L/Cruiser 100 IFS Suspension Upgrade

Apparently the lower control arm welding was caused by a robot on too much saki way back about 2002 and only affected certain vin numbered vehicles. However Ironman and others suggest to use the supplied strengthening kit when upgrading.
I investigated Ironman torsion bars and they were about $323 for the pair with the kit. They are 32mm against the standard 25mm. Shocks are dearer at over $100 each.
In saying all that my mate bought a new V8 100ser and the first thing he did after running it in a bit was do an 18 day trip across the Simpson completely standard even to the Grandtreks that came on it. Only got 1 puncture and about a ton of red dust LOL

Nice truck Doc!!

Whilst your here I have this little problem with my lower back and was wondering if you could sort out a fix?

I'd ask the other "Doc" that frequents here but he's always on bloody holidays somewhere. :-)

You don't need another cross member unless you want to raise the height of the front by more than 2", then you talking serious coin.
As for what brand, maaaate that's like asking Toyota or nissan, Engle or Weaco, how long is piece of string?I'd stick to the same brand for the who;e show, not mix and match.
When you choose, allow for extra's (weight)that you may add to it later
I think All the know names do an improved lower control arm and If you do a bit of looking around you will be able to identify the problem control arms comparing to yours to see if it has been improved.
About 40mm is about as far as you can go before it gets real expensive for the front, the rear's are a piece of cake to change, you won't be happy with the set up that's works well with a load, but too hard/high when empty, or too soft/low when loaded.


Shane.
ps I put up with poor performance, wind up windows, vinyl floor/ seats, just so I didn't have IFS

Hi Doc
The 100 T/D IFS suspension is reasonably good. I did not do anything to the front end until the vehicle was about 18 months old and had done the CSR - I did however have the front end wound up a little. Prior to CSR I put Tough Dog on the back and later the front. I was very unimpressed (tough pussies)

After CSR, Cape York, Simpson and many other trips I put
Old Man Emu Torsion Bars
Nitrocharger front and back
Springs 600kgs
Shock Stone Guards
OME IFS kit
Polyair Kit

Be careful not to wind the torsion bars up too much - it will throw the front end geometry out
You should not need to replace the torsion bars yet
Make sure you put Stone Guards on the rear shocks
I have found the Polyairs to be excellent, but I tow a camper van

Re the Lower control arm, talk to your Toyota dealer to see if your model was modified from the earlier ones. The ARB kit is not expensive
The whole job 2 years ago cost around $2000

Going to be doing mine this year too. Have a look at LCOOL for some info there. ATS in Geelong are well regarded and can post out the kit for either you or a mechanic to fit. Having used Bilstein shocks before and been very impressed with them I will be fitting this kit.

Macquarie 4x4 also do a decent kit.

Doc,
I have a TD100 IFS also - the rig details are yet to be updated.

I spent a lot of time and $ getting things to where I am happy. Spent time talking to other owners and potential suppliers before acting. In the end I did the following:
TJM steel bull bar with 9000lb electric winch
TJM HD front and rear suspension, including polyair bags at rear to allow adjustment for load
Strengthened suspension in known places of Toyota weak design
Snake Racing rear lower control arms
Bilstein shocks all round
BFG AT LT tyres
Overall 1.5” lift to improve entry & exit clearance
Rear Kaymar bar, incorporating towbar and twin wheel carrier
Original sub-tank and spare wheel carrier replaced with 184 L fuel tank giving a total useable capacity of 270L
Steel crash plates under front steering, engine and transmission
Dual battery system with AGM DC secondary
Air compressor
Storage drawers in rear cloned from Black Widow for spares, tools, recovery gear etc
High shelf for electronic gear – radios, battery charger and inverter hardwired
GME UHF 2 way radio
Codan NGT HF radio for RFDS and VKS networks with autotune aerial
EPIRB, Magellan XL GPS, laptop link when needed, first aid kit
Hylift jack, exhaust jack
Roof console between front seats

I tried Kings springs in the rear first and was not happy. The TJM progressive HD are great. The IFS suspension really works the front shocks hard and the Bilstein units seem to have a reputation for performing and lasting.

The concensus seemed to be that 35mm was the maximum lift before causing geometry problems at the front leading to CV problems. If you want to go further then you need to use a dif drop kit. I have not done this yet but suspect I will when I put a front locker in. Hopefully that will be the last.

cheers
alastair