So i'm thinking of lifting my front end (and back end too, obvilously, but that's easier). I have an 87 4Runner with IFS and I'm wondering about a way to lift it that will keep it fairly reliable.

I was thinking of a 1.5in ball joint spacer. What else should I do to ensure that the front end is not fragile and easily broken? Anything I need to do with the CV joints? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

what are you trying to accomplish here?

Are you just going for hight so you can stuff bigger tires in or do you want better flex? ride? etc.etc.

 

I'm planning on starting out with 31s or 33s. Trying to even out the sag in my truck (might as well raise it while spending money on rear springs, right?). More flex is always better (but I can't do a SAS yet). I don't really care about ride because the only time its on the road is on the way to the trail.

 

First, an IFS "lift" will give you NO extra flex - all they do is recenter the suspension. Say stock you had 3" up and 4" down, with the lift, you're still gonna have 7" travel, but it will be 5" up and 2" down (for a 2" lift).

Balljoint spacers will provide additional droop travel.

The more you "tweak" it, the less reliable it will be. If you don't want to bend/break/wear out steering components, staying at stock height is your best bet.

You should be able to fit 33x10.50 if you use the stock rims. Might need a slight tbar crank (or the BJ spacers) and some beating of the pinchweld.

 

I want to clarify, adding a ball joint spacer IFS lift means you DO get a larger window of travel and more flex accordingly. If you had 4" up and 3" down before the spacers, you have 5.5" up and 3" down after. Now the bracket style IFS lifts do not add travel unless you modify them.

I would say add an idler arm brace from Downey and spend any dough on gears/lockers. You can wheel it for a while and see if it works for you.

I'd also looking to some rock sliders such as those from www.4crawler.com and other places.

Frank

 

it says in your buildup thread that eventually you want to straight-front it. If that's the case I would say don't waste any more money on the IFS if it will eventually come off anyway. But if you must, bj spacers are probably your cheapest bet.

 

Yeah that is what I originally wanted to do (SAS) but then I realized that I am not really going to get into rock crawling, where the extreme flex is desirable. After running a "Moderate" run (White Mountain, Fawnskin, CA), I realized that just one step above that would probably be my limit even with a built up truck... I did very well with my stock suspension and street tires and only needed a tow up once because I didn't have the traction (open diffs).

http://web.mac.com/psteen/TTORA_Big_...07/Photos.html

The thing I do like about IFS is you can feel a little safer "dragging" it over obstacles because you don't have to worry about puncturing the pumpkin of the SFA).

I dunno, I might still do that a while down the road. The advise to stay stock and just get an idler arm (then beef up gears, tires, etc) sounds like good advise. What does the idler arm do anyways? Why would I want to upgrade it?

Thanks!

 

The idler arm supports the steering. They are known to wear out quick on lifted and/or 'wheeled hard trucks.

An issue you can avoid by staying at stock height and putting on taller tires...