Pre-95 Toyota IFS Questions

[XL Bar]

Howdy All,

I recently purchased a Toyota T100 truck to use for my big game hunting guiding service and as a family camping/hunting vehicle.

I've been researching suspension options for the Toyota torsion bar IFS. Since the T100 has a similar front supension to the pre-95 trucks and 4-runners I thought I'd ask here.

I don't need anymore height as there is good ground clearance and I doubt I will increase the tire size from the 31x10.5s that are already on the truck. I need a suspension that will handle rough two tracks and gravel roads at high speeds (40-60 mph). No jumping or anything like that. Just lots of washboard, potholes and whoops.

I've narrowed down my options to Bilstein shocks and possibly ball joint spacers to give a bit more wheel travel. Is there anything else out there that I'm missing? What did the old stock class Baja trucks run back in the day?

Thanks,

Brian

 

[BLKNBLU]

Hmm... Don't know much about the T 100, but I think there are some fairly significant differences from the runners and trucks. Check in with TRDparts4U.com that sponser this forum. They are very up to date on what is out there and great to work with as well. Good luck.

 

[ntsqd]

Suspension-wise the T100 is pretty much a wide version of the Mini-truck. Almost all of the go faster in the desert bits made for the pre-Tacoma model IFS should work on the T100 Except anything affected by the width (centerlink, front axle shafts, etc.).

IMHO the single weakest link in the whole front end is the steering idler arm. There are lots of band-aids out there for them, but the trouble-free cure to bending them is the Total Chaos part.

Nothing from TC is cheap, but they grew their business around racing the 80's-90's IFS trucks. They know how to make them live.
A wider version of their weld-on lower front suspension truss should be looked into. Would be worth the call to TC to ask Niccole or Matt if they offer a T100 width version.
Might also cruise Downey Off Road's page to see what they have. I would stay well away from Northwest Off Road Specialties.

Without getting too crazy I would suggest the minimum be some Bilstein remote reservoir 7100 shocks or some Fox 2.0 Remote Reservoir shocks. I think one on each corner should be enough. These probably will not fit your stock shock mounts and you probably shouldn't try to find something that does. If you start chasing desert racers around or pre-running then you may need more.

The longer travel budget rear spring is to transplant the rear springs out of a late model GM truck. They are 63" long and will require all new mounting and a little fiddling with when first installed to get the spring rate right. I use them on my '84 mini (springs are as long as the bed!) and ended up keeping the 3 longest leaves of the 5 original. That may or may not be something that you're willing to do, but for me it was a turning point in the truck's ability to perform chase duties.

T-bar failures are not uncommon, but you do have to beat on them for it to happen. the more travel that you ask of them, the faster they go away. Most of the racers get a year out of the "race alloy" t-bars before retiring them, but if one of those trucks is moving they're likely being flogged hard.

 

[4Rescue]

X2 on the Idler arm and the front truss, I'm trying to convince myself to pull the trigger on both at the moment. As for suspension, OME OME OME... They're not as high zoot as some of the others out there, but matching their front T-bars and they're rear leafs will give you a very durable suspension that rides pretty damn good for a truly wheelable truck. Sice this is for a Game guiding operation I'd even suggest adding air bags to the rear in the event of some large trophy's that need to be hauled back I'd also suggest some sort of bull bar just in case of a high speed encounter of the same trophys eh.

Congrats on the purchase, they're kind of an uncomon Toyota if that's even possible, I think that they should have kept the Taco small, kept the T100 on as it's pretty much what the new Tao is, and then give us a true Fully like the Tundra but with a diesel and a solid Axle. Keep us informed on the build, I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with this truck.

Cheers

Dave

 

[XL Bar]

Thanks guys for all of your help. I knew going into this that the T100 was kind of the bastard child of the Toyota family.

Brian

 

[slosurfer]

I'm running bj spacers, longer OME shocks, stock tbars, and front swaybar removed. This makes for a pretty smooth ride (for the price) on rough roads and double tracks. It is nothing compared to a total chaos long travel kit, but it does pretty well and surprises people out at the dunes.

Removing your front swaybar will greatly help the ride on those rough roads. This will have to be something you have to decide whether to remove completely or get disconnects as it will change your handling on the road.

x's 3 on the IFS rear truss. If you do have one welded in, make sure it is done in a way that you will still be able to remove the front diff should you need to.

X's 3 on the idler arm being weak. Total chaos arm is super nice if you have the money. I'm testing some things right now that may work very well and be an option for those not able to pay the $$ for the tc arm, still need to put more miles into it though. Unless you bend the idler arm, don't let any mechanic tell you that you need to buy a new one because it is worn out. They are super easy to rebuild with less than $15 worth of parts. Found this out after I bought a brand new one from the dealer, doh!

If you don't have them already, get yourself a set of Aisin manual hubs. This will help save some wear and tear on your cv boots. The 86-95 IFS hubs will fit the T100.

If you do go long travel, you can use the total chaos kit for 86-95, you just have to buy their axles to go with it. (trucks and 4runners use the stock t100 cv axles to get the extra width).

I dont' have a truck, so I'm no help on the rear end part.

Oh and airing down just a tad will also help on those gravel roads/two tracks.