Unlimited Long Travel

[Miguelon]

After the weekend I had at the Toyota Lone Star Jamboree, it is evident that I should start exploring a long travel set up for my Unlimited. I am still running stock XREAS, so there is a lot to do, but I gotta start somewhere. I have read the MT thread where they did lt on a 5th gen. Would love for those guys to do the work, but I am in Houston. Does anyone have any recommendations for a shop here in south Texas or any suggestions. This is going to be a fun build!

 

[AirspeedX]

I was worried about the whole "Unlimited" thing until I saw your sig...

 

[Swarty]

Bolt on

After the weekend I had at the Toyota Lone Star Jamboree, it is evident that I should start exploring a long travel set up for my Unlimited. I am still running stock XREAS, so there is a lot to do, but I gotta start somewhere. I have read the MT thread where they did lt on a 5th gen. Would love for those guys to do the work, but I am in Houston. Does anyone have any recommendations for a shop here in south Texas or any suggestions. This is going to be a fun build!

It's a bolt on kit. hardest part will be bleeding your brakes and uninstalling Xreas. I'd think any shop could do it or DIY. Unfortunately with XREAS you have to do front and back all in one shot. It'd be a full weekend project.

 

[HerT4R]

After the weekend I had at the Toyota Lone Star Jamboree, it is evident that I should start exploring a long travel set up for my Unlimited. I am still running stock XREAS, so there is a lot to do, but I gotta start somewhere. I have read the MT thread where they did lt on a 5th gen. Would love for those guys to do the work, but I am in Houston. Does anyone have any recommendations for a shop here in south Texas or any suggestions. This is going to be a fun build!

Hey man! great to meet you at the jamboree!

but i do have a Houston shop to recommend: C&C Northside Motors. Over near Beltway 8 and 249. Curt is a great guy, as has been said many times on this forum and others. I just got my bilsteins installed by him last week. He is familiar with toyotas and lexus and many other vehicles from race cars to offroaders. Swing by some time if you want just to show off your rig and get to know him. Curt is a great guy and definitely wants your business, go meet him if you dont believe me.
[MENTION=101352]harkco[/MENTION] can also vouch for C&C Northside Motors, as he was the one who i first saw recommending them on here.

 

[Miguelon]

I was worried about the whole "Unlimited" thing until I saw your sig...

I bought a Limited with he intent of changing the way folks view it's "soft" mall crawler reputation. So I call mine the UnLimited.

 

[Miguelon]

Hey man! great to meet you at the jamboree!

but i do have a Houston shop to recommend: C&C Northside Motors. Over near Beltway 8 and 249. Curt is a great guy, as has been said many times on this forum and others. I just got my bilsteins installed by him last week. He is familiar with toyotas and lexus and many other vehicles from race cars to offroaders. Swing by some time if you want just to show off your rig and get to know him. Curt is a great guy and definitely wants your business, go meet him if you dont believe me.

[MENTION=101352]harkco[/MENTION] can also vouch for C&C Northside Motors, as he was the one who i first saw recommending them on here.

Really enjoyed meeting you as well!

That is really close to my home, so I will drop by. Thank you so much for the reccomend.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Yup do it yourself, you will learn about your truck that way. Only thing might be tough, if you don't weld, is the limit straps. The rest is pretty much bolt on.

Now I contacted [MENTION=80984]LT[/MENTION] from Metal Tech and got a quote. There are other items then just the kit that are added insurance. For instance the spindle gussets and cam tab gussets. And don't forget the extended axles.

I already have the cam tab gussets waiting to get welded on. Might have the spindle gussets welded on at the same time since the front end will be pretty much in pieces. All in prep for my adventure into the Long Travel world.

 

[wfo9]

After the weekend I had at the Toyota Lone Star Jamboree, it is evident that I should start exploring a long travel set up for my Unlimited. I am still running stock XREAS, so there is a lot to do, but I gotta start somewhere. I have read the MT thread where they did lt on a 5th gen. Would love for those guys to do the work, but I am in Houston. Does anyone have any recommendations for a shop here in south Texas or any suggestions. This is going to be a fun build!

I was suppose to be at Lonestar Jambo, but a sick family member caused my plans to change at the last minute. My tent was actually there and setup... but it was just not meant to be.

Anyway... Yea, first time on the real technical terrain will get you wishing for more travel in a hurry.

You might consider just going with long travel in the rear and extended travel in the front as a start. Its nothing like long travel all around, but it is a huge improvement over what you got and may be enough for everything you will ever want to do.

Did you have your swarbars off? That alone will change things up quite a bit. Nice thing about going LT rear and ET front is that you won't really have to replace anything to go LT in the front. You can actually get your front coil overs valved for LT or send them in for re-valving when you do decide on LT. I honestly don't know if the valving difference is that much or not.

I would worry about scrub angles up-front with LT also. I hope more people do it so there are more recopies to follow in the future.

 

[Miguelon]

I was suppose to be at Lonestar Jambo, but a sick family member caused my plans to change at the last minute. My tent was actually there and setup... but it was just not meant to be.

