What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

IFS drawbacks

M

MPM94chevy

Registered Member
Joined
May 15, 2002
Posts
6
Reaction score
0
Whats the drawbacks of IFS? And is it ok to put something like a 37-39 inch tire on it and do moderate muddin? Oh yeah, and how would you go about puttin new gears on it? thanks
 
A friend of mine had 38s and 40s on his truck w/ IFS. When he lost the front wheel for the 3rd or 4th time he decided it was time to get rid of it. The IFS that is. The bearings in the hubs just dont like big tires and wheels w/ a lot of offset. Add to it the pounding a rig takes in the mud, and youll get to see your own tire pass you.
 
The only IFS worth it's salt in the dirt is Ford TTB, and that's limited to desert/sand running with 37"s or less. A-arm setups are weak, unreliable, and expensive to keep functioning.
 
Oh... hmmm, it is ok for just your regular highway stuff though right? Oh by the way i got a 94 Yukon.
 
IFS gives a better ride on the highway and handles better, but it lacks the ability to really articulate offroad. To change the front gears I'm pretty sure you have to drop the cradle and remove the diff, then split the case. With the GM front diff you are generally limited to 4.56's although I have seen some 5.13's in Randy's R&P ad. But like stated above, IFS doesn't like the extra leverage of wider wheels and bigger tires. A buddy of mine has already broken 2 of the c/v axles with only 33''s. IMO IFS is just more stuff to break.
 
My friend Tom has 39.5 Boggers on his F150 and doesn't baby it at all. The only problem he has had with his is he blew his hubs. I didn't think it would hold up when he put the tires on about two years ago.
 
GM's IFS is the biggest waste of time and space the General ever devised./forums/images/icons/frown.gif I've got a 92 Blazer K1500, pretty much the same as yours, and trust me, it sucks. You can't lift them cheap, they have NO articulation, ride sucks offroad, there's a million little parts that have to come to practically a cosmic alignment to get anything to work right, especially steering, and none of it is built up to the strength needed to be whomping through the mud with big tires and lotsa lift.

Yes, you could lift it way the heck up like a lot of people do, with like a 6" lift and a 3" body lift and maybe cranking the heck outta the torsion bars or one of those moronic Whiplash or Full Throttle 9" and higher lifts to run 37" tires or bigger, but you might as well just take the front driveshaft out and never take it offroad. That's the only way GM IFS will survive with big tires, as a pavement princess./forums/images/icons/frown.gif

I wish I had sold this IFS truck last year and bought a SoCal rust free K5./forums/images/icons/tongue.gif It's a good vehicle, and it rides nice, but I want a good 4x4, which it's not./forums/images/icons/frown.gif/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
 
Come on... you cant beat the heck out of a 1/2 ton with 39.5 Boggers and not break.

I would like to see what you considering real hard wheeling.

I know this comes up a lot. But, it just cant happen.

I see pepole with stock motors and 35 Boggers breaking each time out.

Ken H.
 
Are we talking a pre 97 TTB or that funky A-arm crap? A TTB front end is really nothing more than a D44 with slightly better shafts than it's solid axle counterpart - so it'll hold up to big tires fairly well, like all the D44's and 10 bolts rolling 44"s in the 80's.
 
I'm talking mud bogs where the mud is between three to five feet deep. I don't know if his gear ratio helps any but I know he is running the stock 3.73s.
 
39.5 boggers, stock axles, 3.73 gears? What motor does he have to turn those good enough in a deep bog? And with a motor big enough those axles sure woudl be stressed.

He is one lucky guy.

Ken H.
 
soo... How much is straight axle conversion? /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom