference in CV's say between a 92 4runner and 92 P/U? I know the brakes are, depending on engine..

 

d0ubledown, thankx man

 

The inner joint in a stock 3rd Gen or 2nd Gen IFS Mini/4R/Taco are tripod type joints. The T-100 and Tundra are true CV's so they travel more and are stronger, hence the preference in LT set ups.

Problem is usually people kill the outer, stub or connecting shaft, rarely the inner.

Cebby had it spot on.

If you rock crawl IFS with a locked front on a 2nd Gen, I would worry about the steering first, then the joints, then the diff.

If you rock crawl IFS in a 3rd Gen with a locked front, I would worry about the joints first.

Seems around here the superstars are breaking stuff on easy trails with open diffs. The people who really crawl it are nuking joints at slow speeds

 

I think it depends on what terrain you're going to be in. Around here (read: muddy trails) IMHO, lockers will EXTEND the life of your IFS by allowing you to use less throttle and not spinning the wheel in the air up 2x as fast as the others then come slamming down.

CV's are cheap and easily replaced, and with manual hubs won't strand you if one breaks (although you will be stuck with 2WD). I agree the steering components are more critical to upgrade. The long travel kits usually include much beefier tierods with big ends (usually off a fullsize pickup). Has anyone done a mod like this to a "normal" setup?

 

No, as in wrong.

Also...

No, as in people have asked and no one has. It is the connecting sleeve that fails, not the end itself. ESB Fab and Total Chaos make some cool long travel steering set ups. Problem is at 1k complete, I can have a Trail gear swap kit, welding is no worries and I am on the way...

 

...i wish there was a 1K trail gear swap kit for 3rd gens...

 

Knowing what I know now, owning a built 2nd Gen...

You don't need a 1k axle swap kit for a 3rd Gen or a 2k one or a 3k long travel kit.

Put that pig on 315 MT/R's, run it with 4.88 gears, think about a crawler, add two ARB's and you have a truck that will do anything, crap an axle once and a while and stay pretty. Not to mention it will be great to drive.

 

very sound advice flygtenstein...and probably the route id like to take. the trails ive ran so far havent been too hardcore, and my truck will make it through with the guys i run with (mostly SA(S'd) trucks & tacos on at least 35's). i think just having to accept the fact that axles will break and be prepared for it. that said, i think after my winch, the 315 upgrade will be next and then probably do the gears once im ready to plunk down the G's for the front ARB (have the elock in the rear already). currently as it stands...ground clearance (or lack of it) seems to be my weakest link

staying pretty is one of my main directives considering im still making payments...haha!