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

Since you can actually buy an axle with appropriate bearings on it: yes. And it's a job plenty of people have done and you can get some good how-to help.

Custom spindles is a huge can of worms to open.

 

From their instructions... Looks like with 37s I'll be halfway between "trimming the rear trailing edge of the front bumper and the fender in front of the tire" and "extensive inner fender wall modification." I think the air intake and battery will be the biggest obstacles to deal with. I'm pretty determined to get the most out of it tho.

 

I'm still pretty new to custom fabricating things myself. I'm almost done with my rear 3-link, which is lightyears above anything I've done in the past. I'm not ready to tackle SASing the front (and frankly think v8 4th gens aren't the best platform for that anyway), nor do I have the means to pay a shop to do the work. I'm all in now, hopefully RCLT lives up to the hype.

 

Sarcasm and internet fuckery aside, I hope it is. I want this kit to be as cool as hyped.

 

@81Trekker does that picture of a "stuffed" 40 look a little off? The hub is roughly even with the rocker panel/frame.

 

Not a super great angle but this is mine stuffed at metal to metal on upper uniball and hub is about even with rocker/frame. Granted, you’d expect more out of a vertical uniball but we shall see.

 

There is more uptravel to be had but the bigger issue that tire won’t turn stuffed like that. A 40” tire at 2” forward will be into the back of the headlight

 

What the fuck is the fantasy with 40s on a light truck with tinker-toy power trains? I'm absolutely lost on this need. If you want giant tires that actually turn, you're gonna have to do a body lift and that's Florida stupid. I'm not hating on 40s and trying to run them on this platform ... whatever blows yer hair back I guess.

 

Same reason people build tube chassis and drop their favorite vehicles shell on top. People like what they like. Sure a Jeep would've been much cheaper and easier to build, but its not what I want.
To each their own.

 

The pre-'74 fantasy builds? One day, sigh...but that's different and big money to do it right.

 

This is my new favorite thread on TW. People getting the kits which is good to hear but it seems like the kit was hype more than anything.

 

The part I'm enjoying most is how much JD is getting tagged into this thread. Marlin imo abandoned TW because they don't need all the crap that comes with forums (understandably, but low energy move considering how hard they peddled their wares here). I hope everyone is happy with their kits and it fits their needs. I am here because this was on my radar well before I went LT.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate that. It's well made and was packaged very well. That's all I know so far. More to come.

Also the wheel is straight. Mike said he wasn't limiting his uptravel but I didn't ask if he clears at full bump lock to lock.

Do you know how much shock shaft is left when your uniballs max out?

Part of the reason I went with 37s. BFGs too, so 36" with the weight of the 4Runner on them. My 315/70 KM3s were down to 33.4 when they came off haha (~40k miles on them and chunked to hell).

I don't get it either. My 4Runner has the 2uz and makes decent power (more than decent torque) and I won't go any bigger than 37s because I like having some power when I need it. The main reason I went this route instead of TC, Dirt King, etc was so that I don't have to wheel with the "I'm about to break something" feeling I had constantly with the 315s. The steering upgrade was the big sell for me. I think with this kit and the 200 series rack on 37s, I won't be operating near the maximum capacity of the front suspension system. 40s would be pushing the limits and I'd be right back where I started, but with bigger tires. They look cool but just aren't practical.

The heart wants what it wants...

That, my friend, can only be determined on the trail. I plan to put it through its paces and report back, whatever the outcome.

 

We expect lots of video from various angles! Hell, if I was local, I'd lend a hand getting it on just to see it in person.

 

@RokMgmt where are you located? Would love to see this thing in person when you finish.

 

I'll do my best. I did some more unboxing just to make sure everything is there, which it was. It'll be another week and a half to 2 weeks until I can get to installing it. The parts are downright impressive, and I'd be the first one to let others know if something didn't live up to my expectations. Here are some pics.

 

I'm in SoCal. Planning some trips to Nor-Cal for fall and early winter though.

 

Let us know when you head north. I live 15 mins from the border and work all over the north state. Would love to do some wheeling at some point down there. But my version of north Cali is above Sac.

 

On my kit I had 1.375” of usable shaft left. That was with the 3/8” thick coil seat on it. But, that also put my 315 right up near the inner fender so any higher and I would really have to cut away. I’d already done some some minor tubbing at the rear of the firewall and up near the headlight, which was still necessary. So many variables at play which is why I look forward to see you cycle yours.

 

Exactly, with a vertical uniball and custom spindle I expected something like this, enough up travel to drag the belly on the ground. That's a 34", btw.