How much stress will the IFS on these trucks actually take off-road?

Install them. 4.88's are the best thing ever if you're running bigger than stock tires. I can't imagine going back to 4.10's.

 

You have a manual transmission, 4 cylinder or 6?

I had 4.88’s with 34’s and a 6 cylinder and I was pulling 3200 rpm’s at 70 which was too high for a daily driver that saw a lot of highway miles. Went back to 4.56’s, glad I did. I don’t notice it off-road that much.

You don’t want to kill the drivability of the truck and sacrifice mpg’g and put extra strain on the engine in my opinion.

275/70r17 is a bit over 32”, you put 4.88’s on a V6 you’ll be howling at like 60 mph

 

Yeah it’s a V6 manual and I thought of that. I was going to switch to 255/80/17 when these tires wear out, but 4.88s still seem a bit like overkill. Even with the stock gearing the highway rpm’s are higher than I’d want them. I don’t commute with it every day, but I still spend a fair amount of time on the highway. It seems like I’d have to put on 35s to get the RPMs right at 70, but then that’s a whole other can of worms. I find myself missing my bone stock single cab on 31s lol.

 

I whish I would have gone withh the 4.56.. the 4.88 are really nice for more technical work though.
But definitely driving a lot slower on road trips. 55mpg feels like the sweet spot. Which is perfect for crusing the back roads but deadly on the larger highways.

So I'm working towards fitting bigger tires... bigger tires makes holes smaller and the ride more comfortable. Lol

 

Oh my, what a wonderful mountain that can be made out of a molehill. I think you'll be OK, OP. Put some of your concern into planning trips instead.

 

Ideally I’d rather have the reduction in the tcase though and keep the 4.10s for the highway.

 

Well I guess my main dilemma is whether the 4.88s and lockers would be worth the trouble in my situation.

 

If your just doing fire roads probably not. But only you can really answer that.

 

Just do a rear locker if you don't have one already, 4wd and locker in the back will get you most places others can't or won't attempt. I wouldn't worry about a front locker until you start committing to serious crawling/body damage likely type trails

 

We don’t have many hardcore trails around where I live, but there are some gnarly spots where a locker would come in handy. I also go out alone a decent amount of the time so the extra capability would be nice to have in a pinch.

 

A 2 inch lift, 32’s and a rear locker and you’ve got a very capable truck and won’t sacrifice the drivability much, especially if you like how it drives currently.

You‘ll easily be able to sell those 4.88 diffs and if you so choose put it back into the truck. Sliders and skids are good to help protect the vitals and the sheet metal, and most of us can tell you from experience, you might regret learning a time or two how valuable those things are once you start doing some damage.

 

I'm riding on 343/85R17 with 5.29

 

Wait, you're questioning the truck you had faith in before you got it?

Just wheel it.

 

I question my truck everyday

 

There's a lot I question every day; I just try not to overwhelm myself

 

But does it answer? That’s when you know it’s time to seek professional help

 

Yea I think I’ll probably ask $1500 for them and see what kind of offers I get. I’m not really sure what true going rate is tbh since they’re pretty niche. Anyway IIRC there’s aftermarket lockers for the unlocked rear diff so I can look into those.

It has shrockworks sliders on it already but AFAIK the skids are all stock. I might wanna look at a heavier duty skid to protect the oil pan, and maybe for the transfer case also if those are the main weak points on the undercarriage.

 

Oh yea the truck also came with frame strengthening plates for the rear C section, I think from Trail Gear.

Would it be worth getting those welded on the extra strength, or is that only necessary for heavily modded trail rigs with SAS, rear bumper, etc.? Has anyone installed those? I know @eon_blue mentioned frame strength can be an issue in some situations.

 

Harop, arb .
Skids get heavy if you don't need them.

 

I do wanna keep it as light as possible; it can be hard to find that sweet spot I suppose.