Review: Superlift's 1986-Up Toyota IFS 4" to 5" "Standard"Lift System
Author: Eric Johnson - ej@off-road.com September
1999
|
Related Links |
These days it
seems like everyone is ditching their Independent Front Suspension
(IFS) in favor of installing a solid axle under the front of their
Toyotas. But don't get out the cutting torch before you first check
out Superlift's IFS lift system. This lift provides room for tall
tires, is built tough, and looks fantastic.
How it
works: For the rear of the
vehicle, Superlift offers several ways of lifting. You can choose
tall lift blocks, a smaller block with an add-a-leaf, or
replacement springs.  I went with the replacement springs. These
springs each contained four arched leaves in the pack plus a flat
fifth overload leaf, as well as a 3-degree alignment shim. The
stock springs on my 1987 4Runner used 3 leaves plus an overload
leaf. The lift for the front is more complicated. The front IFS
crossmember and lower control arms are removed. A new front
crossmember is provided that lowers the pivot points for the
control arms by four inches. A rear crossmember lowers the rear
points slightly further. Since
these brackets spread the inboard ends of the control arms by about
four inches, the outboard ends need to be similarly spread to keep
a reasonable suspension geometry. This is accomplished with a pair
of knuckle adaptors. These bolt to the stock knuckle assembly,
moving the mount for the upper ball joint appropriately, and also
raises the mounts for the steering components to keep the steering
and ride the same. A side
effect of using knuckle adaptors is that you must use wheels with
3.75" or less backspacing. The reason: with the knuckle adaptors in
place, the end of the upper control arm is no longer inside the
wheel - its now just inboard of the tire itself. With more
backspacing, the upper control arm would slice into the tire. This
isn't a major limitation - for rollover resistance, you should
generally build your vehicle wider as you go taller, and less
backspacing accomplishes that goal. Furthermore, most aftermarket
wheels have 3.5" of backspacing. Still, don't plan on using your
stock 4.5"-backspaced wheels with this lift. To keep reasonable
angles on the CV joints, the front differential is lowered with
bracketry.
While there are several kits on the market that use this basic
method for lifting IFS vehicles, the Superlift sets itself apart by
using one-piece welded crossmembers integral to their control arm
mounting brackets. Furthermore, these crossmembers are made of
3/16" rectangular steel tubing. This is by far stronger than the
stock crossmember which is made of much thinner material.First impressions on the parts: I was impressed by the overall quality, strength, and finish of the parts. The smooth painted surfaces you see on most lifts tends to show scratches easily. Superlift uses a textured black finish on most of the parts. The texturing should go a long way towards hiding imperfections and trail scratches, in much the same the the texturing on house walls does the same there. The shocks provided in the kit appeared to be of good quality, comparable in size and construction to other off-road shocks. During the installation of the lift, I also installed an optional Superlift steering stabilizer. It is much larger than the wimpy stock unit, but still fits perfectly in the original mounts, and the install of the stabilizer only took minutes. On the rear springs, the paint finish wasn't quite as nice as it was on the other parts. Springs are usually shipped without a box, so they get a little nicked up during transport. It won't affect the way they work, but it was a departure from the great finish present on all the other parts. Installation: Initially, the installation took me about a week of evenings, but I was going very slow and doing a lot of grinding and painting of scars beneath the truck. Many trail miles had taken their toll on my stock suspension. Most of its various mounting points had been bashed on rocks and were bent out of shape. A better mechanic than me could probably finish the install much quicker. With air tools, a lift, and a less-abused vehicle to work on, this lift could probably go on completely in a day or at least in a weekend. After the initial install and testing, i spent a few evenings tweaking the suspension, and I suspect I'll be fiddling with it for a while. The installation instructions were somewhat better than I had anticipated. The clear diagrams really helped to illustrate the way things go together. Here's a brief rundown of the procedure. Superlift's instructions are much more detailed, but this will give you an idea of what is involved. Places where I deviated from Superlift's instructions are in italics.
|
||
|
Related Links |
 On the first trip up the ramp with the new suspension,
there was a variety of small problems. For starters, I couldn't go
as far up the ramp without lifting a wheel. Upon closer inspection,
I found that the knuckle adaptors, on compression, were binding
against the upper control arms in the area around the pocket that
holds the upper ball joint. I wasn't on the bumpstops. In the rear,
the added length of the lift springs (to accomodate the larger
arch) caused the shackles to lay down flatter than before on
compression (when the arched spring flattens out). The shackle went
back far enough, in fact, that they would bind against my rear
bumper mounts. Most of you won't have this problem - my custom
bumper uses mounts that are adapted from a Draw-Tite towing
receiver hitch, and these mounts don't give a lot of room for
shackle travel.  Other
potential problems I noted while on the ramp are that when the
right rear tire is stuffed into the wheel well with the left wheel
extended, the driveline would eventually make more contact with the
gas tank skid plate. This probably won't be a problem for those of
you with pickups - the 4runners have gas tanks that drop down lower
than the tanks on the pickups. When the rear axle was articulated
the other way, the cable for the parking brake was getting
stretched pretty far. Fortunately, there are few clearance problems
on a 4x4 that can't be solved with gratuitous use of a grinder.
Once I enlarged the opening on the underside of the upper control
arms, i could compress the suspension to the bumpstops, even at
full turning lock. For the rear, grinding away a part of the bumper
bracket bought back the articulation there. Finally, the problem
with the parking brake cable was solved by relocating a cable-clamp
from the frame to an existing hole on the spring hanger. Note that
most of these problems would be an issue with any lift of
this height, and are not specific problems with the Superlift
product.
On the trail  I
finally got a chance to test the setup at the Evans Creek ORV area
in Washington state. The lift performed well. The added clearance
below the rocker panels was a nice benefit and I spent a lot less
time than usual making contact between the terrain and parts of my
truck other than my tires. My friends even coaxed me into
attempting a truck-eating mud hole. I didn't make it through, but I
had a lot of fun getting stuck in and winched out!  Incidentally, I had some non-related engine trouble
during this trip and had to be towed off one of the tougher trails.
I was extremely grateful to have the lift while being towed through
ruts deeper than my windows! The lift kept body damage to a
minimum. Due to some miscommunication and the lack of power-assist
steering and braking when the engine is off, I nearly rolled the
vehicle under tow. This near-rollover had nothing to do with the
new lift - I couldn't steer fast enough to keep up with the terrain
and accidentally drove off the trail and up a large embankment at a
high speed. I bring this up because the 4Runner was up on its two
left wheels, but eventually slammed down violently back on the
right side. The components of the lift took the impact well with no
damage. My head, on the other hand, slammed into my interior
rollcage. I think its time for me to write a review on roll bar
padding!  Overall, I'm very pleased with this offering from
Superlift. If you're looking to lift your IFS Toyota vehicle to fit
larger tires, have more ground clearance, and enjoy better approach
and departure angles, be sure to check this one out. Superlift
products are available from Rocky Mountain Suspension
Products.Contact Info
|
This is good advice.
It is important to install this decal - the warranty depends on
it. |
Off-Road.com Newsletter Join our Weekly Newsletter to get the latest off-road news, reviews, events, and alerts! |
Follow @Off-Road
Your Privacy Choices