IFS 40s?

I bought my father a 2012 Tacoma and I'm left with the decision of selling his 01 Tundra or turning it into a toy.

What's everyones throughs on getting a Solo Motorsports XLT IFS kit, max out pre load, 3 inch body lift, BMC and some major fender cutting? I think it'll clear 40s as that kit does have an insane amount of travel.

 

@Sunnier

 

Hmmn. I don’t know much about body lifts... because they don’t help with off-road clearance ... and I’ve also not seen a Solo set-up. That said, Solo has a good reputation— and I heard they may start to produce a beefed up replacement for the 4-bolts ball joint that holds the front wheel on our trucks, so I’ll definitely be a fan if that happens.

In the meantime, if you’re in SoCal, you could check out this guy’s truck to eye Solo, clearances, and if, after cutting for 40’s, you’d still have enough body to sit in.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/welcome-to-the-official-socal-bs-shenanigan-and-all-things-tundra-trail-related-thread.19581
Edit: post 8756 sorry, for some reason, it’s taking you to top of the page.

Also, check out @Spvrtan ‘s build for a clue about how big 40’s are on a 2nd gen. I’ve seen it in person and it moves like a monster truck over obstacles. I don’t ever want to tell anyone not to try something, so please start a thread here to share the process if you decide to give this a shot (I cannot imagine fitting 40’s on a 1st gen and still having full articulation and turning radius at each corner; prove me wrong!)

 

What are your plans for driving? If you just want monster truck lift get a 6" cradle and a 3" body lift and run 37s and 5.29 gears. Upgrade your front brakes too. I can't imagine how bad the brakes on these trucks would be with 40s, let alone gearing.

Travel doesn't make lift, you'd be spending $10k on completing that Solo kit.

 

So... where are you, and, how many miles on that ‘01 Tundra?

 

"max out preload" makes me think you don't care about performance, which completely negates the point of getting the LT in my opinion. Drop bracket, body lift, and some trimming and 40s should fit fine for malling around.

 

Well all coilovers have a min and max pre load that generally come with the instructions... 18 inches of travel, factory is 10 if I'm not mistaken... There's room for make cool stuff happen. I really don't want a massive diff drop because that's takes away alot of the advantages clearance wise on an IFS suspension.

A guy asked about the body lift, that's just for wheel well clearance because that's going to be an issue even after cutting.

Plan for the truck would be mild trails, beach, etc.

I live in Kona Hawai'i, so we have alot of very narrow saddle trails.

The truck has 182k miles on it so I got another timing belt coming due. Truck is a raging piece of junk. Has dents, paint is horrible (thanks dad), interior is junk.... It needs some love. I recently did a similar "restoration" on a gX470 and gave it to my wife... Really enjoyed that project, I'm going to be in slow season here soon so I'm looking at getting another project.

 

I’d love to see a Tundra on 40s. IFS might be tough. You probably be on your own for long travel control arms. With coilovers these trucks max out with 33s before serious cutting is required. That’s why you see pretty much everyone stopping there.

If you’re set on 40s, and willing to body lift, chop, fab your own suspension components, widen the track to help with CV angles, it would be totally BA. It will not be easy though.

the good news is that the power train can take the abuse.

 

Yeah, largest tires I’ve seen on a 1st gen was 35’s, somewhere on this forum. But i never saw anything about how well it worked.

 

Guy could only drive in a straight line. He didn’t believe anyone here, but was cool enough to come back and let us know we were right.

 

I think the Solo motorsports kit, just reading the specs, is a pretty good base line for the end goal.

As long as you're willing to hack up the truck it "should" work... I figure I can get 8 inches of lift out of the solo kit, plus a body lift and alot of chopping... A 40 should fit... That's the great thing about a truck like this, I have no problem cutting the hell out of it because I'm doing body work and paint on it already... Seriously thinking of raptor lining this truck like I did the prado.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

 

Guys are already running 37s with fiber glass fenders, cutoff wheels and big hammers... 40s isn't a total pipe dream.

