Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)

The funny part is that even without Covid, we'd still be here having the same conversation.

 

Good question! You should call Marlin Crawler and let us know...I call about once a month and get less and less information every time.

 

I was so ready to buy this, had the funds in hand, got tired of waiting and spent it on something I could actually use. Hopefully it all works out, but I think we will all still be here next year asking the same questions.

 

Since Big Mike and his RCLT has fallen off the face of the earth...

Anybody interested should look at jdfab.com. They created and built a long travel with higher clearance, created a steering rack slide (in lieu of the mar rack), and other goodies. I am saving my money for this instead


The steering rack slide isn’t on the website yet but it will be soon I believe.

https://jdfabrication.com/collections/05-15-6-lug

His thread about the creation of the long travel and other is here. It’s a long but interesting read.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...g-now-adding-long-travel-and-934-cv’s.626274/

And here (though the group buy isn’t live anymore )
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...81trekker-suspension-group-buy-closed.664129/

 

It was never on the face of the earth to begin with.

 

This is what I went with. Also, assuming a price tag on the RCLT to be $10k+, this is about half the price. The only thing you miss out on is the fabbed spindle, but you are still getting 13" of travel for the same width, and stronger axles/cv's than the marlin option.

If you add in JD's lower control arm mounts as well, I bet their setup is stronger anyway.

 

Never seen a company sell so much stuff for other companies like Marlin can do.

 

Camburg makes fabbed spindles for 4x4 and lift spindles for 2wd you could use with the kit.

 

Big country customs in Abby makes a fabbed spindle

 

Too bad the steering rack from JD hasn't been figured out to fit a 3rd gen yet. Spoke to them a few days ago about it.

 

Yeah. There is another guy on here somewhere machining tundra racks to work with Tacoma’s for about a grand

 

Travis aka @Basikbiker

if he’s not you can buy them from Solo Motorsports and there was one I posted in the long travel classifieds this week

 

I have a second gen, so I will likely go for JDs. My poor rack is seeping fluid and my new one is sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. That rack slide seems appealing. I haven’t even begun to push my truck and I bent the inner tie rods and killed the seals. I have a feeling it will just happen again without some sort of fortification. Especially since I’ll be moving out west soon... Moab will be like 6 hours from my house...

 

Is JD modding Tundra racks now too or you meant the rack saver. This is a truck that’s gone through it’s fair share of stock racks and they decided going to a Tundra rack was the way to go for them.

https://youtu.be/QEjt2rjy17k

 

No, the slide rack that attaches to the stock steering rack, and have a hemied tie rod set up to a double shear on the spindle. Looks super beefy.

(partway down the page)
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fitting-35’s-with-minimal-trimming-now-adding-long-travel-and-934-cv’s.626274/page-65#post-23151438

Ps I’m not a suspension expert and only have an extended travel mid-travel set up on my truck. However I do know that it’s time to start properly nodding my truck (for rock crawling) and the JD stuff seems like it will work for me.

 

by the time the JD's spindle gusset and double shear steering kit are welded on to the spindle, I don't really see it bending or breaking. The only reason a fabbed spindle would be preferable for me is so you could get ride of the ball joints and gain some travel.

 

Only downside from using a modified tundra rack on a taco is you lose steering geometry and the steering geometry right now with my TC LT kit isn't even that great to begin with.

 

You wouldn’t have any ball joints with the kit.

 

Yeah well, I’m not exactly a hard core wheeler (yet!) I need to get out and break a few CVs and another steering rack or two before I go that far. Plus this is my DD.

 

you're right sorry, I meant horizontal ball joints (i know they aren't ball joints anymore), even though they are EMF uniballs, the limitation is the same vs vertical uniballs on a fabricated spindle which allow for more travel. Unless I'm misunderstanding something, but as far as I understood, JD's kit is limited to 13" by the horizontal UCA uniballs.