Speaking from experience I used to run my 95 Tacoma with 4.88 gears, ARB rear locker with Trail Gear chromemoly axles and would break a cv axle when the front was spinning and trying to gain traction. I am not a hard core offroader more of an overlander but who likes breaking an axle or anything else. So I bought Lotus front axles and was hoping for problem solved. No such luck as I broke two more axles. I called the Lotus tech department and was told even though their axles are much stronger they highly recommend running a front locker to split the torque to both axles so I added a ARB locker to the front. Why the company I bought the Lotus axles from did not inform me of this makes me question their reputation. Also did research on lowering the reduction of the transfer case which I did by installing a Atlas 4 speed transfer case with Adams 1350 u joint driveshafts and now have a crawl ratio of 480 to 1. What a huge difference this made in the ability to crawl over the terrain rather than blasting over it. It's been two years and no more broken cv axles so this solved my particular issues. I run a Old Man Emu 2 inch lift with SPC upper control arms, 1 inch diff drop, 33x10.50 tires with Method alloys. I do have my rig loaded up with a ARB bull bar winch bumper, winch, steel roof rack with roof top tent, Rigid spare tire carrier and all my camping, recovery gear, tools so lesson learned is if you want to play you have to pay and this is still no guarantee I wont break something again. Great info in your video to take into account and my account is only what I have done to overcome problems so far. Happy Trails and as a new subscriber I look forward to more of your video's.
I have an 1988 IFS 15 inch rims with 32's open diffs, I have never had a problem. I also don't do Rick climbing but I do some difficult trails out in the California, Az deserts... Slow and easy no rush...
Tip 4 is so difficult. lol We are a family of 6 and a 60lb dog, so we travel with a very full vehicle. Added skid plate, roof rack and swing-out hitch with full size spare tire, we are carrying a lot of weight by default. We have a 2023 Subaru Ascent as our offroad vehicle. I know at least one person who has one as well that does way harder stuff than we will, but he comes in at over 6,000lbs (vehicle stock weight of about 4,600lbs). We probably push 5,600lbs with our stuff. Love the video though, thanks for the tips!
I don't agree with your assertion that CV joints are so much weaker than U-joints. I was always taught a CV joint can take greater torque at tighter angles, and when I googled it, that seems to be the consensus. The bottom line is, no matter what kind of joints you have, the tighter you turn, the more likely you are to break them. But I don't think it's fair to portray CV joints as so much weaker. Maybe certain vehicles have undersized CV axles for off-roading, but my IFS Tahoe holds up fine with 320 hp and my Cherokee solid axle is fine with 170 hp. But put 320 hp in the Cherokee and things are going to snap. The engineers who designed these vehicles are pretty smart and figured this stuff out.
For me, probably the most useful vid out there. Excellent money saving and performance tips for us IFS drivers. Clearly and concisely explained. Thank you!
Regarding the locking front diff in an ifs - my understanding is that CVs often break when one wheel gets unloaded, spins freely, and then is suddenly stopped when it regains traction. That situation subjects the front drivetrain to more shock load than it will see any other time. A locked front diff should prevent excessive wheelspin of the unloaded tire in that situation and help keep the vehicle's movements more steady and smooth.
Obsolutely. Getting a front diff locker on an IFS, garantee to be able to slowly crawl most of the obstacles. That means way less wheel spin needed, so less risk to break anything. I am using it on a Nissan Terrano 2, the difference is amazing ! Great video for all the other points, except that last one ^^ At least to me.
if you lift a wheel it will spin and when it gets back on the ground it will stop the spinning quick. This will put lots of stress on all parts. If you install a locker in the front you will normaly also make this diff stronger which ist also better
I'm new to offroading. I don't have a front locker (yet) but my Toyota has ATRAC. This applies the brake on the wheel that is spinning to send power to the tire not spinning (hopefully it has traction). Would this help lessen drivetrain shock when the tire comes back to Earth?
I'm super excited to watch and learn from this series! Huge thanks for all you do, Wyatt. Your videos are always PACKED with great content, and always easily understandable!
1) Heavy duty off-road rate alloy rims aren't significantly less weight than a steel rim. In some cases, basically the same weight. 2) I don't really get the point about the locker. As mentioned in another comment, CVs are far more likely to break with wheel spin than slow speed locked front diff driving.