Anyway... Yea, first time on the real technical terrain will get you wishing for more travel in a hurry.

You might consider just going with long travel in the rear and extended travel in the front as a start. Its nothing like long travel all around, but it is a huge improvement over what you got and may be enough for everything you will ever want to do.

Did you have your swarbars off? That alone will change things up quite a bit. Nice thing about going LT rear and ET front is that you won't really have to replace anything to go LT in the front. You can actually get your front coil overs valved for LT or send them in for re-valving when you do decide on LT. I honestly don't know if the valving difference is that much or not.

I would worry about scrub angles up-front with LT also. I hope more people do it so there are more recopies to follow in the future.

Sorry to hear that your family member was sick. Hope all is well now. I wish I could tell you that you didn't miss anything and the whole event sucked, but....well...moving on

Here is the info I have and the choices I am looking at so far:


The options for my UnLimited that I am considering will all include removing the Xreas. I really am impressed with Toytech over the last couple of years I have dealt with them so they are a front runner. Their Boss kit is a nice option, not long travel though. The basic choices run about $1360 - BOSS Suspension System for 10+ 4Runner and FJ . I would probably go with the upper control arms which add another $660 for the TC or $400 for the Light Racing.

One thing to note is fender modification is required. Nobody is making fiberglass for them, so I would be looking at a custom job. Total Chaos said one customer purchased fenders from Toyota to cut up with a fabricator. The TC Long Travel kit does come in a +2 or +3.5. The +3.5 kit, part # 86004F-10FJ runs $3053.51. The +2 kit is $2744.17. I would need to decide on Fox/Icon/Radflo/King. The Fox for example are $1595. I would also need axles which are $595 for the pair.I do still need to get a rear setup as well. I could pair shocks with the front and use our rear coils. Probably another $1500-2000 depending on the options.

I have a lot of options/ research in front of me and if this is the route I go there will be quite a bit of body modification to make long travel work on my UnLimited.
Anyone want to chime in...please feel free. This is a lot to digest. I really wish some company would start producing the fender flares.

 

[wfo9]

Sorry to hear that your family member was sick. Hope all is well now. I wish I could tell you that you didn't miss anything and the whole event sucked, but....well...moving on

Here is the info I have and the choices I am looking at so far:


The options for my UnLimited that I am considering will all include removing the Xreas. I really am impressed with Toytech over the last couple of years I have dealt with them so they are a front runner. Their Boss kit is a nice option, not long travel though. The basic choices run about $1360 - BOSS Suspension System for 10+ 4Runner and FJ . I would probably go with the upper control arms which add another $660 for the TC or $400 for the Light Racing.

One thing to note is fender modification is required. Nobody is making fiberglass for them, so I would be looking at a custom job. Total Chaos said one customer purchased fenders from Toyota to cut up with a fabricator. The TC Long Travel kit does come in a +2 or +3.5. The +3.5 kit, part # 86004F-10FJ runs $3053.51. The +2 kit is $2744.17. I would need to decide on Fox/Icon/Radflo/King. The Fox for example are $1595. I would also need axles which are $595 for the pair.I do still need to get a rear setup as well. I could pair shocks with the front and use our rear coils. Probably another $1500-2000 depending on the options.

I have a lot of options/ research in front of me and if this is the route I go there will be quite a bit of body modification to make long travel work on my UnLimited.
Anyone want to chime in...please feel free. This is a lot to digest. I really wish some company would start producing the fender flares.

For the rear you will probably want the MT dual rate coils to get enough down travel for a trail rig.. You will need shocks that can take advantage of it...Icon or Radflo are the main choices here. There are cheaper options available also.

If you do go for LT front you will want to try to match track width in the front at the rear with spacers.. The other option would be a custom rear axle $$$$$$

For the front. The TC LT upper control arms can be had with adjustable heim joints to get full control of caster/camber. I would think that these might let you get things adjusted enough to keep the stock fenders as long as the bump stops were set correctly and your front bumper was open enough. On a trail rig.. up travel is not that useful.

I'm no expert...BTW, just going on my fairly limited first hand experience. Another thing you will want to consider is tires... Although travel is key for traction and body control, there is simply nothing like bigger tires.... Everything is a trade off.....

 

[BigredTEX]

If you were at the Jamboree you may have seen my son's white 4th Gen take a turn on the flex ramp. He scored the highest of all non buggies and I heard some jaws drop when when went up the ramp.

He has the Metal Tech long travel rear with the dual rate springs and adjustable lower links. His rear flex is unbelievable. The down travel allows the top of the tire to go completely below the wheel arch opening.

In the front he has the ToyTec Boss with a 1" spacer on top. This allows him to drop the spring all the way down to keep 3" of static lift while picking up an additional 2" droop. By removing the preload on the spring he gets a nice compliant ride as well. He has also removed the front sway bar, but kept the rear. Street manners are still pretty good without the sway bar.

