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

That’s exciting!!!!

 

No updates..

just sit there and embrace the suck..

 

Looks like all the improvements for RCLT V3 are the real deal

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8O2Q4uHk1T/

 

Word on the street is, its been pushed out to an early summer release. But who knows when.

 

Early summer 2027. I’ll still take the over.

 

Wow, I have been saving for this setup. At this rate, my truck will be worn out by the time it's released.

 

So... I have a lot to get updated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD4SdVZwoDI

(Sorry for the wind noise. We have a nice mic with sock but I left it at home.)

 

Omfg!!!!

 

Here is what we posted to Facebook on Friday, including pictures and captions:
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Congratulations to Steel City Racing and our third and final prototype RCLT HD that made history at this year's King Of the Hammers (KOH) event!

The team's 4.7-liter V8 4Runner became the first modern 4600 Stock Class IFS to complete both desert laps and all but a couple remaining rock crawling trails, placing 10th overall! This is also the highest ranking ever for a 4600 IFS rig!

Like many teams, Steel City Racing's goal was to finish regardless of time, however, when they along with two modified class cars arrived to the next to last trail, Chocolate Thunder, at approximately 5:50pm, event officials decided to close the course requiring cars to reverse back down from obstacles they were already on. Our own BigMike was with Robert of Otwell Fabrication at Chocolate Thunder when this occurred, witnessing remaining teams being sent back to Hammertown via side roads.

It is interesting that they did not allow these rigs to at least continue and finish unofficially on their own, and even more so for Steel City Racing, who's starting position wasn't until 8:30am, which meant their 10-hour limit was not for another 40 minutes. It's questionable if they would have made it to the finish line before their 10 hrs expired at 6:30pm, but they most certainly would have conquered the entire course as the 4Runner ran incredibly well and completed 126 miles of the hardest and most abusive single-day off-road race on the planet, something it may never have done without the incredibly strong Marlin Crawler "RCLT HD" independent front suspension and HD MarRack steering rack integrated system. In fact, RCLT HD was the only IFS system of the entire Wednesday race regardless of class or vehicle type!

We are incredibly proud of driver Charles and co-pilot Matt for completing the day without failure despite never having driven the rig on a single Hammers rock trail prior to this event! Their finish was a true testament to both their driving skill, quick adaptability, pit crew, and vehicle! Here is Charles' official team report:

"The @steelcityracing4x4 4th Gen V8 4Runner made history yesterday being the first modern IFS car to ever reach lap 2 and the first modern IFS car to ever complete multiple named Lap 2 rock trails (guacamole, aftershock, fissure mountain, sledgehammer, jackhammer, not her problem, etc), claiming a Top 10 position in the 4600 Stock Class at the 2020 @ultra4racing King of the Hammers. The 4Runner ran incredibly strong the entire day, completing one massive obstacle after another including conquering unimaginable 4400 lines in the rocks where 4500 and 4800 cars were broken in the alternate lines. Ultra4 Officially finally stopped us just before RM 126 due to darkness and time with only a few named trails to go before we would have hit the finish line after the easy desert and bypass sections. Our pit crew killed it all day! All of our sponsors products worked flawlessly together and never faltered for even one second! We only took one hard drivers side hit the entire day in a bypass section where we accidentally took the hard line after course markers had fallen down, slowing us down a bit during Lap 2. Our @marlincrawler RCLT Front IFS and @rocksolidtoys Rear 4-Link both armed with @ivdsuspension Shocks performed flawlessly. We had zero body damage thanks to our @4x4labs armor package, never had a flat with our @teamcoopertire STT Pros and @kmcwheels, and only used our @warnindustries Winch once. Special thanks to my amazing wife and three kids for enabling me to tackle this adventure, to my co-driver @Matthew Tatum, to all of our sponsors, to our chief fabricator @otwellweldingandfabrication, and our entire pit crew."

Here come some misc pics from BigMike and Steel City Racing. We will post more once we go through all our memory cards!

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS again to team Steel City Racing!!

If you'd like to learn more about the first Toyota Long Travel IFS strong enough for Rock Crawling --- and now the only LT kit strong enough for the King Of the Hammers --- then please visit MarlinCrawler.com/RCLTHD. Release date, pricing, and updated info will be posted within weeks. Please click our "Notify" button to receive updates via email. #RCLT

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Steel City Racing lined up and primed for Tech Inspection!