What a timely video, thanks. I will be picking up a 4wd 4Runner in the near future. I had a 73 full time 4wd Blazer a long time ago and that thing was a tank.
Check our Marlin Crawler for the strength of Toyota front diff. On their 3rd gen Tacoma, their team runs 40 inch tires, with double transfer cases and final crawl ratio of 500:1. They never had issues with their Tacoma front differential on their setup and they’ve driven over 60,000 miles and did trails including the Rubicon and Dusy Ershim.
I use Tuareg for heavy offroading. The car 4 Motion system apply the break when the wheel spining. This is cause a lot of break pad change.. but efficient. T1 has low range, and Central diff lock, and 4wd drive independent front and rear.. With 33 inch is a really good car.. just fat a bit.. 2470 kg.. in empty.. I plan to make a track lock to front and rear.. may be a give me a bit better direct traction. it has 38 cm ground clearance...it's enough I think..
i just discovered your channel, I greatly appreciate the information. Question, Should I inflate my tires after airing down if I'm going to camp in the same place for a week or so?
For everyone that wants a front locker in a ifs. I have one and every time I’m on trail my inner cv pops out the joint. Eventually I will replace with a arb. But go electric or arb. Unless you want to go straight in 4x4. 87 Toyota pickup 4.88 on 35s locked front and rear.
I don't agree with the front locker statement. I have used one for 3 years. The only cv break I have had was prior to the locker and was due to wheel spin shock load. This also depends on the vehicle and the strength of the ifs axle
A Eton TruTrac works in the front...its a bias type does not totally lock up but will keep wheel spin down and still send some power to both wheels also very drivable in 4x4. You dont even notice it, and it makes no engagement, disconnect noise. Drives like an open diff till one wheel loses traction and then it sends some power to the non spinning wheel
Question. On tip #1 (keeping wheels straight over obstacle) - are there cases when loose steering wheel and free moving front wheels is more beneficial? Thank you! Love your work.
Hey Max, good question! The simple answer is that there are no hard "rules" that always apply, there will always be exceptions. You will definitely need to use steering to get through some obstacles, sometimes a lot. That said, wheels straight is best as a default starting place for most situations... Less rolling resistance, front axles are the in strongest position, and the front differential will have the best chance of feeding power top both wheels. If this doesn't work, definitely go to plan b, plan c, and so on, just be aware that introducing more steering will potentially make the axles more vulnerable and cause the front diff to spin only one wheel more often.
For someone that claims to know so much there was quite a lot of that that was misguided. For example, every time he mentions a broken cv shaft he says you'll have 2 wheel drive then mentions lockers. If you break a cv on one side, with a locker, you will still have power to the other wheel. My point to that would be to carry a spare shaft and be proficient at changing them. Because I would not be as worried about the lack of drive to that side, I'd be concerned with the driveability issue due to the broken shaft flopping around. Im running an ifs with a high lift and massive tires so i've taken some precautions. For starters, i've dropped the front differential. People say that doesn't make sense because you lose clearance but I disagree. For every inch you drop the diff, you can add an inch of lift and 2 inches of tire. So instead of a 2" lift and 4" larger tires, I can go to 4.5" of lift, drop the front diff 2", and use 9" larger tires. So the tires lifted the diff 4.5 and the lift brought it up 4.5 and the drop brought it down 2" so the diff is sitting 7" higher than stock. If you limit your lift to 2.5" because of CV angle concerns and don't want to drop your diff you gain those 2.5"plus the 2.5 " from the 5" larger tires for a total of a 5" higher diff. Keep in mind that a straight axel lift lowers the diff but no one seems concerned by that. Secondly, i've addressed the potential cv breakage issue by altering the front axel to use bolt in shafts. I don't even have to jack the vehicle up to change one and both sides use the same shaft. Take off the lock out, remove the c-clip, take the 3 bolts off the end bolted to the diff and pull it out. With a little pratice you can have it done in 15 minutes. Let's see you do that with a straight axle. And don't let anyone fool you into thinking straight axles don't break their u-joints. Apply a little to much power under a hard turn and you'll hear the same sickening 'snap'!. He also mentions the chamber not tipping the tires to the terrain but when is the terrain that predictable? Just as often a straight axle with be flexed and just the edges of the tire will be on the surface. There's just a lot of variables that were not mentioned.
