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

Do you have to send your old one back? I wonder with the limited production they would gamble and just send your old one back out to someone else.

 

The screenshot of the message indicates he shipped his back, they inspected it, and sent him a replacement.

 

I don't have much good stuff to say about Marlin Crawler but I highly doubt they're scummy like that.

 

I agree. I think they genuinely want to make good products, they may just struggle with managing how that is done and the experience of their customers in the process.

 

It is interesting to me though... at the bottom of the page is the list of who is viewing the thread. BigMike was viewing when I posted my last comment and for a while after as well but he isn't commenting. Why not? I started watching this thread because of the struggle I've had with Marlin's business practices and not for the RCLT content. This thread has given me more questions rather than answers.

 

….

 

Hello TW! Hope everyone's spring has been well. Been busy over here with me gone for over half of last month (back-to-back Moab trips!!), CruzrDave (my right-hand man) gone this week, plus training two new hires (back shop) and hopefully on a third before June (sales). @joshuajayg is right as I've been trying to respond since I returned last week but decided to wait until I took a look at @JC Heng's upper arm.

On that note, @JC Heng, sorry for the issue with your UCA. Kyle was half-right: He was diagnosing our upper compression sleeves -- which I originally designed with tolerances tighter than stock (which made the long UCA bolt very tight), design updated in November -- not the misalignment you experienced with the UCA bushing bosses.

Getting the UCA to align is without question the most difficult section of the entire kit to weld because the legs are long, exposed, and we are using 3/16" outer plates with a wide 1/4" inner plate that took me f--o--r--e--v--e--r to make a jig that accounts for the push-and-pull those different sized plates do to one another under heat.

We made one without the inner 1/4" brace and not only does it not get as hot but it can nearly be welded entirely out of the jig with no alignment issues. Honestly, my design sucks for manufacturing but I want this kit to hold up and positioned the 1/4" plate horizontal where slow speed & high torque stresses acting on the UCA are the highest and needed to find a way to build them. So before we get the arms painted we make sure they can fit back into the jigs but obviously(!) this isn't good enough so after looking at your returned UCA I made bushing boss inserts with radial degree marks on the inner face where we can feed the UCA bolt through on one end and see how far off it is at the other before we even finish manufacturing it.

Everything has been a learning process like this for us (mainly me) and already with our next suspension products we've been working on things are progressing way smoother with less cost, delays, and most importantly, stress.

So again wanted to chime in here and apologize for the issue and it was a no brainer to outright replace the arm. Also, two of our employees have family members who are gathering RCV shafts and coilovers (1.5 year wait for KING shocks!!!!) where your UCA will find a new home without us having to interrupt production

@Tac05 DUDE!! Your truck absolutely turned out INCREDIBLE!! I can see you have more up-travel than me (stupid 40s), looks amazing! I am very curious on the heavy steering feel. How did your caster measurements turn out? Are you running a body lift? It will loosen up some as the uniballs & TREs break in, but I don't think that will make much of an impact. So far the rigs we've helped build don't have this issue (two Tacomas on 40s, three 4Runners [two on 37s, one on 40s], one FJ Cruiser on 40s) and all seem normal to me with steering feel equal to my Tacoma. That said, you are not the first to report this: We have a GX470 owner running 37s who says his steering is heavy as well.

In all of the vehicles mentioned including those on 40s, from a stationary idle in a parking lot with the tires aired up, I can rotate the steering wheel using only the palm of my hand from full steering lock-to-lock with minimal effort. Can this be done on your Tacoma? The GX470 owner on 37s says he cannot. We will have his rig in about 2 weeks and I am eager to take a look at it and see what's going on. All of these vehicles including mine have factory steering pumps and coolers. Also: The 4Runners & FJ C are using the factory 200-series brass insert with detent ball and the two Tacomas are using our line adapter (MCSU-1814106), and still no difference in steering feel. (Side note: We finally improved the design of this part thanks in part to your excellent feedback!) I have been wondering if over the years Toyota made any changes in power steering pump pressure or pulley sizes. I do notice that a customer's 2003 4Runner with RCLT HD + 40s seems to have "slower" steering than another customer's 2006 4Runner with RCLT HD + 35s, the former a non VVT-i V8 and the later the improved V8, and while it's difficult to compare based on the massive tire difference, the steering pumps have different Toyota part numbers and I wonder if the later model pumps are more efficient... I tell ya there is always something to learn, figure out, and improve along this journey. I'll let you know for sure what we find out with this GX

EDIT @Taco05: Would you mind if we posted some of your flex pics on our website? Looks so badass

In other news we finally finished our full length 20min Dusy video, have a look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeNkfxceKb4

Regards,
BigMike

 

Definitely long lead times but I haven’t seen 1.5 year lead time for Kings.

