DIY 1 Ton IFS Long Travel

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
EDIT: I am turning this idea into not just DIY LT thread anymore. I realized there is no point in doing it twice, so might as well jump straight into the end goal of 1 Ton IFS. It's too much work and money to do it twice in the first place. I am still in the very early stages of this project, but I at least have a somewhat good idea on which parts I will be using for this project. I will try to update this first post as I go with some of the tech info and parts used.

So far here is the plan:

- Ford 9" Diff in IFS housing. GM 9.25" AAM IFS Diff narrowed down or possibly the Ford 9.75" IRS Diff centered. (Still looking for CAD files of these to get measurements off of) Found measurements. These diffs make no sense to use practically.
- '05+ Super Duty Unit Bearings
- S&S Fabrications Unit Bearing Cups
- Probably going with swing-set steering using a Saginaw steering box (No idea which model I will be using. Whatever has a good strength to size/weight ratio or very common)
- High Clearance Lower Control Arms inspired by Marlin Crawler's RCLT kit
- Custom fabricated spindles based around the Super Duty unit bearings
- Coilovers and bypasses of course
- Bump stops will be mounted off the engine cage and bump off the spindle


*********************************************************************************

So I'm in the process of learning CAD (Autodesk Fusion 360), so that I can start making my own long travel kit and other custom parts. I've had the program for a while now, just last week I started really playing with things and watching some youtube videos to learn. I figured if I plan on building long travel for myself, then might as well start practicing by making an practice LT kit. For now I'm just using rough measurements to practice with, then once I feel confident in my skills, I will go back and make a legit kit with exact measurements so I can send it off to laser to get cut.

So early last week I started by making a LCA. It was really crude but I learned a lot of the basics by doing it. Here is V1 of the LCA. I ditched this design to make something little higher clearance before I got too far.

XpV1.jpg


Here is the most recent revision. Started from scratch here. This one is inspired by the MC RCLT kit with the high clearance design. This design has the idea I'm looking for, but with a few changes. The shock tabs are too close together. I will have to make the entire LCA wider and space the shock tabs another couple inches wider too. I'll be ditching this design for a horizontally mounting uniball (Bolt goes through horizontally). The reason to go with the uniball horizontally mounted is to keep the uniball pivot closer to the CV for more clearance and better suspension design. With the bolt going vertically like I have here, I'd have to make room for a washer and 3/4" bolt between the CV and the uniball. That'll kill about an inch right there.

XpV2.1 Corner View.jpgXpV2.1 Side View.jpg





So this week I'll make a new one based on a horizontally mounted uniball, and a little wider shock tab spacing. Still a ton left to learn, but it is actually a lot of fun.
 
Last edited:

Coot83

I MALL BRO.
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
421
Age
40
Location
The mighty toaster
I cant remember what basikbiker uses, but man if you could get something like inventor it could help your design by adding some functional contraints to it. I guess at the end of the day though you could just go with the raw measurements and then space accordingly, but having a 3D platform to sort of cycle the components might help prevent some weird bind up in the process.

Regardless man it looks pretty good! I had to dabble in 3D stuff back in college which was fun to do although sucks I have yet to use the 3D parts aspect in the real world. Looking forward to seeing the rest develop.
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
I cant remember what basikbiker uses, but man if you could get something like inventor it could help your design by adding some functional contraints to it. I guess at the end of the day though you could just go with the raw measurements and then space accordingly, but having a 3D platform to sort of cycle the components might help prevent some weird bind up in the process.

Regardless man it looks pretty good! I had to dabble in 3D stuff back in college which was fun to do although sucks I have yet to use the 3D parts aspect in the real world. Looking forward to seeing the rest develop.
I think this software has all those options. Both are Autodesk products. I haven’t gotten to the point of needing to learn that part yet. That will be next after the LCA. I plan on doing a custom spindle while I’m at it, so I’ll need to be able to assemble all the parts and cycle the components to see if there is any binding or other issues while I’m there.
 

madtaco461

BRO-runner
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
3,803
Age
39
Location
Socal
So far I've just used cad to figure out where stuff should go and I just cut it out by hand. It's just nice to see the picture so I can dream and come up with a better idea when I start making the parts. For example I was seeing if there is enough room to squeeze a bypass on my current lower arm while making a new uca.Assembly, Tacoma Front End-7.JPG
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
So far I've just used cad to figure out where stuff should go and I just cut it out by hand. It's just nice to see the picture so I can dream and come up with a better idea when I start making the parts. For example I was seeing if there is enough room to squeeze a bypass on my current lower arm while making a new uca.View attachment 8766
That is the part I really like about this so far. I love that I can model something up that is hard to process all at once mentally. It’s pretty easy to make some quick sketches to get a good idea of what is needed to be done to make something fit. I have a feeling I’ll be modeling much of my front end before I finish this suspension stuff.
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
@theesotericone can you measure your RCV axles for me. I need the measurement of the outside diameter of the outer CV cup. These Napa’s are almost 92mm.

