My buddy will build upgraded ball sockets and tie rod ends, I'm going to drop off an old steering assembly I have from my SAC Tacoma because it looks like the current only upgrade is converting to heims which is junk.

The ones with the MarRack will be different. Will they work with the 5th gen? Been reading up on it and there is no mention of it working in the 5th gen 4Runner only 4th Gen...

I hear you... I already hear myself getting yelled at by my wife who actually likes this shit too.

RCLT Kit
Shocks
Steering Rack
Front and Rear diff gearing
front and rear lockers because why would you not
crawl box because you need to protect those expensive CVs
Rims and tires
Front bumper / skid armor

Going all out, I estimate... 20k tab, 22k with a crawl box assuming the RCLT kit is 10k with the rack.

Don't forget new gas tank (custom) to fit the crawl box. It pushes the tcase back quite a bit.

You don't want to do any serious rock crawling in this truck without a crawl box though. It's absolutely required to do anything hard core and worth every penny (more so than the suspension). It gives you amazing control. However, It's just not a great platform for anything really hard core. The body is ridiculous. Good general off-road with 35s. Which can be done with conventional LT or stock control arms. Good trucks, just not hard core crawlers.

If you want to get hardcore.. better to buy a different truck (older toyota...) or a new jeep....

Says the guys with a nice crawler! But yes, dual cases changes so much in regards to crawling and control. Simply amazing how the truck can completely stop and you just feather the gas and up and over you go.

Toyota would be smart to offer a lower t-case option moving forward, just to help compete with other offerings, at least in their TRDPro lines similar to how Jeep does it for the 'cons.. I agree it makes a huge difference. We built a doubler out of an fj60 case and np203 reduction unit for my Rover, 116:1 overall reduction. Now if we can just finish up all the little things and get it out of the damn garage lol.

I'm reading the marlin post on this now, it's definitely intriguing. Always liked Marlin's stuff.

The traction difference and ability to find traction is night and day with really low speed gearing.. It allows you to hunt for traction and take advantage of static over kinetic friction.

Obviously, some situations just can't be crawled though.. and that is where the 5th gen would just get destroyed. At times, often in slick or soft conditions.. there is just no way to make it without some momentum. That is when things start flopping around and smashing up in really extreme terrain. You need a body that is all tucked up and out of the way (AKA jeep) so the tires can bounce off things without the body being turned into a rasin.

Marlin makes good stuff. They are just slow and expensive... I waited literally about 2 years for them to get some competition 4.7 gears back in stock. They keep very limited stock from my experience with them.

The steering failed on the race truck right away. There just isn't enough material in the custom built knuckles for a steering application.

Steering Failure

As for the Crawl box I have one ordered for my Tacoma so they have their place. I like that they are going out there and introducing a product that can get bigger tires on IFS without SAC. However for extreme rock crawling I've never been a fan of IFS. It pitches the body around all over the place. I think this will shine in the all around wheeling that people do and want bigger tires. Snow wheeling, and other things. Trails like Fordyce and such although doable I think the IFS will cause the truck to pitch over in situations were the solid axle rigs stay level and the axles are flexing. I've wheeled both set ups a lot and can say that they definitely have differences.

How exactly is this lift allowing you to fit larger tires than any current 3" Long arm kits on the market?
To me it looks like it just saves you from doing a simple Body mount mod by moving the spindle forward, at probably twice the price?
The kit doesn't address CV axle angles so all you're going to get is 3" plus the need to get oversized fenders or do massive fender trimming like Marlin Mike did on his Taco to fit anything larger than 35". Also using hems looks like that kit would make a lot of noise hitting bumps while daily driving making most people crazy. Having built a rock buggy I can tell you hems are noisy.

IMO make a kit like this with no hems that addresses CV axle angle allowing for more lift than 3" and then you will have something.

You don't need to address the CV axle limitations with +3.5" LT. Just by extending the arm 3.5" you can get more downtravel. I have no idea where you are pulling this 3" lift number from.

The 2.75" kit is for those that think 35's are small. So with 37's-40s you're normally cutting into the firewall for clearance. Marlin's truck doesn't count, he has a solid front axle that is probably pushed forward to fit those tires. Those that can afford the kit can afford and should probably opt for brand new shiny RCV axles which I'm guessing has higher angle capabilities than the factory design. The 2.75" Marlin kit isn't the full 3.5" so if you play your cards right with regard to wheel specs you may not need fiberglass fenders.

And the reason for the price increase is it has a fabricated spindle and requires a new upgraded steering rack (it might be a Tundra rack), those aren't cheap.

I figure once you get to this level, you can’t really expect OEM type characteristics from a noise and maintenance aspect. I figure you kind of have to take the good with the bad… at least at this level, it’s not really for a typical daily driver, it’s pretty specialized stuff.