He has an LE without lockers. He was able to negotiate all the severe drops, climbs and off-camber on the trails at Barnwell without ever spinning a wheel, while I was rear-locked and spinning and bouncing like crazy with my 5th Gen TE with OME lift. The traction he gets is really impressive and has me leaning towards matching his set up.

 

[wfo9]

If you were at the Jamboree you may have seen my son's white 4th Gen take a turn on the flex ramp. He scored the highest of all non buggies and I heard some jaws drop when when went up the ramp.

He has the Metal Tech long travel rear with the dual rate springs and adjustable lower links. His rear flex is unbelievable. The down travel allows the top of the tire to go completely below the wheel arch opening.

In the front he has the ToyTec Boss with a 1" spacer on top. This allows him to drop the spring all the way down to keep 3" of static lift while picking up an additional 2" droop. By removing the preload on the spring he gets a nice compliant ride as well. He has also removed the front sway bar, but kept the rear. Street manners are still pretty good without the sway bar.

He has an LE without lockers. He was able to negotiate all the severe drops, climbs and off-camber on the trails at Barnwell without ever spinning a wheel, while I was rear-locked and spinning and bouncing like crazy with my 5th Gen TE with OME lift. The traction he gets is really impressive and has me leaning towards matching his set up.

Yea, that pretty much mirrors my setup, except I have extended travel coil overs. There may be 2" of additional drop over stock, but the limiting factor for down travel up front is the control arms, tire rods... The only way to get more is to increase the track width.... My rear tire on the other hand, can drop to where the top is below the sliders. :wow2:

When I put the long travel rear on my truck I was amazed at what it could do. My jaw :wow2: dropped when I hit obstacles that had previously given me a challenge. It just crawled right up effortlessly on what previously required way more momentum.

I tried two different setups in the rear that I posted here. The first had no bump stops and allowed full up travel (using cheap procomp shocks)... It worked OK, but I was dragging my bumper too much. So I went with the MT kit and extended bump stops and it has been fantastic. It also works pretty well with the rear sway bar and extended links in place. This keeps the road manners tolerable. I'm working on a front swaybar quick disconnect setup now, so I run on the street without a front sway at the moment and it is very tolerable.

Ideally, you would have balanced travel front and rear.. But I have found (ET front, LT rear) to work pretty darn good so far on the 5th gen. I'm not currently on a mission for more travel up front (although I would love to try it).

 

[BigredTEX]

Yea, that pretty much mirrors my setup, except I have extended travel coil overs. There may be 2" of additional drop over stock, but the limiting factor for down travel up front is the control arms, tire rods... The only way to get more is to increase the track width.... My rear tire on the other hand, can drop to where the top is below the sliders. :wow2:

When I put the long travel rear on my truck I was amazed at what it could do. My jaw :wow2: dropped when I hit obstacles that had previously given me a challenge. It just crawled right up effortlessly on what previously required way more momentum.

I tried two different setups in the rear that I posted here. The first had no bump stops and allowed full up travel (using cheap procomp shocks)... It worked OK, but I was dragging my bumper too much. So I went with the MT kit and extended bump stops and it has been fantastic. It also works pretty well with the rear sway bar and extended links in place. This keeps the road manners tolerable. I'm working on a front swaybar quick disconnect setup now, so I run on the street without a front sway at the moment and it is very tolerable.

Ideally, you would have balanced travel front and rear.. But I have found (ET front, LT rear) to work pretty darn good so far on the 5th gen. I'm not currently on a mission for more travel up front (although I would love to try it).

Yeah, the limiting factor up front is definitely the ball joint. He has LR UCA's and has gone through a set of ball joints in 10k miles. He's looking at going to a uniball UCA. Haven't seen any issues with tie rods yet.

 

[wfo9]

Yeah, the limiting factor up front is definitely the ball joint. He has LR UCA's and has gone through a set of ball joints in 10k miles. He's looking at going to a uniball UCA. Haven't seen any issues with tie rods yet.

The limiting factor seems to be the geometry of "everything". There is a point where the UCAs hits the coils and tie rod ball joints bind... probably the CV axles also.

A 1" top spacer seems like too much. Are you sure it is not .5". All the ET shocks are +.5" yielding an extra inch of travel compared to most aftermarket setups. 2" would seem to be putting pressure on a all the components at full drop.

 

[BigredTEX]

The limiting factor seems to be the geometry of "everything". There is a point where the UCAs hits the coils and tie rod ball joints bind... probably the CV axles also.

A 1" top spacer seems like too much. Are you sure it is not .5". All the ET shocks are +.5" yielding an extra inch of travel compared to most aftermarket setups. 2" would seem to be putting pressure on a all the components at full drop.

Yes, I'm sure it is a 1" spacer and it as at the limit of all the components at full droop. ToyTec now has a 1/2" spacer available that they use stacked with the 1" spacer for their 3" spacer lift kit. I haven't seen it on their web site, but I did see it at the Jamboree. I agree that the 1/2" spacer would probably be the better option.