fullsize/ifs/off-road; can you have all 3 at once?

[bftank]

tie rod sleeves are a bit cheaper, and since you are not packing a dmax or crawling bolders, might be a more feasible solution.

an idea would be to get 235/85 r16 to help the load capacity, either a cooper stt or similar. airbags helpers in the rear, and a 1.5" torsion bar crank in the front. carry chains if you like getting nasty.

 

[cocco78]

I think it just comes down to how terrible the ride is off-road with torsion bars. I have a 99 GMC 1500, its a good truck but will rattle your teeth out even on dirt roads. I tried to do some overland type travel with mine and its just terrible. I have also had various types of shocks on it and have settled on a nice set of Bilsteins... I don't get how everyone says these trucks ride so well, worst riding truck i've ever owned. I've also driven several GM's for work, all half tons, all torsion bar IFS, most of them with the bars cranked for snow plows... The newer trucks with coil sprung front ends sure ride nice tho...

But besides the ride and the steering parts wearing I haven't had a problem with the IFS on my GMC and its pushing 200,000 miles. However I would not spend one dime to lift an ifs truck, its a waste of money. If you have the skills you can do a SAS for about the cost of a lift kit and come away with a better riding and better functioning setup...

 

[Socal4X4]

Honestly i think IFS gets a seriously bad rap. I've run my Stock Ranger 4x4 on every trail that my Cherokee buddies are rolling over. They are all lifted with lockers and long arms. No doubt there are places I'd be limited to that they could make...but then again, my suspension is STILL STOCK!!! Hopefully these pics work...

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By the way I'm Socal4x4. A lurker. Love the site!!!

 

[Cody1771]

check out "theotherside"'s build on here

 

[mrblond]

check out "theotherside"'s build on here

Thanks for linking that.

I have an 89 Z71 sportside with a 350 V8 and 5 speed manual. Put a Currie Dana 60 with 35 spline axle shafts and a Detroit. Also put one of the Posi Loc w/cable actuator. Both of the mods were needed due to multiple failures of both systems. I grenaded the rear axle twice and a third time due to dealer screw up. The Posi Loc was put in after two failures of the heat actuator within the first 130K miles.

Re-geared to 4:56 for 35" tires on stock steel wheels

Front suspension is lifted about 2 inches w/5150's, 12" wheel travel.

Rear lifted about 3 or 4 inches with super soft leaves so any load levels it out pretty much. Rear travel is 14" with 6" longer shocks pass side and 4" longer shocks dr side.

Over the years I have welded many frame cracks some self inflicted but after the mods listed the Detroit and long wheel travel made this truck ************ offroad. Fast and smooth on the flats and a really good rock crawler.

I still have this truck with over 400,000 miles but have retired it to just getting me back and forth to work.

 

[bftank]

i'd love to see pics of it mrblond

 

[bftank]

i'd love to see pics of it mrblond

 

[KLAKEBRONCO]

I think it just comes down to how terrible the ride is off-road with torsion bars. I have a 99 GMC 1500, its a good truck but will rattle your teeth out even on dirt roads. I tried to do some overland type travel with mine and its just terrible. I have also had various types of shocks on it and have settled on a nice set of Bilsteins... I don't get how everyone says these trucks ride so well, worst riding truck i've ever owned. I've also driven several GM's for work, all half tons, all torsion bar IFS, most of them with the bars cranked for snow plows... The newer trucks with coil sprung front ends sure ride nice tho...

But besides the ride and the steering parts wearing I haven't had a problem with the IFS on my GMC and its pushing 200,000 miles. However I would not spend one dime to lift an ifs truck, its a waste of money. If you have the skills you can do a SAS for about the cost of a lift kit and come away with a better riding and better functioning setup...

Something is wrong with your truck. These rigs ride better than any truck out there. From ford to dodge all gens, Jeeps, you name it.

 

[cocco78]

Something is wrong with your truck. These rigs ride better than any truck out there. From ford to dodge all gens, Jeeps, you name it.

Nothing is wrong with my truck, it rides like all the other torsion bar IFS trucks I've owned and driven. I put over 190,000 miles on my current GMC, 100,000 miles on various work trucks and by far the worst riding trucks were the torsion bar GM's and Fords. I've owned TTB fords, Solid axle leaf sprung Super Duties, coil sprung 3/4 ton Dodge's, my fair share of leaf and coil sprung Jeeps,and a 2000 Tacoma... Oh and a coil sprung front IFS AMC Eagle.

When you start driving alot of other trucks you realize the shortcomings of a torsion bar setup. The little 2000 taco I had a while back had a great ride, it had coil overs supporting the IFS. All the go fast desert rigs run IFS or TTB, its a good setup, just not the darn torsion bars. The fact that torsion bars are a linear spring effect the ride quality in a negative manner, and to fix that they use a progressive rate spring simulator, that little bumpstop looking thing which usually gets taken out of the equation by re-indexing your torsion bars for lift..