 

Good to see your truck in action and flexed out! The photo with only the front on the ramp looks pretty damn good for front stuff. My coilovers don't get anywhere near full stuff in that situation unless the opposite rear corner is also compressed. I'm thinking of trying a softer spring rate to force a bit more independence from the front suspension. I think the softer rate will help when climbing. Going downhill is a different story, I can get the front within one inch of full stuff (half way into the 2" bumpstops) if I back up onto a big rock. I've put mine through its paces and I'm at a point where it's time to start really dialing in the coilovers.

 

I am happy to hear you think it turned out well. I am very pleased so far. I can email you pics to use!

I will test the steering once I get the truck back together. With all the under hood chopping I am now only running a very small lithium battery for starting. Besides the smaller size, the reduced weight will help save the front core support from any stress and structural damage. A second battery is needed to run a winch and I couldn't find one that satisfied my requirements, so I built one. I am now in the middle of the joys of dual battery wiring. Once all the wiring is done I will get an alignment and test the steering. As per your recommendation, I am running a steering cooler. I don't think that should affect things, but it is another variable. Hopefully the alignment is the solution.

Tuning will help. I still need to do some tuning. The front and back are both still too stiff for my liking. Once I get some weight in the back I should be able to flex out the rear. I need to experiment with the ORI's to soften them up.

 

So, what your saying, is to limit the up travel and you can fit 40's without rubbing?

 

I had to cut A LOT to get the full travel with 37's. Any more cutting and the headlights would need to get chopped. A 3rd gen has a bit more room because the headlights are smaller and higher up. But yes, you can throw 40's on and limit the travel and you are good to go.

 

my sarcasm was missed... limiting up travel to clear tires is dumb. There's been a number of us with 37s, 39s, and 40s on our trucks and we see how little cutting there is with the marlin kit.. meaning the marlin kit limits up travel. The only way to avoid that is to cut the coil over mount out and move it upward 2" due to the lower control arm design.

 

I missed the sarcasm, sorry. I also seem to be missing something from your thoughts. The marlin kit, which I am running, does not limit anything. Limiting up travel is based on the bump stops and that is dictated by your tire size and how much cutting you are personally willing to do. I am getting over 14" of travel because I am only running 37's and I did an extreme amount of cutting. Others have cut less and therefor must limit their travel accordingly. The RCLT does not limit anything. In fact the upper control arm could go into the engine bay if you so desired. The CVs will bind, but there is nothing there to stop the UCAs without the bumps.

Personally I had issue with the RCLT marketing because they proclaimed that the cab mount did not need to be chopped. I already did that, so I didnt think it was a big deal. Little did I know that MUCH MORE needed to be chopped in order to get the full wheel travel. Some argued this was common sense. Thankfully BigMike updated the marketing to indicate that travel was limited to how much you were willing to cut.

Again, the RCLT does not limit anything. Up travel is limited by the bump stops and fender / wheel well clearance. Down travel is limited by the limit straps because the angle gets so extreme that the CVs will bind before the kit is done articulating.

You would need to do the same cutting to have a low center of gravity solid axle swap.

 

What’s your up travel?

Your post is somewhat confusing. You say RCLT doesn’t limit anything but then provide a laundry list of limits, the same limits of any IFS.

 

My post was in response to this specific comment "There's been a number of us with 37s, 39s, and 40s on our trucks and we see how little cutting there is with the marlin kit.. meaning the marlin kit limits up travel." My response was meant to clarify that RCLT doesn't specifically limit anything. And you are correct that the same methods to limit travel are required, as with any suspension. I prefaced my comments with "I also seem to be missing something from your [OP] thoughts." Meaning I don't understand why he says RCLT limits up travel.

I am still learning and appreciate anyone willing to take the time to explain and clarify things.

Once my truck is rolling again I will measure just up travel. We previously measured from full droop to full bump and it was right around 14.5" at the hub. At ride height my LCAs are parallel to the ground, so my best guess is that I am getting 7" up and 7" down.

 

Is that shock stroke or wheel travel? Eye to eye my 14” coilovers are 20” fully collapsed and sit at about 5” of up travel at ride height on my Jeep. My trucks current ride height is 20” with about 2” lift

 

The shock stroke for RCLT is 8". My rear shock stroke is 14". My frame height is 19". I have about 2.5" of lift. Here is a picture next to a stock 3rd gen, which are a little taller than a stock 2nd gen.

 

Gotcha, that makes sense. I am running a 11.5" stroke in the rear but running SOA with a 12" smoothie. I'm curious how they get an extra 3" of stroke in the front with their packaging of the RCLT

 

I limited myself to 14" shocks in the rear because I didnt want to cut any holes in the bed. I don't think they are getting an extra 3" of stroke in the front, unless I am not understanding what you mean. The front shocks are not vertical and the hub is 2.75" wider than stock. I think that is what gives it more travel. It is also why I was adamant about using remote reservoirs. That is a lot of movement on such a small shock and the extra oil will help keep things cool.