 

Yes, but lift doesn't help clear tires if you plan to wheel it. So regardless what you set your preload to, that doesn't help clearance when the truck is flexed out. A body lift, trimming, and adjusting bump stops are the only true way to maintain "full" suspension travel and have clearance. That's why I was confused. If you're driving on the street, sure lift helps, but if you plan to be sending it and buying that fancy LT kit, I wouldn't rely on cranking preload to help clear anything.

 

It helps... This isn't going to be a baja truck.

 

40s would be seriously taxing on the stock front suspension.. just normal driving be ready to be replacing things constantly from wear. 37s are the largest i'd go without fabricated spindles running beefy wheel bearings and ideally beafier control arms and what not..

 

I have only seen two Tundras run 37s successfully. One was tubbed up front with long travel and no body lift. The other was running the Solo long travel kit with lift spindles (2wd).

On 35s a few guys reported the front diff letting go off road, particularly in reverse. Our front diffs aren't very strong.

If you're dead set on 40s go for it and post pics/progress.

 

What goes wrong in our front diffs? Why aren’t they very strong?

 

So I saw this video online, I still really don't think 40s are going to be an issue....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPSROQ4XHQ

So I've had a slight change of heart in the direction I wanted to put this build. I'm now thinking of the following:

RCD 6 inch lift

Icon front coilovers and rear shocks

Alcan rear leafs

3 inch body lift

SPC UCAs

RCV front CVs

Manual hub conversion

Heim joint steering

rear traction bar

ARB lockers front and rear

rear 4340 shafts

rear disc brake conversion

GX460 brakes up front

Coastal offroad front and rear bumpers





It's a basic list but I think I can be in it for about $20-25k

 

the 7.5" front diff was originally designed for mini trucks.. then found its way in the tacomas... and then the 1st gen tundra.. when it first came out, the most power one of the optional engines had was 150 hp.. so the big ol v8 is alot of strain on a very dated design.


the whole fact the 1st gen tundra uses Tacoma drive train is why its load capacity isnt as high as the second gen... the engine and trans could handle way more..

 

I’d like to see more video with that Sequoia trying to turn versus pictures of it parked or going straight.

 

Ah okay. I suppose if one had enough money you could buy bigger beefier diffs like the whole 3rd member if you were serious about actually running 40s hard.

 

Huh. This is news to me, and I appreciate the info.

Could this be contributing to the ‘sometimes does/ sometimes doesn’t’ go into 4L when I want it to-?, or is that something else, like that my truck has a lot of miles...?

 

I'm a bit in disbelief as well but he seems to be getting by. I wonder if the inner wheel well is that different on a sequoia.

 

Didn’t he say in that video he adjusted the bumps? Maybe meaning he made it so they cant compress as much so they don’t rub in the wheel well.

 

Failing actuators will start to act like that

 

I haven't seen that, I noticed another video he listed extended bump stops. Even so, I'd love to see the inner wheel well and the tire more closely.

A few guys who ran 35s and had to carve out their wheel wells to stuff tire found out that with the stock arm you get less up travel and have to cut out less. They still had to cut a lot out, smashing the pinch weld isn't nearly enough.

@brettboat I like your new plan better. You should be able to fit a 37 easily that way, still doubtful that a 40 would fit but interested to see. Don't forget gears, and you'll want to throw in a yellrbox to recalibrate your speedometer.

 

Not sure about the 1st-gen Tundra but I've been running 40s fine on my 2nd-gen for over 3 years now. Even planning on going to 42s next.

 

Well its a toyota... So the issue is the body mount and fire wall... So I can assure you that the 6.5 degrees of positive caster helps... That's why I dont understand the nay sayers. Us in the GX and landcruiser world have been running 35s on 2-3 inches of lift for a while...

 

2nd gen taco suspension next to 1st gen would be all you need to see.. the 2nd gen tundras suspension and drive train is pure beef for a 1500 truck

 

The rear diffs in these trucks is the 8.2 though right? I think the GX has the 8 and it is known for giving people bad days. It seems weird that they shoose to pull parts from the smaller truck rather than the land cruiser.