Personally I wouldn’t even consider installing this stuff on my daily driver…

Depending on what the first stage set up is I'd put that on a daily driver but not the HD kit.

This isn't a totally new idea to solve the problem. But it is the first I'm aware of for the 5th gen. I suggested the same thing about 5 years ago. I already have another crawler, so it doesn't really make much sense for me. Custom A Arm Question However - proposing the solution and ever getting around to doing it are two very different things.

I also think there's a way to do this by modifying a stock LCA if you wanted to get just a little more clearance and are an experienced fabricator. This should get you to 35's without chopping into the firewall. Although I haven't actually done it. I might do this sometime in the next year or so if I jump up to 35's.


Also, there are some similar high clearance suspension designs out there like the one from Front Range Off Road. It also relocates the spindle forward a few inches. I've been on the trail with this one. Works great. Uses stock spindle assembly. Could be pretty easily modified to run on a 5th gen I'd think.



The MC version is probably the first full production version. Steering unfortunately was a mock up/prototype that probably didn't get finished before KOH. I'm sure the production version will not be a slotted un-boxed steering arm.

update from the linked thread, in other news. I have a pair of D60's for sail out of a 92 F250 4:10 gears.

FAQ Round #2
Here come some responses to inquires we've received on other media outlets


Able to Daily Drive?
It will daily drive 100% like any other LT kit on the market. I will be daily driving our next RCLT HD kit starting next month. The biggest thing you will notice is increased body roll due to a lack of a front sway bar.

MarRack Included?
Only the RCLT HD Kit will come with the MarRack because factory steering cannot physically allow a knuckle to be moved forward 2-inches.
The RCLT Standard Kit, which moves the knuckles forward only 1-inch, is compatible with factory steering. You could chose to upgrade to the MarRack later if desired.

Shocks Included?
We are a Radflo distributor and will offer their LT shocks. The only thing to note is that the RCLT HD Kit will require LT shocks that have heim joints top and bottom.

Axle Shafts Included?
We will offer +2" and +2.75" extended length replacement inner axle shafts (you reuse your factory outer CVs) as well as +2" and +2.75" RCV Ultimate Shaft kits.

Ins-and-Outs
I wrote in reply #2, "Associated parts for installation", which refers to the stuff that makes up a kit such as bushings, sleeves, grease zerts, bolts, washers, misalignment spacers, limiting strap, brake lines and mounting clips, tie rod steering extensions (if applicable), and so on. I'll be editing that post with actual Kit Images as well as new categories and products added to our website this spring.

Can RCLT and/or RCLT HD be desert raced?
First and foremost, there are better kits for Baja than either RCLT which are optimized for Rock Crawling. Probably the best way to answer this is as follows:

Why the Standard Kit is better for Baja than the HD:
Less unsprung weight (mainly) due to factory knuckles being lighter than our HD knuckles
The factory knuckle's top vertical ball joint allows for a more compact UCA (narrow single shear vs wide double shear ball joint mount) so you'll likely to have a bit more maximum up travel prior to modifying sheet metal
Depending on tire size and wheel offset, would likely not require larger fenders

Why the HD Kit is better for Baja than the Standard:
The track width is 37.5% larger (2.75" vs 2") for better suspension travel and cornering/off-camber stability
Horizontal ball joints do not encounter misalignment issues so theoretically they allow more travel. If 2WD then substantially more travel
Double-shear ball joints and steering TRE connection are way stronger and can handle far higher loads (both hitting whoops and landing jumps)
MarRack is required and provides incredible steering strength, however it could be added to the Standard kit too

Regards,
BigMike

I was really hoping for a strong finish for the KOH 4Runner… it appears some test/dev still needs to be accomplished.

While I really like this product, not sure if I want to be in the group of early adopters.

I badly want to see pricing and the finalized design before making a decision on something like this… at this point the +3.5 TC TL kit still seems like a safe option for me.

are you suggesting the TC kit could take the same KOH abuse this setup went through and not fail? Had this truck been running a factory steering rack I believe the inner would have been ripped from the rack piston. How often are you passing people on rocky terrain at 70+mph? if its more often than not you're not being friendly hording the videos.

If you look back at the release photos of this kit you'll notice the tie rod connection bracket is slotted. This is typically done in the design world when you don't know the best location for your bolt to be in. the bracket looks to have sheered at the base of the slot furthest from the tie rod. had a slot not been I'd be willing to bet you'd see a crack/rip just pass the weld bead before a complete sheer. I'd imagine they documented the optimum location to place the hole for the outer tie rod link per this build and removed that slot also beefing up the brackets them self. Keep in mind Marlin made this first setup on sponsorship.