Fitting 35’s with minimal trimming NOW ADDING LONG TRAVEL AND 934 CV’s

We have had a kit for the 3rd Gen 4Runner for about 10yrs, check the website

 

The rear suspension on these things really reminds me of the suspension on a Jeep. A semi triangulated 4 link with a panhard, binding galore. I feel like anything other than stock links will actually hinder movement since other joints have stiffer bushings or no bushings at all.

 

I'm yet to see a 3rd gen with one of your kits which bums me the heck out the heck. JD's products are so badass and have proven to be quality and long lasting. As the owner of a 3rd gen, maybe I just need to buck up and commit to LT with your kit, though MT sure has been a blast.

 

You guys are friggin' nuts about your assumptions of all these probs you're conjuring up with a 3 link...with the exception of Harry calc'ing everything in his brain thinking about smashing whoops at 100 mph.

If you don't have a state inspection issue to worry about it makes perfect sense to jump to a 4 link and a larger fuel cell you'd have to be a dim moron not too...but if you're building a DD and you do have to keep the stock tank you can build a very capable 3 link. Just take a look at DD's kit for example, only 3/4" of lateral movement with over 20" of travel, after one day of driving you wouldn't even notice 3/4". I've got twice that and don't feel it but I'm going to remedy it soon just because I can. Someone mentioned the drive shaft hitting the gas tank...well I've got a 3 link with a 4" one piece drive shaft on a double cab = worst case scenario for potentially having your drive shaft dry hump your gas tank like a 12 year old that just discovered PornHub and fully articulated at full bump / full droop there is still daylight between the drive shaft and the tin skid on the side of the gas tank. I think someone mentioned flex at the panhard but again a non issue if your not a moron and don't just buy an RS frame side panhard mount and weld it to your frame without boxing and adding a simple crossmember to the frame to tie it into...all just basic common sense. I saw someone bitching about that issue last year...welded an RS panhard mount to a stock frame...you can put a crescent wrench on the flange of your stock rear frame rails and twist them with your hands wtf would ever make you think that would support the weight and force of your entire truck ?

Pro's of a 3 link over leafs :

1. no axle wrap
2. adjustable pinion angle
3. more travel
4. coilovers = adjustable height
5. coilovers = adjustable pre load for different load conditions ie: i can have my truck sitting level for DD but when I'm prepping for a trip with 500 lbs of crap I just adjust my CO's in 30 mins = jack the ass end up - pull wheels - droop it out - add some pre load - put wheels back on

rant complete

 

Ya, I have seen 3 links work well and the lateral movement didn't seem to hinder them. Bmetchos truck worked really well with a 3 link, he beat on it too

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/toyotally-awesome-08-tacoma.328604/page-17#post-10716302

 

More. No clue if this is "proper" 3 link geometry either lol. Coming from crawlers it seemed like higher flatter panhards were better but maybe not the case for prerunners.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/toyotally-awesome-08-tacoma.328604/page-16#post-10502359

 

Brian’s truck is 100% good geo. It super nice, he was a builder for a race team so he knows his stuff. You can’t always get it perfectly flat without sacrificing other clearances though.

The length of and the level pan hard at ride height both minimize the lateral movement.

Length of panhard - take a pencil and draw a 4” radius starting from the center then draw an 8” radius. The larger radius equates to less lateral movement.

Level panhard - When you start from the center of the radius you are traveling in less of the curve = less lateral movement.

 

Check my old build thread. I had a Motobilt fuel cell with stock sender and it passed inspection. No check engine light.

 

How is this different from replacing the fuel pump like we do in the supercharger thread? Could you not do that and just put the whole pump housing in the new tank?

 

So I can see how triangulated uppers would work, but I don’t see a way for triangulated lowers, too. Not unless it was way wide (which may not matter?). I’m probably wrong, but it seems like the best place for the lower link mounts is right as the frame bends upwards in front of that crossmember that’s notched for the driveshaft. That way they’re tucked up and won’t drag and it’s reasonable distance to the carrier bearing. I think you’d run out of length on the uppers before you ran out on the lowers…my first thoughts.

 

Single triangulation still works. Double is more meant for rock buggys. I think single triangulated gives a little more axle steer in articulation, double is better about that. BUT most trophy trucks are single triangulated and work juuuust fine.

 

Double triangulated links... the lowers mount closer to the center of the truck and wedge out. It’s rock donkey stuff... I can’t wait to cut it all off when I re do the rear

 

But is rock donkey what I need for here? Haha should I bring the lowers in as much as possible or go straight to the frame rails (inboard maybe?) and be done. I’m guessing the idea is to get them as close to the pivot point of the driveshaft? (Carrier bearing area in this case)

 

The double triangulated setup is very neutral with regards to squat/anti squat and rear steer which makes it very predictable and stable while crawling. I’m going to a single triangulated setup when I cut the back off and throw the Trekker shell back on.

And yes it’s super important to have the lower link pivots line up with the carrier bearing location so the drive shaft travels in the same arc as the lower links. (This prevents excessive driveshaft plunge)

 

It deserves trailing arms

 

I hope there’s room for the uppers that far in front of the truck. There’s so much crap and no room in a double cab. Only one way to find out though.

 

To do it correctly the bottom of the floor will need to get notched if you want all the uptravel

 

I am starting to see why. Not sure I’m willing to go that far. Depends on your version and my version of a notch haha

 

All this talk of back half, single/double triangulation...

 

Ima derail 3-link/4-link talk a tad bit, but regarding the shock towers. Do they work on SOA with a 14” shock? Or are they for SUA?