52FEFEFE-F7AF-4812-AA5C-050B74BB431C.jpeg
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
Here's Version 3 so far. Have the uniball mounted horizontally this time around. I need to start working on getting some exact measurements, so I can actually get an idea of how I will have the suspension geometry designed. I'll probably cut out the UCA mounts and coil bucket to be able to do whatever I want with the UCA mounting to dial in the geometry and make room for both shocks.

XpV3 Corner View.jpg
 

Arcticelf

Head BFH Operator at Gray Man Fab
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,167
Location
DelCo PA
Nice.

Any thoughts of doing a spindle adapter to convert an OE spindle to use the horizontal uniball?
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
For anyone looking to get some more info about suspension geometry and play with a calculator, I found this site. $4/mo gives you access to all the features of the suspension calculator, and you can share your design with others. I'll take measurements of my current suspension tonight and play with modifications such as +3.5" over width and steering & CV angles. Seems like a pretty cool tool for a really low cost compared to other tools.

https://www.racingaspirations.com/apps/suspension-geometry-calculator/
 

Arcticelf

Head BFH Operator at Gray Man Fab
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,167
Location
DelCo PA
For anyone looking to get some more info about suspension geometry and play with a calculator, I found this site. $4/mo gives you access to all the features of the suspension calculator, and you can share your design with others. I'll take measurements of my current suspension tonight and play with modifications such as +3.5" over width and steering & CV angles. Seems like a pretty cool tool for a really low cost compared to other tools.

https://www.racingaspirations.com/apps/suspension-geometry-calculator/

Cool! I'll have to play with that.
 

Arcticelf

Head BFH Operator at Gray Man Fab
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,167
Location
DelCo PA
The reason I wont be doing that is to build a stronger spindle so I can bump off the top of the spindle like in the pic below.

View attachment 8776

I'm planning to reinforce my stock ones more so I can do that, once the cage is done I'll bump off the top.

And probably then bend the spindle and make a new set :)
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
I'm planning to reinforce my stock ones more so I can do that, once the cage is done I'll bump off the top.

And probably then bend the spindle and make a new set :)
What kit are you running right now? Might as well work on making your own spindle at this point. Start now, so that you have plenty of time to develop it. That's what I'm doing.
 

Arcticelf

Head BFH Operator at Gray Man Fab
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,167
Location
DelCo PA
What kit are you running right now? Might as well work on making your own spindle at this point. Start now, so that you have plenty of time to develop it. That's what I'm doing.

I'm running a dirt king UCA/LCA setup now. I'm going to do a custom control arm set along with the engine cage. The hard part of the spindle is the hub, I'm thinking if I bend these I'll build up a new set off of the center casting for the hub. Or all have access to a CNC and make one from billet.
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
I'm running a dirt king UCA/LCA setup now. I'm going to do a custom control arm set along with the engine cage. The hard part of the spindle is the hub, I'm thinking if I bend these I'll build up a new set off of the center casting for the hub. Or all have access to a CNC and make one from billet.
If you can get the right tolerances, I would think the hub would be fairly easy to have machines. Just gotta worry about costs. I have no idea how much it would cost to have a set of hubs milled out.
 

madtaco461

BRO-runner
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
3,803
Age
39
Location
Socal

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
Most common way is to get a D44 bolt on snout and build off that.
https://camburg.com/shop/drivetrain/camburg-4130-bolt-on-snout-block/
https://www.polyperformance.com/sol...ed-front-spindles-small-bearing-set-2-sa44-19

I'm just building off the whole toyota pickup IFS spindle. Wayy cheaper when you start adding up the cost. Almost as strong. Or copy the d44 design for the 05+ tacoma unit hub. Then you just have throw away hubs.
The only issue with going D44 is making custom CV axles. For the sake of simplicity, I'd like to use the tundra axles if possible. Just gonna get RCV to make them for me.

D44 Hubs wouldn't be a bad idea though. I do like unit bearings for the ease of simplicity, but standard rebuildable hubs are cheaper in the long run.
 
Top Bottom