Zpd426

That is a horrible lift kit on that taco. My buddy had one of those where they replace the UCA with a strut. The strut top is held in by RUBBER bushings. So when It wears down and the rubber fails the strut pulls out. Just like having a upper ball joint fail. I've seen it first hand. That lift was discontinued. Never should have made it off the drawing board.
Trailmaster or rough country I think..


But damn are those silver LCAs sexy!

donomite49

that and the 4wd axles imo...

87-SR5

Had to try and get replacement parts for one. Crap!! Ended up doing a solid axle on it.

BlazeN8

Lower control arm with a strut is a car design. When I first saw the truck I was all excited to see some exotic long travel kit. There were no droop stops or limit straps, so no reference on down travel. Probably 2" of up travel with the bump stops and bump plates so close together. Looking at the telescoping range in the strut this must be a 5" travel kit. The drop bracket lowering the LCA pivots looked to be about 6 inches distance, so a 6" lift? No CVs, it was a 2WD pre-runner. I don't know what this truck would be good for besides looking the part. And that's fine, to each there own!

dyotat100

No upper a arm. That was a smart kit

BlazeN8

This past weekend I met up with a group for some wheeling at Big Bear Lake. We went up Gold Mountain Trail then over to John Bull. I didn't take any pictures but I'm sure some photos and video will eventually make their way to my build thread. It was a good time and plenty challenging for the 4Runner.

There were two other IFS 1st Gen 4Runners in the beginning but one was bone stock, so he wisely took the groups advice and didn't attempt John Bull. The other IFS rig that made John Bull belongs to Nick. It is a 1986 with 33s, a Total Chaos Gen I Long Travel (T-bars), lockers, dual T-Case, lots of armor, and an exocage. The list to mods on Nick's ride doesn't end there, but suffice to say its well equipped.

My ride had the advantage of 3-4 inches more lift, 2" more wheel travel, and 35" tires. The disadvantages- I am lunch box locked in the rear and open in the front. I only have one T-case; no double low gears. My trail armor is limited to a front and rear bumpers. And lastly, well worn tires.

As far as comparing Nick and BlazeN8 for overall showing I'd say it was pretty even. The Two other 1st Gen 4Runners were SAS, double T-Case, lockers, armor, and 35s and 37s. They have also been on John Bull before.

IFS Nick needs more lift, clearance, and bigger tires. IFS N8 needs more low range, traction, and driving experience in crawl mode.

Today, I noticed a small puddle under the rear diff. On further investigation here is what I saw.



I little shocking to see the drain plug hanging on by the last few threads. I drove over 100 miles of freeway to get home last night. How lucky was that!

I got out the creeper and rolled underneath to tighten the drain plug. Then I and looked for more trail damage. I had heard quite a few hits to the underside so I was curious as to see what was hitting. There were some scuffs and scrapes to the LCAs and the drop bracket subframe, but only cosmetic.

The rear diff took the most damage. The drain plug and surrounding area were pretty beat up. Some of which would have been avoided if I had a good spotter. After two or three tries on one line I ended up getting out of the rig to spot my own line. I took some heckling for stacking rocks but it did the trick and I popped right over the rock banging up my rear diff. Oh well, live and learn, next time I'm bringing a spotter.

The other damage I found was the CMdiff rear hanger bracket broke.



I built that hanger bracket from scraps of DOM tubing. It was just thrown together as a mock up and I am not at all surprised it broke where it broke. The breakage path followed a spot where I had butt welded scraps of tube together. I used this mock up to build the second version and welding fixtures, but in doing that I changed the front mounting bracket as well. At this point it will be more work converting to the new design so I am just going to patch this thing up for now. Anyway, here it is ready to back into service.

87-SR5

This might work well for that mount!!

http://www.emfrodends.com/product-p/2351.htm

Red Wagon

Nice to see you crawling it! You will start to see the steering issues now. I will not be surprised if you see it in some of the John Bull trail photos from your day out.

As for the spotter, that trail is a diff basher even with a spotter! I'm going to miss my IFS skid plate for rocks. I used it to scrape over a fair few boulders on John Bull.


Glad you had fun and got to see how well your kit runs in the rocks. It's nice to be so stable.

BlazeN8

87-SR5, the front diff needs to be mounted in a way that allows some movement and vibration isolation. I have the refined design but like I mentioned earlier to install it would mean changing the front mount as well. To do that I would need to remove the drop bracket sub-frame to make the modifications. This would require removing the shocks/springs and LCAs. Too much work compared to just patching up the existing hanger bracket.

BlazeN8

RW,

Yeah I remember seeing videos of your steering issues! I would like to see some video of my rig to see if I am experiencing the same. However, I have done some upgrades to my links, idler arm, and geometry that make my set up different than yours, so maybe it wont be as severe?



And even with the SAS, nothing is perfect. Chef was sharing with me along the trail that he has steering problems. He is running the Hi-Steer. He has upgraded to 80 series rod ends. He has had his box rebuilt with stronger components.

Nick was using his stock skid plate in some situations that caused me trouble. One particular hit I sustained knocked my fillings out. Everyone heard it and saw me just land one hit right down right on the drop bracket sub-frame. Because its a sub-frame of 1/4" wall and spread out over four points on the frame it just scuffed up the paint.

