IFS plans

[nissanboy]

i drove my solid axle pathy high speed and i hated it.... hit a small pothole and it jumps clear across the road. Although mine was not setup at all for street use it was a solid axle.

 

[boominXplorer]

Im curious to see how the front f150 pumpkin works. It could very likely be in the near future for me as im keeping AWD to drag with.

 

[nissanboy]

i don think the d35 pumpkin will be a problem unless you are sitting on your bumpstops. The travel of you suspenion with IFS will torque up b4 you have problems with snapping a pumpkin.

I know Johnstone managed it but im still curious as to how mcuh it can take b4 it fails. He is the only person i have heard of that blew a front diff.

 

[boominXplorer]

I am on bumpstops and as of now i am running a flat 2.0 in the 60'. I really would like an air locker for the front so i can engage and disengage both cv's so i dont put all the stress just on one. Does the F-150 have an air locker availible?

 

[nissanboy]

not that i am aware of but i havent really researched it either.

By having an open diff you are actually not stressing the CV's as much as you would if they were locked. Imagine the other CV as a fuse. If one tire gains excessively more traction than the other and is still getting tourque the other side will spin releasing the excess torque. Although with a locker you will get the best forward traction and a better launch.

 

[Jefe]

If and when the housing grenades i will replace it with a F150 8.8 IFS.

Just remember to keep this in mind when you gear it. The only ratio I know of for the reverse 8.8 lower than stock is 4.56.

 

[Doug]

Not for nothing I think you can do alot more with a solid axle than you can do with stock Explorer IFS. Go and check out some of the jeepspeed rigs, they're setup for prerunning and they still have solid front axles. No matter how much you beef up your front end you're still going to be running stock parts. IMO they're not going to stand up to any hard core 4x4ing. If you're serious about running IFS up front and your sponsored I'd go all custom. cut out all the stock IFS crap and go from there.

 

[Robb]

If you are doing so much swapping over to 1/2 ton SLA stuff..........why not swap an entire F150 front end in?

 

[IAmTodd]

IFS soaks up the washboards and potholes so much nicer

Are we still talking about an Explorer IFS? I cannot see how it gives you this amazing ride. Even our '02 with coil-overs isn't that nice.

 

[nissanboy]

its the control on the road.... not the cushy ride.

yeah those Jeepspeed jeeps are sweet setups but lots of time and effort goes into proper shock valving and everythign due to the massive unsprung weight.

I am gonna stick as stock as possible then as stuff breaks ill upgrade it. I got the hook up with lots of junk yard parts.

 

[Jeeps&Fords]

Not for nothing I think you can do alot more with a solid axle than you can do with stock Explorer IFS. Go and check out some of the jeepspeed rigs, they're setup for prerunning and they still have solid front axles. No matter how much you beef up your front end you're still going to be running stock parts. IMO they're not going to stand up to any hard core 4x4ing. If you're serious about running IFS up front and your sponsored I'd go all custom. cut out all the stock IFS crap and go from there.

Sure, the Jeeps run solid axles, but they are also one of the slowest running classes in the desert. All the fast classes run IFS.

And, yes, definitely go with Uni-ball - way better than a standard ball joint.

 

[Mbrooks420]

But the fast IFS trucks are super long travel fully custom setups, that include 0% factory parts.

 

[9sport6]

How much did just the front lift kit cost?i was looking into it before but never got around to calling

 

[GJarrett]

I've now run mine on 35's for nearly two years and added the stress of a front locker about a year ago. I've grenaded one CV while trying to climb a vertical wall on Steelbender trail in Moab while having my steering turned full left, so I suppose I deserved that grenade trying that manuever while locked in front, I should have expected it.

I've noticed no additional wear on my balljoints or tierods, but the tierods are fairly new and were replaced with the steering rack (see below) so I may be wearing them out faster and they are too new for me to know it yet.

I'll second what Jefe said about the steering rack and crossmember. I have cracked my steering rack right in half, and I have also pulled the rightside steering rack/crossmember bolt right out of the crossmember by ripping a 2-3" circle of metal surrounding the bolt. Msupertek welded it back together for me in Dallas while Ashli and I were returning from Moab back to South Carolina.

I wheel mine fairly hard; if I stuck some bigger tires on it than I already have, I believe I'd have to take a lot of care while turning against rocks and quit muscling through obstacles or I'd be ripping a lot more steering racks in half and crossmember metal apart.

Keep in mind I'm locked in front - I'm probably stressing the steering much more on 35s than open on 37s would, so it might work for you... but like I just wrote, I'd take care on the trail and not muscle the steering when you're pinned against rocks and stuff.

 

[nissanboy]

yeah the steering sucks for guy siwth lockers on 35's.

i think i got that part fixed already. I made a brace the mounts the rack to 4 more bolts that are nearby. keep sthe stresses spread out so i dont rip a chunk out of my x-member. I have noticed though that my front x-member is fairly mangled. the bottom half of it is twisted and dented and has a crack that i welded up. im thinking about making it a little more high clearance by cutting the bottom half of the x-member off where the two pieces are welded together and welding some box tube under it instead of the weak forged steel.