Hey guys, I hope I'm posting this in the correct location.

I bought my truck with what looks like a lot of shade tree work done to it. I'm still not sure of all the problems. The first thing I noticed was the insanely firm suspension in the front.

The truck has a 6" rough country lift plus a 2" body lift. 35" tires. From what I can see, the IFS is cranked all the way up and fixed into that position with some type of bump stop, so there cannot be ANY vertical wheel travel at all!!

Forgive my lack of terminology here. Can someone please explain what I've got here and why in the world they would make it a fixed position like this rather than just cranking up the torsion bars?

And speaking of the torsion bars, I don't think there are any! It looks like they've been replaced by a support bar on each side.

Thanks in advance.



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Post some pics up. Could you be just confused at what your looking at? Had any Toyota 4x4's before? If the torsion bars are "cranked" up, they can be "cranked" back down. Toyota torsion bars are connected to the upper a-arms, not the lowers like most ifs rigs.

 

The first couple pics look like anti-sway bar links. The last few look like support bars for the after market lift. The sway bar links may hinder suspension travel a bit, but not much. The support bars are just that: support. They don't hinder suspension travel at all.

It may just be stiff because of the aftermarket lift (which I've heard from many to be too stiff).

 

^ Correct. Sway bar and support bars. The ride is bad because the t bars are cranked.

 

I'm confused. Why would the torsion bars be cranked if it has a lift kit? I was always under the impression that cranking the torsion bars was a poor mans lift kit, versus a professional lift.

I was told by the previous owner that it was 6" lift + 2" body... Now I'm wondering if it's actually 6" in the rear an 4" up front+cranked torsion to save money.

Thoughts? Is there a way to measure the installed kit?

 

your lower control arms should be at 10*. All you need is an angle finder.

It should look like this.

 

To answer JasonYota, yes this is my first "Toyota" 4x4. In spite of the issues I have with it I absolutely love it. I guess I'm gonna have to see if I can borrow one of those angle finders, maybe autozone has one I can use quick. If I find that the torsion bars are indeed "cranked" up (not sure of the correct terminology there), what would you guys recommend?

Just leave it and deal with the rough ride? Honestly, the firm suspension doesn't really bother me, what bothers me is the trucks inability to flex with the terrain. Here is a couple pictures of me on a little hill just trying to see the limit of the flexibility. Seems like the front end has no travel at all really. I couldn't go any further without the driver rear wheel coming off the ground. With posi in the rear I could have kept going but the concern is for safety when I'm out in the dessert with my kids. I would hate to have to use the roll bars for their intended purpose lol.

Obviously a SAS would be awesome but I'm not gonna have money for that hotness for a couple years. Is there anything I can do in the mean time to increase the flex? Perhaps it's useless until I can get the axle swap done.

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If they are turned up just turn them back down to a stock angle.
Also that "roll-bar" on your truck will do nothing if you flip it. That's for show.

 

Won't that make it significantly lower in the front than in the rear? it looks pretty much even right now. That's why I was wondering if it's 6" in rear and 4" + torsion raised in front...

...it has full roll cage in the cab

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Ok, the verdict is in. I just put an angle finder on the lower control arm and it's reading like 17.5*, so I guess it's safe to say the torsion bars are cranked up. Also, about my concern with the truck being level if I reset the torsion adjustments to factory, I measured and it looks like it's already a good 3" higher in the front!

Granted, I'm measuring from the top of the rim to the fender which probably isn't the most accurate but that's good enough for me cause I'm only worried about the cosmetics as far as leveling goes. So I'm gonna go ahead and have those torsion bars reset and see how I like it.

Thanks guys, for all the speedy responses!! I'll let you know how it works out.

 

Nice looking truck! Where in AZ are you? I'm in Chandler.

I have a set of barley used Old Man Emu t-bars if you're looking to upgrade. They are very easy to do, I've done it a bunch of times already.

 

Sorry to break it to you, but IFS truck are not known for their flexibility in the front ends.

 

Remove the swaybar for off road.

 

If they are factory t bars, wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade them. Then you can back them down almost all the way so they ride soft but will give you the lift without the discomfort.