Best Way to get Good Suspension Travel / Flex on SFA Hilux

[hiluxpigga]

GDay everyone i have a 1994 SFA hilux 2.8 and its pretty much stock was told it has 2 inch lift when i got it. it gets reasonable suspension travel in the front but bugger all in the back as soon as i hit a angle on a bank it doesnt like it at all and im just wondering what is the best way to get Good Suspension Travel / Flex on a hilux without spending alot of money. for starters what would be the best out of Drop Shackles, extended shackles, banana shackles etc i do alot of pigging and travel with abit of weight including dogs, dog cage,quad,fuel, swags etc but most gets dropped off at hunting area and just the dogs get taken out so i can't have really soft springs as i carry abit of weight aswell as firewood, i have access to alot of tools so i can make and do alot of it myself i have a mig and access to alot of metal fabricating tools, what shocks are the best what will be long enough for full flex etc any info if appreciated also i included a few pics

[hiluxpigga]

[bluegq]

flex is every thing when your a pig hunter ahahaha

[brad 93hilux]

It's hard to have both with the leaf spring rear. You will find to get more travel you will need softer springs (which you can't have)..
Bannana shackles are for the front when fitting rears up front so not going to help
Drop shackles won't work on stiff springs, you really still need right springs for them (longer)
Extended shackles will give you a little more but will be hardly noticeable (they are more for lift)

Best thing is to maybe get a better rear 2" lifted spring, and remove the spring clamp bolt (not u bolts) which keeps the spring pack together on down travel, this will allow springs to open up and help to give down travel.. Just keep a eye on shocks then because you might need longer ones..

Brad

[hiluxpigga]

haha yea it does to me lol could mean the difference between getting to a pig in some bad country i can see and getting stuck in the process lol

[hiluxpigga]

thanks brad good advice matewhat springs would you recomend for drop shackles and what are the best drop shackles on the market without going overboard on price
cheers

[brad 93hilux]

Best way is to buy them as a kit from someone like superior engineering, but in my opinion they arnt very good.. Sure they give u wheel travel but when you get on side slopes they have a tendency to unload/open up and can help truck fall over.

That's why you don't see a lot around, but more light springs or coils. It is more predictable with just springs and extended shackles (I have been in a mates truck that fell over twice because of these)

The kits are pretty expensive, for the price you could do a coil conversion..

Brad

[old lux]

Bro IMHO you need IFS rears and ext shackles. Thu work a treat and still carry weight cause you don't really need to touch the pack do it'll still carry average weight

[hiluxpigga]

wats the differnnce between ifs rears and sfa rears i dont really understand

[hiluxpigga]

would 2005 - 2008 hilux rear leafs fit

[brad 93hilux]

Doubt they would fit but not 100% sure on that.
Ifs rears are longer so you'd have to re-weld the rear chassy mount..

Not sure if they'll carry the loads you have..

Brad

[4_low]

Does anyone know what the difference between IFS rears and 05+ Rears are?

Is the pin to eye length the same?

[old lux]

Bloke I know didn't reweld mounts. Should hold wieght put a extra leaf from the old pack of you have you have to. Couldn't help you bout age tho

[Blackened]

05's are too long I believe, Try the 04 or earlier IFS rear springs or 89-97 IFS rear springs.

[brad 93hilux]

I did have a mate that I'm 100% sure he rewelded mounts but not sure what year model they were from, possibly later model.

[old lux]

If you use standard shackles you need to be he used EXT shacckles and was all good.

[hiluxpigga]

so you reckon i can use 05 onwards ifs rears with extended shakles and throw and extra leaf in and it should work if so i might give it a go

[hiluxpigga]

and also what shocks does everyone recomend i was thinking of efs or tough dog

[old lux]

No bud PRE 05.

That would be my sujestion

[Toyo Truck]

I have 2003 model IFS rears in mine,
with extended shackles.
no re-welding, Originally used the bushes that came with em, but replaced with urethane recently.

Definately go Rancho RS5000s or RS9000s for adjustable.
I've had mine in the truck for like 8 years and they make no noises, no leaks, no breakages.
The exhaust has melted the rear upper bushes and they STILL work (although a little noisy from bush play of about 10mm)
ya can't kill em, they sell them in 14" long, they are cheap, and they work...for AGES.
my 2 cents

[Sasquatch]

Since there are one of two people in this thread who have done the rear IFS spring conversion thing can I confirm if there is anything else involved in fitting them? I've been told that the locating pin won't line up due to the different length so you need to somehow make a new one.

[Toyo Truck]

By locating pin you mean the pin that sits in the hole on the spring seats on the differential?
These are in the same location with IFS rears vs std rears...they are alot longer from the pin to the rear eye is all.
What does make a difference is when you put rears in the front, as this extra length in the rear of the spring means that
the diff is pushed quite a bit forward, but gives you sexy approach angles..

The front eyes are all the same, the bushes do vary a little, and some have a steel bush inside the rubber bushing that will need to be
burnt or hammered out (depending on type) and replace bush with standard urethane bush.

