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

I have just finished putting all the RCLT together on my truck and am having the heavy steering and the steering does not right itself like you previously posted. I have found that that there is slight rubbing of the shaft on the engine mount. In the attached pic it is circled in red. The dust on the CV is what came off of the contact area when I touched it. It is very minimal but do you think this is enough to cause the same issues yours had? Thanks for your time. I’ve attached pics of the truck in case you are interested in seeing it. Not nearly as cool as yours tho.

 

Thanks man. I’ll look into that.

 

Hello @Tacoma1192 and thanks again for doing the write-up! To share details here, Tacoma1192 measured that +2.75" RCLT HD is capable of 12.5" of suspension travel, and when installing RCLT HD in the up-travel limited configuration (the easiest and least labor intensive method), it achieves 8.75" of travel when using the factory Toyota bump stop. This, however, is an incorrect measurement because the kit includes a replacement Low Profile Bump Stop which when used calculates the travel to be very close to 11". For details on this, please see my reply here.

The Results!

RCLT HD +2.75" in limited mode install:
Hub Travel: 10.98" & Tire Centerline Travel: 11.5 to 12"

RCLT HD +2.75" in full-capacity mode install:
Hub Travel: 12.50" & Tire Centerline Travel: 13.5 to 14"

The info is really great to have and we thank Tacoma1192 for the effort in measuring and typing up the report! We added this info to our FAQ under a new "Suspension Travel" section located here.

Hello JC, thanks for posting up! Great look'n rig!! I am going to add it to our Media section if that's okay! Last month I replied to the email you sent our sales team, have you seen it yet, and more importantly, have you seen the Owners Club thread on this subject, Steering Sector Shaft Clearance Notes and Tips?

This video was made for another customer but it shows the steering power and smoothness of RCLT HD + 40" tires. This is the expected outcome of an RCLT HD install:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhDgCJhRJM8

Definitely make sure you have air gaps around the steering shaft





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzsb0CWiTbE


Here is an example of heavy steering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7iuuIV7va4

...which was a result of metal-on-metal contact




Hopefully you get it handled soon so you can get back out and enjoy that beaut of a Taco!

Regards,
BigMike

 

In case anyone missed our latest Newsletter, RCLT HD is back to our original introductory price this week for a savings of $500!

Here is a flyer we posted to our MC forum (source thread):



Photo credit: @Tac05

 

Sorry for the slow reply, but I was out of town. Yes that will cause the same steering issue. Hope you got it cleared up!

 

Doing a lot of reading in here. Wild things happening for sure. I think something that I didn’t realize / wasn’t aware of us how you can technically run non LT spec coilovers on LT kits. I mean - yeah it makes sense at face value but I genuinely thought it would be a no-go for actual compatibility. I say this because I have accepted that LT is too rich for my blood - so I figured I’d buy some b_tchen coilovers instead and call it a day (and later buy some TC stock length lowers). ANYWAY - it’s so wild to me that Nate is rocking the 8112 coilovers up front on his RCLT kit. He might be one of the only guys with non LT coilovers up front on RCLT I’m not sure. I imagine he’s waiting on the long lead time for some? Have you found that the front underperforms in any way Nate? With respect to overall travel! The 8112 are sick but not as long as LT spec units. I would imagine that would be a sacrifice to keep those there up front

 

I actually think most non-LT coilover/shocks are going to struggle more with the bump instead of droop, as you could always run a longer rod-end. I fit ext-travel stock width icons on a 2.25 LT kit and it was "fine" with the caveat of poor uptravel.

 

Ahhhh very interesting. If I recall that guy squeaky taco on IG who absolutely f__ks has been running non LT icons up front also. That’s all very interesting

 

In the end I’m sure a quick look at expanded and collapsed lengths of a non LT coilover vs the LT version would show us exactly how many inches are sacrificed.

 

Yeah I mean, you basically get 1 or the other -- there's just not enough stroke in the shock to get full travel I don't think. You could run super short rod ends and get a bunch of up travel with no down travel, or vice versa. OR you could lose travel on both ends....but then why bother running an LT kit at all? I guess it would let you "stage" out your build, kind of like that Camburg Trail kit.

 

What I don't get is OE replacement coilovers are more expensive than 8". Sell the OE's and get the right ones. I can't see the point of LT if you're not going to get all of the benefits.

 

Agree completely

 

Agreed, but it's a big jump financially -- spreading it out a bit might help. I'm still trying to sell my Icons, lol. Not trying very hard, but they're currently just taking up space on my workbench.

 

Its a big jump for sure. But its just going to create headaches in the end not doing it all right off the bat considering setup is going to be different for bump/droop.

 

Hes running the stock bump setup so hes limited on travel there anyways

Having wheeled with 2 rclt guys so far, it's nothing mind boggling or different performance wise, besides the ground clearance due to way taller ride height/shape of the arms, and obviously the beef of the arms/spindles.

If anything, the rclt kits I have wheeled with (Nates, and a buddies) seem to just unload, and takes a lot for them to actually use the travel. I think this is more due to a poor spring rate for crawling

 

From what I have seen, most people are limiting their up travel. The amount I had to cut to get full travel with 37s leads me to think that most haven't cut that much and if they have bigger tires they would need to start chopping into their headlights, or remove their headlights. On droop the CVs bind before the shocks run out of shaft.

 

Gnarly. I know this has been best into the ground but that is SUCH a far cry from the original hype of “no major trimming for big tires” iirc. Either way I salute all of you for all the travel you have

 

Thank you! Yeah I was a bit upset when I found out how much needed to get cut to get the advertised travel, especially when they were pushing the "no cab mount chop needed".

 

Transparency is super important when people are throwing around this kind of money. That’s one of the main reasons I went the way I went with mine. It’s an obvious fact you’re not pushing even a 37” tire 2” forward without major complications. I’m 1.125” forward with mine and damn near into my headlights.

 

Totally, with so few people bringing this point up makes me wonder if they don't know or don't care. Why drop so much $ and limit your up travel?