Non-KDSS articulation off-road?

[Narkhelek]

Just curious what those without KDSS have been doing to regain their wheel articulation while off-road. When I had my JEEP Wrangler I just removed my sway bar and left it off but I'm pretty sure that would be a very bad idea to do permanently on a truck as heavy as the 4Runner.

 

[Quentin]

Just curious what those without KDSS have been doing to regain their wheel articulation while off-road. When I had my JEEP Wrangler I just removed my sway bar and left it off but I'm pretty sure that would be a very bad idea to do permanently on a truck as heavy as the 4Runner.

The TE has much larger sway bars than the SR5 and Limited. That is why the TE has much better road manners than the SR5, which has the exact same shocks and springs (IIRC). You get the best of both worlds: thick sways on the road, practically no sways off the road. The rest of us have to compromise.

My friend that has an XJ uses detachable endlinks. When he wants articulation, he unhooks the endlink and the bar is free. I don't know if they make those for the 5th gen or not.

 

[harper7]

Just curious what those without KDSS have been doing to regain their wheel articulation while off-road. When I had my JEEP Wrangler I just removed my sway bar and left it off but I'm pretty sure that would be a very bad idea to do permanently on a truck as heavy as the 4Runner.

I ran my Limited without a sway bar in the front for over a year without any noticeable difference. Albeit, I have on much beefier then stock CO's ,with my 2.5 inch diameter Icons,and much much beefier then stock UCA's with TC's and now LR's.

I just put them back on before my trip west this year, when I had the skid plates off to change the oil, to see if I would notice a difference. I don't notice any difference but it's a 3 ton lifted truck and slaloms, skid pads and emergency evasive maneuvers weren't on my agenda. Lots of FJ owners and 4th Gen owners have run without front sway bars if they have aftermarket CO's/UCA's to limit side to side sway.

As far as articulation in the front,the UCA ball joint is your limit for down travel and the bump stops are the limit for up travel.The sway bars on Limited/SR5's are fairly small/skinny and flexes enough so that it doesn't come into play. It may with one side flexing up the whole way and one side down the whole way as I just tested up on jack stands with both wheels hanging.

No difference there but aftermarket UCA's get more then an inch more down travel as they have bigger ball joints at a corrected angle for a lift.When I put my Total Chaos UCA's on the first time ,I had it up on jack stands to get the wheels off to make it easier.The wheels had just enough clearance to get them off the truck. After replacing with the TC's ,I couldn't get the wheels back on as it had more articulation and I had to jack it up more to get them on.

 

[4ShoreRunner]

stock, non-KDSS near full flex front and rear

KDSS might have given me some more flex up front; however, I'm pretty sure KDSS or not wouldn't have given me any more rear.

 

[westwind77]

The TE has much larger sway bars than the SR5 and Limited.

Random question/thought....is it possible (reasonable) to swap out the SR5/LE sway bars for the TE's?

 

[harper7]

Random question/thought....is it possible (reasonable) to swap out the SR5/LE sway bars for the TE's?

No, They are a complete different design and shape. The TE KDSS ones mount lower and connect to the LCA's rather then with a link connected to the upright on the spindle like the SR5/Limited.

 

[icsa]

Random question/thought....is it possible (reasonable) to swap out the SR5/LE sway bars for the TE's?

No, it is not possible. From what I read on this forum, they have different shapes, layout.

 

[bellis]

There's another way to think about this too. I put ARB lockers in both front and rear of my SR5. Even with a wheel or two in the air, due to limited articulation, there are still traction wheels on the ground. Of course the lockers give advantage well beyond that particular condition.

 

[1engineer]

Do non KDSS TE's have the smaller sway bar then?

 

[harper7]

There's another way to think about this too. I put ARB lockers in both front and rear of my SR5. Even with a wheel or two in the air, due to limited articulation, there are still traction wheels on the ground. Of course the lockers give advantage well beyond that particular condition.

Who did your locker install and have any problems with the new 8.2" rear diff? I'm waiting to regear with 4.56's the same time I get lockers. Nitro gear is supposed to have one out within the month and put me in contact with Just Differentials to pre order one. They will be in the $300 range instead of the $800 Toyota wants.

Do non KDSS TE's have the smaller sway bar then?

Yes, same as the SR5 suspension with supposed stiffer springs.

 

[BFLAN]

No, it is not possible. From what I read on this forum, they have different shapes, layout.

It is possible

Just a lot of work!!!

You would have to get all the parts from the TE and weld the brackets onto the frame and diff on the SR5.

I have looked at and its very doable, just expensive. I cant wait until these things start appearing in the junkyard, there are a lot of things I want to try, just cant justify paying full price to try them.

 

[Beakerbox]

If you had a TE without KDSS would that change anything? Might there already be necessary attachment points? I probably should have held out, but after months of searching every dealership with no luck - I didn't want to wait for 2012s, so I took the only TE I found without KDSS!

The lights are in the dash for KDSS so I'm thinking everything is probably already in the loom that's needed and you just have to "plug and play" as regards electrics.

 

[SeattleMike]

The lights are in the dash for KDSS so I'm thinking everything is probably already in the loom that's needed and you just have to "plug and play" as regards electrics.

Maybe, but it's more likely that the Optitron gauges come with all the warning lights needed for both LE and TE. Since there are wiring harness differences from model to model, I wouldn't bet on the electrical connections just being there.

 

[mgrande]

There's another way to think about this too. I put ARB lockers in both front and rear of my SR5. Even with a wheel or two in the air, due to limited articulation, there are still traction wheels on the ground. Of course the lockers give advantage well beyond that particular condition.

hofs05 stock sr5 has had two wheels in there air plenty of times, atrac has done her just fine. And with no risk of breaking axles either, be careful with your front one if its your first time being locked up there. If not than you know whats up

 

[bellis]

Who did your locker install and have any problems with the new 8.2" rear diff? I'm waiting to regear with 4.56's the same time I get lockers. Nitro gear is supposed to have one out within the month and put me in contact with Just Differentials to pre order one. They will be in the $300 range instead of the $800 Toyota wants.

The front locker was installed by a local off road shop, but the rear was done by ARB (their North America facility is here in Washington state), to validate the new model for the 5th Gen. Both are working fine.

I did need to remove the rear breather check valve and replace it with an open ended elevated hose. The check valve apparently allowed slight pressure to develop in the housing, forcing some oil back up the locker's actuating air line.