I have been planning on building a strut frame connecting the sub-frame to the front bumper area of the frame. I will plate it with a 1/4" (or thicker) aluminum plate. Hope that will allow me to use it like a ramp and slide up and over on the approach. I built something similar on the Fordota pre-runner and it works great. In the sand it acts like the bow of a boat cutting through the chop. I wasn't sure how it will go over on the rocks. Maybe steel plate would be better than aluminum? What ever I use it needs to be more sturdy than the stock sheet metal design.

Red Wagon

Yeah you can see the angles for your steering components look nicer. Where you may still notice it is when the front end is unloaded on a tough climb.

Pro's and cons for all set ups. I'm really going to miss this.






For my long road trips though I had to go where I could for an alignment and didn't get a good one very often. My FJ62 axle should help with that. I'm going to miss hitting bumps fast.

87-SR5

I was just meaning that piece for the center. The bushings would still remain. Just an idea. I really love seeing these IFS flex pics, I can't wait to get working on mine. I used to be a solid axle only guy, now I just want to be different.

BlazeN8

RW,

The steering angles on the Mega Travel are definitely nicer! Because of the drop bracket the ride height is balanced between up and down travel so the arms are closer to flat; as are the steering links. On the Fordota (now with a drop bracket-Trailmaster) it to is about 5" lift and a flatter angle. I think with a 35" tire you need a bracket lift so your not putting the control arms at such a steep angle just to clear the tire. I know we have discussed this but I might as well say it again, I think the 15x10 rim and your big meats is a factor in regards to your geometry issues.

I think why some techs have trouble aligning this is because they don't get the suspension settled. Once the rig is on the alignment bed they need to saw the steering wheel right and left a few times and bounce the suspension. If the rig has a "tow in" as you drive forward the ride height will lift, drive backwards it will lower. If its "towed out" the opposite will happen. So if your alignment is wacked and you drive onto the alignment bed and don't settle it you may get the alignment into spec but as soon as you drive around the block and back onto the machine it will change. Anyway that is just my theory. Some times I get really good alignments other times lousy. I think a lot of it has to do with the tech and his skill level and his time availability to tweak on it. Most people with Blazeland LA don't have issues with alignments. But, like you mentioned it can be hit or miss depending on where you go.

I am needing to get the mega travel into Clarks house of suspension and away from Firestone's lifetime deal for a second opinion. Last month after swapping out the LCAs to the shinny ones the Firestone tech made some radical changes. My home school alignment had it tracking straight and the camber was neutral. I have trouble with the caster and that is where he made radical changes. I am needing some expertise evaluating to make sure of things before I finalize my welding fixture for the UCA. I think I am needing some caster adjustment to the UCA? Either that or the Firestone guy is smoking something?

Before this past trip I marked the alignment cams and after the trip I checked them. I didn't see any movement. I think the shinny LCAs with the poly bushing conversion allowed the bushings to rotate freely (per Energy Suspension design) and the cams didn't move. However it may be mobbing the whoops, jumping, and desert abuse may be more destructive on the alignment then rock crawling? I'll keep you guys posted on this as I progress.

ToyoTech559

Guess I won't be doing John Bull anytime soon. Lol

BlazeN8

Were you considering it? Its not that you couldn't do it, I think you could. Winch up 2 or 3 sections so you don't beat up your rig. I think your biggest issues would be small tires and lack of ground clearance. Your ride is so clean and nice, hate to see it get thrashed. I actually think the down hill side would be more damaging to what you are running. It had lots of big drop offs and rocks to swallow you up. And it just kept going and going.

Boreas

Hi Nate,

Just read this whole thread from the beginning (as well as your other two pickup threads).

I am researching suspension options for my truck (bone stock 93 pickup), and you have given me a lot to think about, thank you.

It's people like you that make this forum such an invaluable resource.

SKULLYOTA

i've been absent for awhile, but this rig has really come along Nate! makes me want an IFS rig again. super impressive work!

redfishrounder

]
So i jsut got a 86 4runner completly stock and need to fix the suspension. But i dont want to keep it stock i would like to beef it up(just a bit). So would i be able to take this route? And if not what should i do

BlazeN8

This is just a prototype, the Mega Travel system is not available. I doubt it ever will be as the demand is too low for these older rigs and the price tag for such an extensive suspension is too high. A $2k rig with a $5K suspension? You should take a look at the standard Blazeland LA kit. Or, if you can justify the $5K I can build it for you?

BlazeN8

Update! Met up with Team Psycho a few months back to pre-run the Ridgecrest race. On the way out got stuck in construction traffic and overheated. Fan shroud broke apart and never got around to replace it. This started the warping of the head gasket. Pre-ran the course but hit a rock and blew out a sidewall and bent the rim. Since it was just me and Brent I opted to ride in the Blazer. Have to say ridding in a 600 HP Class 8 Race Truck with 18" of front and 26" out back is quite a thrill.

Anyway, I made it home but notices a drip of coolant under the rig the next day. It was starting funny and ran hot. Popped the hood and bubbles in coolant overflow tank along with steam in the exhaust. Tried to drive it to Albert's house in Corona as he offered to do the head gasket. Only made it about half way then it started knocking as water was getting into the cylinder then a coolant hose blew. AAA towed me the rest of the way.

Repairs are done and I am back on the road. Thanks to Albert and YotaWorx.