Is going from a 30.6 inch (standard) to 32.8(33) inch tyre too much for IFS ? Or should i go with 32 inch ? I really wanna fit 33s, which is the max i can do any way (with a bit of trimming),
The bronco might give up a little on the technical rock crawling, but it's going to be WAY better for people that are used to dirt bikes or UTVS and just want to blast around, carry a little speed, get out in some dunes or on an old fire road and just explore.
And independent rear suspension ? I'm kidding. It's just that nobody talks about IRS. I have IFS and IRS. Good advice though! I did 2 inch front and rear and only went up 1 inch on tires. I still got to a 28 degree breakover angle. It's plenty. About 40 degrees approach and breakover. New suburban and Tahoe are full independent suspension.
Speaking from experience I used to run my 95 Tacoma with 4.88 gears, ARB rear locker with Trail Gear chromemoly axles and would break a cv axle when the front was spinning and trying to gain traction. I am not a hard core offroader more of an overlander but who likes breaking an axle or anything else. So I bought Lotus front axles and was hoping for problem solved. No such luck as I broke two more axles. I called the Lotus tech department and was told even though their axles are much stronger they highly recommend running a front locker to split the torque to both axles so I added a ARB locker to the front. Why the company I bought the Lotus axles from did not inform me of this makes me question their reputation. Also did research on lowering the reduction of the transfer case which I did by installing a Atlas 4 speed transfer case with Adams 1350 u joint driveshafts and now have a crawl ratio of 480 to 1. What a huge difference this made in the ability to crawl over the terrain rather than blasting over it. It's been two years and no more broken cv axles so this solved my particular issues. I run a Old Man Emu 2 inch lift with SPC upper control arms, 1 inch diff drop, 33x10.50 tires with Method alloys. I do have my rig loaded up with a ARB bull bar winch bumper, winch, steel roof rack with roof top tent, Rigid spare tire carrier and all my camping, recovery gear, tools so lesson learned is if you want to play you have to pay and this is still no guarantee I wont break something again. Great info in your video to take into account and my account is only what I have done to overcome problems so far. Happy Trails and as a new subscriber I look forward to more of your video's.
I have an 1988 IFS 15 inch rims with 32's open diffs, I have never had a problem. I also don't do Rick climbing but I do some difficult trails out in the California, Az deserts... Slow and easy no rush...
Tip 4 is so difficult. lol We are a family of 6 and a 60lb dog, so we travel with a very full vehicle. Added skid plate, roof rack and swing-out hitch with full size spare tire, we are carrying a lot of weight by default. We have a 2023 Subaru Ascent as our offroad vehicle. I know at least one person who has one as well that does way harder stuff than we will, but he comes in at over 6,000lbs (vehicle stock weight of about 4,600lbs). We probably push 5,600lbs with our stuff.
Love the video though, thanks for the tips!
I don't agree with your assertion that CV joints are so much weaker than U-joints. I was always taught a CV joint can take greater torque at tighter angles, and when I googled it, that seems to be the consensus. The bottom line is, no matter what kind of joints you have, the tighter you turn, the more likely you are to break them. But I don't think it's fair to portray CV joints as so much weaker. Maybe certain vehicles have undersized CV axles for off-roading, but my IFS Tahoe holds up fine with 320 hp and my Cherokee solid axle is fine with 170 hp. But put 320 hp in the Cherokee and things are going to snap. The engineers who designed these vehicles are pretty smart and figured this stuff out.
For me, probably the most useful vid out there. Excellent money saving and performance tips for us IFS drivers. Clearly and concisely explained. Thank you!
Regarding the locking front diff in an ifs - my understanding is that CVs often break when one wheel gets unloaded, spins freely, and then is suddenly stopped when it regains traction. That situation subjects the front drivetrain to more shock load than it will see any other time. A locked front diff should prevent excessive wheelspin of the unloaded tire in that situation and help keep the vehicle's movements more steady and smooth.
Obsolutely. Getting a front diff locker on an IFS, garantee to be able to slowly crawl most of the obstacles. That means way less wheel spin needed, so less risk to break anything. I am using it on a Nissan Terrano 2, the difference is amazing !
