I am very fortunate that I do not have to use mine as a daily driver....I have a '87 4Runner grocery getter that has a 4 banger, that gets better gas mileage in my 40 miles to work and another 40 miles back home.

However, I can honestly say that my current suspension setup is a better (yes you read correctly) ride than the stock setup.

I have not torqued the front coils very much because I did want a nice ride, and I wanted the front springs to compress. The rear shackles are at a pretty good slant, giving me a very soft ride, yet I can get a negative arch (flexing) without the bumpstops. Adrien rode with me in Moab over a very long Poison Spider/Golden Spike/Gold Bar Rim trail. Plenty of dirt road and lots of rocks. I am very very happy with my setup, and now that I know the limitations (Colorado carnage), I back off when necessary to prevent carnage.

Indeed, I am up pretty high, and I have no more worries of hitting the gas tank, crushing my rear shocks or beating my sliders. With an automatic, the ride is quite enjoyable. Indeed, 1 crawler box would be awesome, but I just can't afford that right now (unless somebody wants to make a monatary donation ).

I have regeared my diffs with 4.88 gears in anticipation of 35" tires, which someday I hope to put on. But, overall, it really is a plush ride on the street, it soaks up the bumps on the dirt, and crawls very very well.

 

Every single day as well. My wife drives the FJ-62 every single day.

 

Yes, the Cheese is correct you did indeed say that was well. You are a moron too. Welcome to the club.

 

gracias

 

Since we're talking about all this, I went wheeling today at Windrock in east TN, and discovered what the sheet metal looks like underneath the Limited fender flares. I rode a trail today that, since I've ridden it, has now changed from a moderate trail to a difficult to very difficult trail, and during one of the mud slicked ravines, I ripped my driver's side rear fender flare off. It's interesting to note that there is at least 1" to 1.5" of sheet metal that could easily be removed, along with the flares, line-x it, and here in lies my question. If I did this front and rear, do you guys think I could have room to fit 37x12.50 tires?

Chris

 

Well, I'd like to see that. I think the bigger question is, can the front drivetrain handle that kind of strain, as well as the steering rack????

Schaefer, wadda think?

 

Yeah, those are my main concerns too. I think with large enough or different steering rack, that part would be no problem. But, I'm mainly worried about the front drivetrain holding up as you mention. I would love to try it out, but I've got a lot of prepping to do, before I can make it happen.

Chris

 

Considering when the SA guys went from 35's to 37's, they started breaking birfields left and right, I'd say no way..... The front IFS suspension can only handle 33's safely, but with the addition of a crawl box to give better control, you can barely get away running 35's.... I easily snapped a front axle, I could have avoided it, but since I never broke an axle up to that point, I wanted to see just how much stress they could take.

 

It's not is there room, it's can the steering handle it? Maybe Maybe not who knows? The IFS box was designed for tires smaller than the 3rd Gen R&P.

Try it.

 

I probably will, but it will be after I get my company car within the next 6 months. After today's trip, I've decided that my limited fender flares and side cladding is coming off to be replaced with some major fender trimming, seam welding, and then either line-x or rhino lining in it's place. Then comes the 37" tires. I've just got to find the right tire/wheel combo to make it work.

Chris

 

Fitting taller meats doesn't seem to be an issue like fitting wider ones will be. I would think where you are going to have problems is on the A-arms and the backside of the fender well while stuffing and turning, but if you are trimming 1"-1.5" of sheet metal, just rip out some fender lining too and line x all that metal too!

It would definitely be interesting to see!

 

chris if you check out this month's fourwheeler magazine (i think?) they did this with a new lexus gx470. I had actually thought about the same thing on my 4runner after seeing them do this, they removed all of the plastic cladding and not trimmed but cut a ton of sheet metal and then put masking tape over all the holes that were left and and the sides line-x'd. it looked ok, i bet you could get it done the same color green as your truck and it would look alright. Another option i had pondered before i saw this is that if steve can accomplish 35's with his trimming and suspension and 1'' body lift than the same setup with 37's "should" be doable with the 2'' bodylift. That is an option for me as i haven't installed the bodylift yet. However if you already ripped a flare off might as well start cutting!

 

I found this thread from a year ago. click here At that time it seemed like everyone was pro-SAS, and the only factor holding everyone back was cost. Function was not really an issue.
I'm not flaming or anything? Just wondering if there was some new info that I missed that came up within the last year.

Also I looked over total chaos page again. I just don't see how that kit can offer the same strength as a solid axle in the front. I see how you can clear pretty much the same obstacles, if done "carefully". Theres still a chance of breaking stuff with this kit. Can you break stuff on a D44. Sure you can. I just think your further from the breaking point with the SA, rather then a long travel kit. They don't however post cost of the kit on the site. Plus the kit doesn't include the shocks, the fiberglass fenders, and one other thing that they recommended.

Also one of my ways of saving initial cost was not to get larger tires right away. I have pretty much brand new 33" on there now. I can wait a few months till after the swap before getting the larger tires. That would shave $800-1000 off the up front cost. I was hoping to run 37"s. Steve had added a steering wheel cooler or something to his set up which allowed him to run 35"s. Also I remember reading earlier, there is a guy on this board wolfpactlc he is running 38.5"s on his truck. I guess I need to look up info on his set up.

 

Yeah, they made thing a pretty awesome ride! I'll be doing basically the same thing. Wha woud be awesome is if I could trim enough of the fenders and pinch welds to make it work with the lift that I have now. We'll see what happens.

Chris

 

WolfpacTLC has an 80 series Land Cruiser.

 

hes got a 3rd gen as well

 

With 38's? This I've got to see!!!!

 

We all quit whining and actually wheeled the IFS. I would have never believed from all the Internet hype my IFS 4Runner would have made it through the Hammers, especially Sledgehammer that Bruce did, WOW. I would have never imagined that you could build an inexpensive IFS strut that flexed as well as my Franks. The Total Chaos is even more impressive but quite expensive. I would have never imagined that I could do Double Whammy in Moab without breaking anything, with IFS.

So what has happened in the last year. People stopped web wheeling and whining and went out and tried the IFS out. The web wheelers said there was NO way you could run 35's without a 6" Trail Master and a couple of inches of suspension lift. Well guess who runs them with 2" suspension 1" body. The web wheelers said the axles were not strong enough, I have yet to break one even with the 35's. The web wheelers said this that and the other thing. So you know what I said, they are the Morons. I can build an IFS truck that will take on SA old junk. You know what, I did. I truly wish more of the "big posters" would actually show up at ANY of these events, with working vehicles. An SAS is what people do when the run out of bolt-ons. Bring your SA to Moab, lets dance.

Think outside the box, it's a dangerous thing. You have my opinion, If you want to talk to me about this, you call me on the phone, you have my number.

Disclaimer: The IFS I am refering to is the coil spring Tacoma/1996+ 4Runner. If you were to discuss the 1986-1995 IFS, which is complete crap, I would cut that off in a New York second. The Toyota Engineers are very intelligent people and realized the flaw, along with the 3.0. They fixed it and came up with an IFS system that Jeep coiped exactly on the Liberty and new 2005 Grand Chreokee, that Ford copied exactly on the Expedition. They are very bright guys and if you think your are smarter than the Toyota Engineering teams, your out to lunch.

 

Are those are best recommendations you could give? I mean, a JEEP? Or an oversized Exploder?