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

He claims such.

 

I'm not saying he's telling the truth, just what he claims. Hence I said 'claims'. I'll believe it when he has someone under there taking video while he cranks it side to side.

 

With the way he shaped the LCA, there probably isn't room for a longer shock. The clearance compared to a normal shaped LCA is great, and there's room for droop, but that shock looks to be in pretty much the same spot vertically as it would be on a stock LCA.

 

Picked up my kit yesterday. Met Marlin and Mike and the crew there. Mike spent quite a bit of time talking to me and showing me how his truck is setup, which I really appreciated. And a little tour around the shop. I only had time to unbox the spindles yesterday, and it was probably the nicest packaging job I've ever seen. Also, pictures do no justice to how beefy this spindle is. Mike had a stock spindle in the shop and it looked like a joke compared to the RCLT spindle. I'll unbox the rest of the kit on Sunday. Hopefully button up my rear 3-link next weekend then get started in installation (literally just brake lines, bump stop pads, limit straps, and paint left on the rear).

 

The website claims 14" of travel. Nothing in the FAQs says anything about cutting, etc. Not saying you aren't correct, just pointing out they are not forthcoming with this vital info.

 

Oh I’m sure the kit can cycle 14” of travel, my point was at 2” forward you will have to either limit the uptravel by 6-7” with 35’s or bigger. If you want the full bump travel you will have to cut the core support out and relocate everything under the hood up front. I know this as a fact because I’ve done quite a few LT kits at 2” forward and the amount of work required to make 35’s work is way more than most people will understand and requires lots of custom fabrication

 

I appreciate the input. Since I am still waiting for my kit I can research this. Any tips or links you can point me to?

 

Yeah that spindle is nice but if I'm going to a fabd spindle I'd up the anti with either a D44 hub or a super60 unit bearing.

 

The infamous thread:

Fitting 35’s with minimal trimming NOW ADDING LONG TRAVEL AND 934 CV’s | Page 353 | Tacoma World

@81Trekker

 

If you’re up for a light read there is some good info in here on what it takes to make 35’s fit @ 2” forward

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

 

Lol, you beat me too it!

 

Might as well SAS at that point, no? Should be a huge upgrade for me, coming from ext travel Icons and stock ungusseted spindles. I'll never go bigger than 37s on this 4Runner and I think the 8" clamshell and RCVs will be strong enough to do what I need it to do.

 

Any idea where the good info is? The thread is 354 pages!

 

Here’s some ideas for reconfiguring the engine bay

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shes-ripping-apart-click-bait-i-knew-it-was-coming.685302/

 

every page is a bespoke homage to the fart of long travel and worth the read.

Wait, did I type fart? ...meant art but still works.

Lots of good stuff in there. I'd just search for Harry's posts for the cliff notes. Everything in between is bs and slap fights.

 

It's all good.

 

Thanks for the info. When I picked up the kit I talked with Mike about the work he needed to do to clear 40s on his truck, and the work I'll need to do to take full advantage of 37s on mine. Based on our conversation I don't think it'll be anything drastic. Took a long look at the engine bay today there's some real estate there to move the battery in, and it can be moved up quite a bit. I assumed there would be some tubbing involved, and after thinking about it I'm not gonna reinvent my engine bay for an extra inch of uptravel. If it ends up being several inches that'll be a different story. Obviously I'd like to get the most travel possible out of the kit, but the main reason I bought it is to strengthen the front end, not insane travel numbers.

 

No SAS there are so many more downsides I don't think it's worth it unless you're going full out truggy. That's my opinion after seeing a bunch of SAS'd tacos and what each one did and the different sacrifices they made. The clamshell will be plenty strong, RCVs on the otherhand meh I'm not sold on their price tag for how "strong" they are. Upgrading to a larger bearing allows for larger outer bells, with extremely aggressive wheels (most beadlocks) the bearings will not need as many changes and will hold up to more abuse. I can't tell you how many unit bearings i've changed, doesn't matter the brand OE or not, you wheel enough and put enough miles on them big tires and small unit bearings=a lot of maintenance. That's those trade offs

 

I agree with this. Older Toyotas make better crawlers. The v8 4Runners have to sit too high for the front axle to clear the motor and be able to articulate. The RCVs were definitely pricey, but at least they have a lifetime warranty. I would have had to buy the extended shafts (~$800) and two OEM CVs (~$400 each at least) if I went that route, so it wouldn't have been that much cheaper for me. I've been through more than a few CVs over the years. I've changed my unit bearings a few times also. Used to carry one as a trail spare but never had to use it.

 

@RokMgmt glad you finally got it…

good luck with install