Thanks TC!

 

Im running a 4inch lift and relaxed Tbars with a 1.5bj spacer. Here are the limiting things i have run in to. Ball joints, They will move as much as i need from what i can tell but they wear out super fast. On the droop side of travel inner CV's seem to be the limiting factor and the tie rod ends. My inners will pop out of the cup if im not careful. I hear of people using the VW CV's on the inner. I have found those to be strong from my past in the vw world cryo the cage tho if not a bounce will shatter them. My race car would hook up and those things wouldn't make a sound other then pieces flying all over and that was a smooth surface and on the street 500ish horse. aftermarkets are available but bank. The tierod ends bind at full droop too and steering becomes sketchy. Its also putting it at weird angles and i noticed the other night the tie rod can be bent easy.

Options i have found for the keeping the shafts in or together. Drop the diff an inch+ more then needed and it will keep those tripod cv joints in the cups. the downside is your drain plug will hang out and the bottom of the diff will be exposed. I saw a slip style shaft on a rancho kit and looks to work good.

I read what you were saying about the down travel and i dont think you can beat the rancho upper arm its notched to clear the frame cause once you remove those stops on the down travel the arm will bind up next.

pic of the flex i have so far.


If i can figure out a tie rod set up soon enough i will test it out but for now im planning on SAS'ing as much as i dont like that idea.

 

Is this a 2nd & 1st Gen thing only? Or can 3rd Gen guys get in on this too?

 

Man4God: That's a good question. A buddy of mine is running the Camburg medium travel kit on his Tacoma and he says he's pulling 10" of travel on the stock CVs. I don't know enough about the 3rd gen and Tacoma IFS to give you an answer. Hell, I'm still trying to figure the suspension I've been riding around in for 22 years.

VWfastG60: I've been thinking about all that too. I was reading over on Race-dezert.com that the NAPA ball joints with the blue boots (I believe they're made by Spicer) are tough as nails, but that's coming from a bunch TTB guys I don't know how well they'd hold up on an A-arm suspension.

I've also been thinking of running FJ-80 tie rod ends. I know the geometry hasn't changed but they're supposed to be much stronger. I think the old Rancho kits used to come with a dropped drag link but they'd probably be harder to find than the arms. But something like that, if it would hold up to abuse, would probably be ideal.

The Downey slip yoke axles are a no go for me as I tend do drive down the beach in 4wd drive faster than they recommend, and the 930 route is $$$. After doing some searching on those and what it take to make them work with the birfs, the $800 axles that come with the Downey LT kit are a deal.

Oh, and by the way is that the Downey grill guard on your truck?