But I beleive the ID of the spring eye is the same, but the newer models use thinner front eye bolts than the older SFA hiluxs...from memory.
Just try it, I did and it worked fine. the main thing is you get extended shackles, otherwise your spring will be like a bow and arrow as
you'll need to really bend the spring to meet the location of the standard shackle at the rear.
The IFS leaves are a fair bit longer than standard rears, so the eye-to-eye length is longer, so your wheel travels further, but you'll need extra
length in ya shackles to comfortably reach the rear eye mount of the spring.

Hope that clears it up for ya.

PS.. then get some ext shackles for the front and put those rear springs in the front. Same deal again as they are slightly longer than the std fronts.

[Sasquatch]

Yeah I was referring to the length between the front eye and the locating pin in the middle(ish) of the spring for where it sits on the perch on the diff, but by the sounds of it, it's all just going to work without having to modify anything except longer shackles of course.

I have the springs in the shed ready to go so I'll just give it a go like you said.

Thanks for your help mate.

[Toyo Truck]

No worries,

What I did to make 100% sure,
was slip the leaves in under the car next to the existing leaves,
you will see the front eye to the diff is almost identical (Well it was on my 1989 Single Cab)
Maybe do this on yours and you will get an idea for how they will look/sit under your truck?

Good luck mate.

[ae86levin]

By locating pin you mean the pin that sits in the hole on the spring seats on the differential?
These are in the same location with IFS rears vs std rears...they are alot longer from the pin to the rear eye is all.
What does make a difference is when you put rears in the front, as this extra length in the rear of the spring means that
the diff is pushed quite a bit forward, but gives you sexy approach angles..

The front eyes are all the same, the bushes do vary a little, and some have a steel bush inside the rubber bushing that will need to be
burnt or hammered out (depending on type) and replace bush with standard urethane bush.

But I beleive the ID of the spring eye is the same, but the newer models use thinner front eye bolts than the older SFA hiluxs...from memory.
Just try it, I did and it worked fine. the main thing is you get extended shackles, otherwise your spring will be like a bow and arrow as
you'll need to really bend the spring to meet the location of the standard shackle at the rear.
The IFS leaves are a fair bit longer than standard rears, so the eye-to-eye length is longer, so your wheel travels further, but you'll need extra
length in ya shackles to comfortably reach the rear eye mount of the spring.

Hope that clears it up for ya.

PS.. then get some ext shackles for the front and put those rear springs in the front. Same deal again as they are slightly longer than the std fronts.

Been thinking of doing exactly what the original poster is talking about for a awhile now.
When you say extended shackles how much longer than stock are you talking? I've got 130mm (or 5")in mine.
From what I've read doing the IFS rears seems like a bolt in operation (as long as you have the extended shackles) but do you need to do much to get the RUF to fit? Eg any mods to torque rod or drag link?
From what I've read these need to be changed for adjustable / dropped when doing more aggressive front suspension mods - just wondering if RUF requires this? It's good to hear from someone that has done it instead of people who've 'heard' or 'had a mate do it'
Thanks for the useful info.

[Toyo Truck]

Hey mate,
you should be right with the IFS rears in the back with those 5" shackles.
Mine are fugn huge but will be swapped out for 5" ones in future.

RUF is a bit harder, but the results more than pay off.
You'll need:-
your OEM rear springs,
extended front shackles
extended torque rod
dropped drag link
shocks if you want to get any extra flex...so to fit long shocks you'll need shock hoops too.
And engineering cert would be a good idea too these days to run this.

Actually just save up and run crossover or high-steer.
This is MUCH MUCH better, but costs alot more and will require fabrication...

[Coptzr]

I have Old Man Emu 2" suspention lift am I able to put IFS Rears in and then use the Old Man Emu rears in the front or would this make it to high in the front compared to the rear then?
Cheers Ben

[Toyo Truck]

More than likely mate yes.

IFS rears give good flex, but the length of them tends to result in some flattening out of the spring.
You could get blocks under the leaves I've seen this done to level out the back end and bring it up a few inches to match the front.
Or just take the main leaf from the IFS pack, mix it with the rest of the leaves from your OME lifted leaves and see if this maintains
the lift?

Then you can use the main leaf from your rear pack and mix'n'match with the front leaves to get the best of both worlds.
(PS undo or cut off the small bolt/pin in the centre of the leaf pack and they all come apart into 5 or 7 seperate leaves depending on what you have)

[buggy man]

Are their any other rear springs that will give better flex then ifs rears?
I have herd of ford springs, and also chev springs, but how do these compare to say locktup, and trail gear springs?
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm sure it would help everyone. So what is the ultimate spring choice? Haha and has anyone fitted springs other than ruf, to the front? Like has anyone put ifs rears in the front ect. Just noob questions but everyone will benifit. Thanks

[SCANAS]

Cheap way is to to take a leaf or two out of your pack, use some extended shackles and you have an extra inch or two for under $500.

If you want some better springs get some custom ones made by dobinsons engineering with a nice shackle angle for down travel