How much stress will the IFS on these trucks actually take off-road?

My truck came with a 2-3" lift as per the PO, along with the somewhat awkwardly sized 275/70/17 tires. This does allow for more clearance, but the CVs are at a steeper angle than I'd like, and I don't like the idea of putting any more stress on the IFS than necessary, since the front end on these trucks isn't exactly a Dana 60.

I also have some spare locked axles (Detroit LSD in the front, OEM e-locker in the rear with 4.88 gears in both diffs). But now I'm wondering if the LSD up front will just add to the stress on the OEM CVs.

Basically, I'm wondering what my best course of action would be here. I've heard of high-angle CV boots, but is that really a viable solution long-term? And that doesn't solve the issue of the CVs snapping, which isn't unheard of even with the stock 31" tires.

I'm starting to think a bone stock Tacoma with 31/10.5/15 is the better setup for remote travel since it might be the best balance of clearance while minimizing stress on the somewhat delicate front suspension (at least compared to a proper solid axle like in the older minitrucks and Land Cruisers). I would go back to stock height and tire size, but I also have Tundra calipers, and that'd be a lot of work.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

They are quite durable if you use common sense. If you're on 35's or bigger you should carry a spare CV on hard wheeling trips. Locking the front will tend to break things faster than unlocked especially with big tires as the weak link will be the grip one tire has on rocks or the strength of the CV shaft.

 

Are you talking about the 2nd gen Tacoma IFS (from your sig)? I heard those are more durable than in the first gens.

 

I wheel hard and abuse my truck harder than most people do. The IFS does fine. I have broken axles but only because I did things with a front locker that I shouldn't have. Lol.

Do not add an LSD in the front, selectable locker only. The rear you can use an LSD if you want.

In reality you'll rip boots all day with crazy CV angles but you won't really break the axle just because of the angles. Longterm solution is you buying Oreilly extended travel axles that come with lifetime warranty and get your broken CV or ripped boots replaced no questions asked. Otherwise you can just buy OEM boots and do the bootslide mod to your current axles and not deal with ripping boots or buying expensive extended boots.

 

I’ll look into the boot slide mod, thanks.

The LSD is already installed in the spare front diff provided by the PO. I figure it’s not as bad as a lunchbox locker, but yea ideally it’s be selectable up front.

 

These trucks are surprisingly capable.

 

My 98 single cab was capable and fairly robust but it was stock on 31s. I’m wondering if all these mods on my current truck might be more trouble than they're worth.

 

You'll be fine. Thousands of other people have similar setups to yours and are not having any issues. Just keep checking your lower ball joints every oil change or after a hard wheeling trip and you'll be good.

 

If you want to stay stock width / mid travel I’d do :

marlin crawler weld on lower arm tabs for reinforcement , or the JD fabrication entire lower subframe.

Upper arm pivot weld on double sheer tabs

both upper and lower aftermarket control arms with uniball / heim pivots at the spindle and frame side.

camburg spindle or weld on stock spindle reinforcements

RCV stock length axles

New steering rack (tundra/LC or custom swing steering with Saginaw box)

If you drive slow then just a coil over. If fast then coil over and bypass shock .

 

Enjoy. It's really simple to do.

https://youtu.be/vcCT4UgFUTw

 

You’re fine, they’re stronger than your thinking. I’ve wheeled mine for years on a 3” lift and 33” tires with no issues and now have about 6 months on 35x10.50s with lunchbox lockers front and rear and so far so good.

 

Yea you always hear that one guy saying he’s broken 5 CV axles in the last month, but maybe they’re just driving like maniacs.

 

The thing to be careful with is using common sense in situations like traction loss - don't just spin the tires hoping to grab traction, great way to blow shit up. Slow and steady wins the race.

Be smart when pulling/winching or getting winched. There are a lot of ways to do it wrong and wind up with a tweaked frame or other damage. Frames on these trucks aren't that strong.

4lo is your best friend especially if you have a manual. 4hi on obstacles or hills is a great way to smoke the clutch into oblivion

Always carry at least basic tools and spares. Better to have and not need than the other way around, no matter how well these trucks handle the more you go out the more likely you'll eventually find yourself in a spot where that spare axle or ball joint, full size spare tire, etc saves the day

 

I should also say I don’t really do hardcore trails and rock crawling, but I’m not just sticking to the fire roads either. That list of mods suggested by @2000prerunner23 is a lot to chew on, but I wonder if those are more intended for rock-crawling rigs? Im not that handy with a welder and I’m not much of a mechanic either, so I’m trying to keep this as simple as possible.

 

Yep, driving style/experience is probably the biggest factor in breaking things or not. If your just doing a bit harder stuff than driving fire roads you shouldn’t have any problems

 

Thanks for these suggestions. I’ll definitely consider them as time goes on, but for now I don’t have a welder and I’m not the most mechanically inclined, but I’ll definitely research the mods you listed.

 

You’re right, I thought you were referring to a 3rd Gen, which is the same as 2nd Gen. don’t listen to anything I said lol

 

The ifs on these trucks is pretty durable . Your tire size is only a size larger than stock..
Tundra calipers will fit with the stock 16" star rims.
Your tuck sounds like it's set up really nice for what your looking to do. Your gonna be pretty high in the rpm's it you go back to a stock size tire with the gears that you have.
The lsd actually should help with the strength of your front diff . The solid case is supposed to help with minimizing deflection.
Learn how to and get the tools to be able to change out a cv and check your ball joints. Theres a ton of you tube how to's.
I've only replaced my cv's because of tears a torn boot and that was the stock shafts. Keep the stock shafts they have better working anges without binding.

Commen sense will go a long way keeping it together
, like don't try and climb a big under cut rock , don't full throttle it whith wheels in the air ect.

 

You’ll be fine. I used to carry trail spares and found I didn’t need them and I’d beat my truck pretty hard. Like eon_blue stated, high rpm and with wheel spin can be fatal for diffs and axles (as well as fuck up trails), so try to crawl it and if you can’t get traction check your line or evaluate if it’s worth it to hit it with speed depending on factors like off camber, rocks/trees etc.

These trucks put up with a lot, I used to carry 1000 lbs of lumber pretty much on the regular (1/2 ton springs and Tundra brakes help) and then go hit trails on the weekend. I had to be mindful it was my daily driver too.

You will find the limitations if you abuse it.

The inner fenders and core support will fatigue over time as well as the cab mounts depending on crazy you get, and you can destroy the coil over buckets up front, but you’ve gotta be hitting it pretty hard.

 

I should clarify that the 4.88 diffs/axles with the LSD and locker are currently not installed, so I’m deciding whether I should swap those on or keep the stock open 4.10s and sell the axles separately.