Great video for all the other points, except that last one ^^ At least to me.
I agree. I am running a dual locked xterra and it is much smoother with the locker
@@GalorOffroad +1! Front locker is very important for IFS! But to use it with carefull both IFS and SAS front
if you lift a wheel it will spin and when it gets back on the ground it will stop the spinning quick. This will put lots of stress on all parts. If you install a locker in the front you will normaly also make this diff stronger which ist also better
I'm new to offroading.
I don't have a front locker (yet) but my Toyota has ATRAC.
This applies the brake on the wheel that is spinning to send power to the tire not spinning (hopefully it has traction).
Would this help lessen drivetrain shock when the tire comes back to Earth?
I'm super excited to watch and learn from this series! Huge thanks for all you do, Wyatt. Your videos are always PACKED with great content, and always easily understandable!
Glad you like them!
It's good to be back "making content" aka playing with cars and trucks!
I must agree, my skateboarding cousin
1) Heavy duty off-road rate alloy rims aren't significantly less weight than a steel rim. In some cases, basically the same weight.
2) I don't really get the point about the locker. As mentioned in another comment, CVs are far more likely to break with wheel spin than slow speed locked front diff driving.
you deserve to have millions of subscribers, this content is awesome! greetings from Argentina!
What a timely video, thanks. I will be picking up a 4wd 4Runner in the near future. I had a 73 full time 4wd Blazer a long time ago and that thing was a tank.
Awesome vid, love,the content
Loving TrailCraft vids! Keep ‘em coming!
Thanks Becca!
Check our Marlin Crawler for the strength of Toyota front diff. On their 3rd gen Tacoma, their team runs 40 inch tires, with double transfer cases and final crawl ratio of 500:1. They never had issues with their Tacoma front differential on their setup and they’ve driven over 60,000 miles and did trails including the Rubicon and Dusy Ershim.
Please keep going!!!! You are saving me thousands!!!
I use Tuareg for heavy offroading.
The car 4 Motion system apply the break when the wheel spining. This is cause a lot of break pad change.. but efficient.
T1 has low range, and Central diff lock, and 4wd drive independent front and rear..
With 33 inch is a really good car.. just fat a bit.. 2470 kg.. in empty.. I plan to make a track lock to front and rear.. may be a give me a bit better direct traction.
it has 38 cm ground clearance...it's enough I think..
Excellent! Thank you!
Shock loading bad, put a locker in. Cvs are a fuse, easy to change.
i just discovered your channel, I greatly appreciate the information. Question, Should I inflate my tires after airing down if I'm going to camp in the same place for a week or so?
Great video thank you
For everyone that wants a front locker in a ifs. I have one and every time I’m on trail my inner cv pops out the joint. Eventually I will replace with a arb. But go electric or arb. Unless you want to go straight in 4x4. 87 Toyota pickup 4.88 on 35s locked front and rear.
I don't agree with the front locker statement. I have used one for 3 years. The only cv break I have had was prior to the locker and was due to wheel spin shock load. This also depends on the vehicle and the strength of the ifs axle
Great video!!👍
A Eton TruTrac works in the front...its a bias type does not totally lock up but will keep wheel spin down and still send some power to both wheels also very drivable in 4x4. You dont even notice it, and it makes no engagement, disconnect noise. Drives like an open diff till one wheel loses traction and then it sends some power to the non spinning wheel
Thanks for the 10 tips
Wish I saw this before I blew up my gx Cv. I think they were aftermarket, fwiw.
Low and slow in 4low is all I know! 🏜️✌️
I would rather keep the halt-shaft as the weak point, than blow the front diff
Question.
On tip #1 (keeping wheels straight over obstacle) - are there cases when loose steering wheel and free moving front wheels is more beneficial?
Thank you! Love your work.
Hey Max, good question! The simple answer is that there are no hard "rules" that always apply, there will always be exceptions. You will definitely need to use steering to get through some obstacles, sometimes a lot. That said, wheels straight is best as a default starting place for most situations... Less rolling resistance, front axles are the in strongest position, and the front differential will have the best chance of feeding power top both wheels. If this doesn't work, definitely go to plan b, plan c, and so on, just be aware that introducing more steering will potentially make the axles more vulnerable and cause the front diff to spin only one wheel more often.
