I've been thinking about toyota trucks, particularly the ones in the 1st and 2nd gen because they are what i'm looking for in my first truck...

Well back to point, i'd like to learn some about both types of the available suspension, particularly the front.

Here are my questions, sorry there are so many ;

-How the IFS is built and how it can be changed...on the 1st and 2nd gens

-If yotas use torsion bars...

-If yota's with IFS have the problem of a obcenely-low drop braket when lifted, and if it causes and off road high-centering problems (if yotas DO use torsion bars) I saw a picture of a lifted chevy and was disturbed by how low it protruded the main form of the chassis.

-How well do IFS trucks flex if properly set up to do so(with safe driving characteristics too of course) I have seen a few flexing IFS trucks and aside from the rear flexing the front just looks like the whole truck turned and there is no suspension movement at all..... :cry: :cry:

LASTLY -the pros and cons of solid axle, and independent front suspension...in toyotas (i will do a search for that one though, i have a feeling it's been widely discussed before)

 

well, to start, all of the first gen trucks were solid axle and two years of the second gen were solid axle, Toyota did use a torsion bar IFS up to 95.5, with the bracket type lifts, you will have stuff hanging down like the Chevy's, the first generation of IFS (86-95.5) were pretty crappy in the flex department, the Tacoma's and 3rd gen 4runners are better, and to answer your last question, the pros of Solid axle: stronger, easer to lift, flexes better. the cons: usually cant turn as tight as IFS, less ground clearance to a point,
pros of IFS: None, just kidding, tighter turning radius
cons: more expensive to lift, weaker with big tires, don't flex too good, more parts to wear out/break, there may be some more to each but thats all i can think of right now

 

The toy torsion bar is on the upper control arm. Many other manufacturers have the torsion bar on the lower arm. So even though a toy lift does drop the front differential, i don't think it has as many parts hanging down low as some other trucks. (NOTE: I am not 100% sure of this so if I am wrong some one please correct me.)

 

Right. The lifts for the 86-95 do not end up with anything sticking down any different than before the lift. The torsion bars are on the top, out of harms way. This pic is a 4" suspension lift on a 1990, notice that the only things under there are the driveshafts and the crossmember, just like stock.

Not like the Ford for instance, where the torsion bars are dropped too and not only are they still the same height off the ground (bad) but they are no longer protected by the frame (really bad.) Mall rated...

 

SWEETNESS thank you for the posts!! When i got to thinking about the front suspension I scared the crap out of myself because I knew I wanted a toyota but I also knew I'd never get a truck that would have junk sticking out the bottom like you see on some chevy trucks (and fords too i think...if they have any IFS trucks that are commonly lifted)

There are special torsion bar relocaters you can buy and i saw the install done on a tahoe in a magazine i have but it STILL stuck down a bit...

Howcome trucks dont just have coilovers tucked in there instead of a torsion bar? Can coilovers be installed? If so what are the practicallities, pros and cons of doing that? I think i've seen a truck with that done... Just had a bar that is attached inside the wheel well and then some sort of mounting mechanism on the arm... i dunnno!!!

 

It would be a fairly big deal. You would have to re-engineer the upper arms, make strong enough supports for the upper coilover mounts, beef up the lower arms and lower shock mounts. Etc. No good reason to do this, the torsion bars are not holding back the IFS suspension from big time flex - the axles are. There is a limit to how much angle the axle joints can reliably take. The IFS can easily be modified to give tons of travel, but the axle shafts won't do it. If I were going to redesign the IFS front end, I would get rid of the stub axle from one side of the diff, center the diff, bring the control arm pivot points farther inboard, make the control arms and the axles longer.... Lotta work. SAS isn't so popular because its so superior (it is superior, but an IFS designed from scratch would be better,) it's done because it's do-able - it provides the most bang for the buck engineering-wise as well as pocket book-wise.