But otherwise besides the slightly advanced steering component wear on these GM's they seem pretty sturdy and I've never really had a problem that wasn't a normal wear item. I think all they need are a better idler arm support to solve alot of issues and there are kits out there to address this.

 

[haven]

Full size with IFS and 4x4? How about the Ford Raptor or Dodge RAM Runner? Here's a photo of how Ford builds the Raptor's front end

And here's an article about the RAM Runner.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/04/sema-2010-chrysler-gets-down-and-dirty-with-ram-runner-and-ram/

There are two applications where a solid front axle continues to be used almost exclusively: Maximum axle articulation (think extreme rock crawling competitions), and carrying heavy loads (think cement mixer). Otherwise, IFS works just fine.

 

[KLAKEBRONCO]

Nothing is wrong with my truck, it rides like all the other torsion bar IFS trucks I've owned and driven. I put over 190,000 miles on my current GMC, 100,000 miles on various work trucks and by far the worst riding trucks were the torsion bar GM's and Fords. I've owned TTB fords, Solid axle leaf sprung Super Duties, coil sprung 3/4 ton Dodge's, my fair share of leaf and coil sprung Jeeps,and a 2000 Tacoma... Oh and a coil sprung front IFS AMC Eagle.

When you start driving alot of other trucks you realize the shortcomings of a torsion bar setup. The little 2000 taco I had a while back had a great ride, it had coil overs supporting the IFS. All the go fast desert rigs run IFS or TTB, its a good setup, just not the darn torsion bars. The fact that torsion bars are a linear spring effect the ride quality in a negative manner, and to fix that they use a progressive rate spring simulator, that little bumpstop looking thing which usually gets taken out of the equation by re-indexing your torsion bars for lift..

But otherwise besides the slightly advanced steering component wear on these GM's they seem pretty sturdy and I've never really had a problem that wasn't a normal wear item. I think all they need are a better idler arm support to solve alot of issues and there are kits out there to address this.

I've been in all of them too. Still say the best ride of all of them.

 

[TurboChris]

I've seen people complain about the ride in Suburbans...I went from a lifted 89 Bronco which had nice ride to a lifted F250 Crewcab Diesel. After having the Diesel for 6 years..I ended up with a 1998 RCD lifted K2500 Suburban...Wow, the Suburban rides like a Cadillac in comparison. I can't say enough good things about it. My first rule of offroading used to be..."No Cans of Soda" cause they'd always spill...not with this thing...I can drive the average fire road with a half full can of Coke in the cup holder, no problem. And on the street it's as nice as I can imagine a big truck being. Of course I've not been in a Coil over truck to date....but I sure am happy with what I have. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the design of the lift package.

 

[goodtimes]

My experience with GM IFS (~75K miles worth) is that, from the factory, they typically have a smooth, if slightly mushy ride. Spring rate seemed fine, but compression damping was a bit soft. For fire roads the suspensions worked fine -- even venturing into the 'good' category. Much nicer than my TJ. But once you left the fire roads and got into the nasty stuff, they quit working so well (and that is where the TJ would shine . . .).

Once you start lifting them -- all bets are off (see my previous post). Some lifts are great, others, not so much.

It's all a matter of what you want to do, and how fast you want to do it.

 

[Snafu]

I had some real inhibitions about buying on IFS truck with the intention of using it hard on trips covering all sorts of southwest terrain. I still want a 3/4 ton Dodge with a diesel someday since I really want the best of towing and off-roading (gotta get some horses back into my life!) but for the next SEVERAL years I'm keeping this truck

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47987

So far its performed GREAT! IFS does have its downsides. I expect to bust some CV shafts as the years pass and it does seem like the truck bounces and leans at strange angles a lot more on large rocks. But I think it can work if you don't expect to beat it up on the Rubicon with a lead foot!

 

[cocco78]

T-bars are not linear rate springs, they are rising rate springs. Too much so and that is the root of the usual complaint about them. Getting the damping set-up to work well with t-bars is a real art. Can not condemn IFS because of the poor choice of t-bars for the springs.
A friend's shop put 3" King Coil-overs on my friend Rod's D-Max. I never rode in it before, but after was a great ride.

I don't condemn IFS at all, never said I do... I condemn torsion bars LOL

People get confused with the term linear, you are correct they are rising rate. If you looked at a graph with a liner rate spring it would be a straight line but at an angle greater than zero degree's. Linear springs follow Hooke's law.. F=kx <--- this says the force is NOT constant, it changes linearly with deflection. Understanding how torsion bars work is a little less intuitive so I can see the confusion that some have. But torsion bars are indeed linear springs just like coil springs that follow Hooke's law... except instead of being compressed, they're twisted and therefore the "x" for displacement is replaced with "theta" for degrees (or radians) of rotation.

Sorry for getting off topic, I have insomnia pretty bad and not alot of people to talk to at 2am :ylsmoke: