Front Flex

[SnowLizard]

so I've been noticing a few things lately... Is it just me or have others noticed ...the front of our 4runners don't flex that great.

I know it's probably my setup... and I'm all alone... so theoretically, what am I missing?


I have 99 talls up front
tundra 5100 shocks (these ride amazing!)


I'm thinking of flex while off-road. I'm not high speed so what's stopping me?


my thoughts and theory...

*Sway Bar - get Q-dis's
*Weight - or lack of... easy front bumper and winch... I don't think this is really my problem.
*Springs are already too compressed/worn - i did squeeze them into a smaller foot print than a stock shock.

Am I missing anything to help the front flex?

the ride is great, better than when I got it... just that flex is bugging me.
I'm thinking a front set of quick-disconnects will give me what I want.. I heard 30% more flex what do you all think?


sorry for my ramblings...

 

[SnowLizard]

no, I'm not talking about wheel travel... just the flex or freedom of movement available to the tire.

 

[phattyduck]

Wheel travel is a pretty significant part of flex.

If you lift the truck, you loose down travel. If you lift it with stiff springs, you 'lose' up travel (weight of truck can't fully compress springs). Within the limits of the stock travel of the front suspension, you have to compromise to get max flex.

Read up on the mid-travel build thread...

-Charlie

 

[RunningA3rdGen]

IFS (independent front suspension) bruh. You wont get much flex in the front unless you do a solid axle swap. Disconnecting the front sway bar will help a bit but without that solid axle it wont flex anything near what I'm sure you want.

 

[v_man]

I think my golf cart flexes more up front ...

 

[Chuckles89]

Disconnect your front sway bar, and you'll get some nice flex. I just take the nut and bushings off my driver's side link then I push it out of the way and it doesn't ever hit anything. You can just turn the wheels all the way passenger and you can get to it easily. I re-attach it when I air up my tires at the end of the day.









Hitting bump stop!

 

[Chuckles89]

Also, I'm going to add that if you get poly bushings for the upper control arms, you'll flex the front a lot easier than with the stock bushings. Polys are on my wishlist.

And D Farms is the king of flex on this forum, you should check out his thread http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/173997-d-farms-build-thread-goldilocks.html

 

[JayRolla]

What is this front flex you speak of. We just droop. Just ask [MENTION=100116]D Farms[/MENTION]!!

The ifs design is really what holds us back. Polys really help. Upper and lower. OEM rubber binds up when polys allow smooth movement. I love my polys but can get squeaky.

 

[D Farms]

so basically flex, or articulation happens when the ground is uneven under the truck. for example the front left and rear right are high and the front right and rear left are low. this causes a twisting action and the suspension tries to comply with the terrain.

so what prevents the suspension from complying? on a solid axle the springs are more toward the center, so for up an down travel the wheel rate is the spring rate(per side). however when one side needs to move down and the other up, the axle has leverage over these springs, this is called the roll rate. solid axle roll rate depends on how far the spring is from the contact patch.

on an ifs the roll rate and bump travel rate are the same, because the leverage over the spring doesnt change between bump and roll travel.

another thing that prevents roll travel is the sway bar, it directly increases the roll rate without affecting bump rate. this makes it flex less. another thing that reduces flex is the rubber bushings in the suspension. you can get poly bushings for all four front arms for about $50. the poly bushings slide instead of stretch. aftermarket ucas dont actually allow any more flex than a stock arm with poly bushings. however they do correct geometry for a lift.

the last thing that prevents flex is having a high ride height. that being said with 99 talls you should be able to touch bumps if you are on the 4th or 5th perch if you have poly and no sway bar.

ive got 02 coils and a heavy bumper and I cut down my bumps a lot and I can bottom out on the bumps before lifting a tire.

 

[Mr. B]

I thought mines was decent with sway bar disconnected...

 

[Chuckles89]

More flexy front end from this weekend