Misc pics from Steel City Racing during vehicle testing before the event!



Charles at left, Matt at right



Stopping for fuel. RCLT HD drives just like any other Long Travel kit on both city street and highway roads, perfect solution for the daily driver who also wants a bullet proof IFS that clears 37s without any body mount trimming.

 

Steel City Racing brought their race rig to our booth on Tuesday! Here it is parked along side BigMike's 2016 Tacoma, both rigs running our third and final "V3 Prototype" RCLT HD setup.

BigMike is running our +2.75" LT kit and the 4Runner is running our +3.50" LT kit, both of which will be available this spring.

In the foreground is another +2.75" V3 RCLT HD prototype being compared to a stock late model Toyota IFS system (2003+ SUV, 2005+ Tacoma)



Here is another +2.75" V3 RCLT HD prototype being compared to a stock late model Toyota IFS system (2003+ SUV, 2005+ Tacoma)







It's all in the details #RCLT #RCLTHD #MarlinCrawler #KOH2020 #EMC


(*shear)

 

This is our +2.75" LT V3 Prototype kit on BigMike's 2016 Tacoma he daily drives and wheels with 40" tires.

The factory body mount with original forward-facing bolt is 100% intact and in the original factory location.

Designed to clear 37" tires without frame or body mount modifications, the only body mount clearancing required to fit 40s is the same amount needed for a typical UCA kit to clear 33s.

 

Picture from Steel City Racing, all ready for the Every Man Challenge race!!



Here they are back in Hammertown after completing 126 miles of the most difficult off-road race in the world.





Check out the location of all those scratches! Without the extreme high ground clearance of the RCLT HD lower control arms, they would likely have had to backup and find another line...

...and think of all the rocks that cleared the arms that we'll never know about! #RCLT #RCLTHD

 

Here are pictures of BigMike's 2016 Tacoma during his travels to and from King Of the Hammers. Overall he averaged just over 20 MPG on 40" tires, cruising at 65 MPH (there) and 70 MPH (back home).





BigMike's Tacoma back at Marlin Crawler Friday morning after completing the 600 mile round trip journey. #RCLT #RCLTHD





Thought we'd toss this pic in of when BigMike arrived to the lake bed mid-day Monday. Quite the difference from a stock 3rd gen Tacoma!



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...And that's it from our FB post. We are currently waiting for KOH's official camera crew to forward us high resolution pictures and video of our final prototype RCLT HD in action, and will post more as soon as we receive the files!

 

We are pushing for a May release but we still have a great deal of infrastructure work to do in our building before we can produce at a level capable for the demand.

It's been a lot of work, solely by yours truly, and a lot of delays outside my control. We will be making some changes to the way we sell the kit. Hoping to have pricing and all details updated to our site in March.

Regards,
BigMike

 

Finally something of an update. I was starting to look and making something else work for me. Kit looks good and I am even more excited for a 3.5" kit because you know that full width axle look

 

hoping you guys eventually come out with a kit for 1st gen taco/3rd gen t4r but if not I might have to just get a newer t4r...

 

From what they have said it looks like they are planning on the 3rd gen 4runner in the group 3 release from the posts I've seen.

 

So freaking pumped

 

Clearly too early to commit so no promises, but T100, 1st gen Tacoma, 3rd gen 4Runner, and 1st gen Tundra should be in the cards. We've had minimal demand for 1986-95 IFS Hilux/4Runner applications, but the problem that I see from an economical point is that 8" Toyota axles fit well under these vehicles and as such the market is well saturated with SAS kits. Not everyone will use it for Rock Crawling, but beings RCLT is designed for Rock Crawling, you might as well just SAS those early IFS trucks.

In other news, RCLT HD received an amazing endorsement last week

 

...in case you don't follow King Of the Hammers, here is his 800 HP "Dragon Slayer" Ultra4 car he races

(images via random online search)

Company info: http://www.campbellent.com
Random review of this rig: https://www.drivingline.com/articles/the-dragon-slayer-shannon-campbells-latest-race-creation/

















I took pictures of so many IFS Ultra4 cars last week. Even IRS, as well as IFS+IRS with portal axles at each corner. The sport has really come a long way from the humble beginnings back when we had our very own 22R-E powered and Dual Ultimate T/Case Formula Toyota Rock Crawler entered into the "OG13" race of the initial 12 rigs!

Regards,
BigMike