@@TrailCraft gotcha!
Looks good!
great information...
Excellent 👍👍
Just subbed!
Team O’Neal with a difference 😂😂 love it..
Thanks Paul!
But your video told me alot thanks..
What’s the front bumper on the taco??
For someone that claims to know so much there was quite a lot of that that was misguided. For example, every time he mentions a broken cv shaft he says you'll have 2 wheel drive then mentions lockers. If you break a cv on one side, with a locker, you will still have power to the other wheel. My point to that would be to carry a spare shaft and be proficient at changing them. Because I would not be as worried about the lack of drive to that side, I'd be concerned with the driveability issue due to the broken shaft flopping around. Im running an ifs with a high lift and massive tires so i've taken some precautions. For starters, i've dropped the front differential. People say that doesn't make sense because you lose clearance but I disagree. For every inch you drop the diff, you can add an inch of lift and 2 inches of tire. So instead of a 2" lift and 4" larger tires, I can go to 4.5" of lift, drop the front diff 2", and use 9" larger tires. So the tires lifted the diff 4.5 and the lift brought it up 4.5 and the drop brought it down 2" so the diff is sitting 7" higher than stock. If you limit your lift to 2.5" because of CV angle concerns and don't want to drop your diff you gain those 2.5"plus the 2.5 " from the 5" larger tires for a total of a 5" higher diff. Keep in mind that a straight axel lift lowers the diff but no one seems concerned by that. Secondly, i've addressed the potential cv breakage issue by altering the front axel to use bolt in shafts. I don't even have to jack the vehicle up to change one and both sides use the same shaft. Take off the lock out, remove the c-clip, take the 3 bolts off the end bolted to the diff and pull it out. With a little pratice you can have it done in 15 minutes. Let's see you do that with a straight axle. And don't let anyone fool you into thinking straight axles don't break their u-joints. Apply a little to much power under a hard turn and you'll hear the same sickening 'snap'!.
He also mentions the chamber not tipping the tires to the terrain but when is the terrain that predictable? Just as often a straight axle with be flexed and just the edges of the tire will be on the surface.
There's just a lot of variables that were not mentioned.
Is going from a 30.6 inch (standard) to 32.8(33) inch tyre too much for IFS ? Or should i go with 32 inch ? I really wanna fit 33s, which is the max i can do any way (with a bit of trimming),
I’m running 33x12.5 mud terrains and I’m fine
Good tips before the Bronco comes out
The bronco might give up a little on the technical rock crawling, but it's going to be WAY better for people that are used to dirt bikes or UTVS and just want to blast around, carry a little speed, get out in some dunes or on an old fire road and just explore.
Hopefully you’ll get one and can make a video of it
Cannot confirm or deny but it's just a matter of time
Or the Grenadier from Ineos
How does this apply to the new bronco?
The whole video? The Bronco has ifs so yeah…
What tires do you recommend for a light suv(xterra 1st gen)?AT's with P(lighter weight) or LT?
what front bumper is that on the taco?
Just put in RCVs and chrome moly stub shafts.
Solid axle swap for the same price
unsprung weight is not an issue off-roading.
Its not Independent Front Suspension until you disconnect the sway bar....the most important thing to get you through....
Disagree with the lockers mate
Don't like IFS in most ways
The towing thing doesn't make sense, most Toyotas running IFS since about 2000 run an 8in front and rear ring&pinion. I've never heard this before.
And independent rear suspension ?
I'm kidding.
It's just that nobody talks about IRS.
I have IFS and IRS.
Good advice though!
I did 2 inch front and rear and only went up 1 inch on tires. I still got to a 28 degree breakover angle. It's plenty. About 40 degrees approach and breakover.
New suburban and Tahoe are full independent suspension.
I think you should spend a little more money putting a straight axle conversion on one of these. And then tow and go wherever you want.
Step 1. Do a solid axle swap.
Step 2. Enjoy driving off-road.
Not much illustrations
All good reasons not to have an independent front suspension if you’re gonna go four wheeling. Just saying.😊
Hard to take advice from a guy that didn’t air down his tires.
Best Off-road advice for an IFS is not to go Off-road in the first place.