Independent vs Solid

[flighht2k5]

Yes I said the IFS is weak. Allow me to be more specific: When running Big Tires, the toy IFS doesn't hold up as well. The 7.5" ring gear just too small for heavy usage under bigger loads. I'm not saying its a completely flawed design. Its not.

My point here is that compared to the Montero IFS, the Toyota IFS is weak(er).

You said its weak that's why they swap them out. It's not the reason they swap them out . And no it's not weak. Toyota makes very high quality parts. Why do you think and 8" toy is stronger than an 8.5" Dana 44. I would even put an 8" rear up against a stock early 9" ford. I'm not trying to start a fight just my opinion


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[corsaoceano]

So to summarize for the OP...
Is the Mitsu IFS sufficient for your goals? Yes. It's more than fine for the kind of wheeling you have in mind unless you plan on running 40" tires, etc.

From my experience the Mitsu IFS does appear to be built better & is more capable at handling larger tires on harder trails than many other stock 4x4 IFS systems.

Case in point... Carlos (CAP510), Lloyd (Lloyd Swartz), Adam (Sneaky Ninja), myself and I'm sure many others have run 35" & some even 37" tires on the stock Gen I & II IFS axles/differentials on rock crawling trails w/out IFS issues.

Are these needed for your current travel goal? No. My recommendation is to service your diffs, xcase, transmission then go with a 31-33" tire and not worry about it.

Thanks Off-Roader that makes perfect sense, and thanks everyone else for the helpful input! I think for the journey originally described my Gen 1 would be just fine with some maintenance like mentioned to make sure it is up to par and functioning safely and reliably. Personally, I think I will always have a warm feeling for trucks like the Defender or Land Cruiser with solid axles, but the interesting point is that there are other similarly capable vehicles out there that also have strong points (like high speed dirt road travel vs slow rock crawling etc). I think it might come down to an expedition vehicle being a tool for the job. Since any good mechanic wouldn't use the same tool in every situation, so a good adventurer would use a different suspension setup depending on the journey.

[geocrasher]

You said its weak that's why they swap them out. It's not the reason they swap them out . And no it's not weak. Toyota makes very high quality parts. Why do you think and 8" toy is stronger than an 8.5" Dana 44. I would even put an 8" rear up against a stock early 9" ford. I'm not trying to start a fight just my opinion

The actual linkage itself isn't weak, but that little 7.5" ring in the front isn't all that strong for what most guys build their toys for- rock crawling- and that's why they get swapped out. I agree, the Toy V6 8" is among the strongest diffs ever made, guys run 37" tires on them and bigger. But the fronts use 7.5" diffs, unless they've changed that in newer generations. The funny thing is, I think we're both saying the same thing ;-)

Also, there's no upgrade path on the IFS front end differential- if there were, there might be more Toy IFS rigs out there running big tires. Its also quite practical to SAS a Toy, cost wise. So many factors to it, I suppose I shouldn't have named strength as the number one- its not.

[geocrasher]

Episode 4 of XOverland includes lots of Toy IFS doing some serious wheeling. http://xoverland.com/ I take back my comments- IFS of most any type is probably fine for anything except hardcore rock crawling or other things known for breakage, like mudding. For what most of us do, IFS is fine.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Episode 4 of XOverland includes lots of Toy IFS doing some serious wheeling. http://xoverland.com/ I take back my comments- IFS of most any type is probably fine for anything except hardcore rock crawling or other things known for breakage, like mudding. For what most of us do, IFS is fine.

They're also modestly lifted with only minimally larger tires. That combination is fine. Large lifts, large tires and crawling is not good for toyota IFS.