Feb 9, 2020

2/5/20: RCLT HD placed Top 10 in the King Of the Hammers competition under a V8-powered 4Runner, becoming the first Toyota IFS to run both desert & rock crawling trail sections at the most abusive single-day off-road race on the planet!

THREAD UPDATES

Feb 13, 2019

May 17, 2019

Feb 1, 2019

Marlin Crawler's New "RCLT": Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Kit

The First Rock Crawling-specific Long Travel Suspension System!!

Background

Can I fit ___-tires?

You don't plan on keeping the truck

The truck is being leased

You aren't sure or only want to test the setup

You're looking to transfer parts to a different truck without having to go through the process again

You want to keep your front mud flaps

You want to run tires larger than 33"

The Rock Crawler's entry-level Tire Size

Early development

Quote

my goal is to improve the strength and Rock Crawling capability of the IFS so that going SAS is a harder decision to make

RCLT

A new Rock Crawling-specific IFS system is born

RCLT

We have a lot to get updated!----Hello Crawler Land!! It is my extreme pleasure to announce the next step forward in off-roading the Toyota Independent Front Suspension System with the all new Marlin Crawler Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS!I'd like to create this thread as a home for posting updates in preparation of production slated for this summer. This journey has taken nearly two years and I'd like to provide an overview first. Feel free to click here to jump down to the next post.I have been an avid off-roader of front solid/live axle Toyota trucks, 4Runners, and Land Cruisers since the 1980s. My live axle truck is a 1981 shortbed Toyota Hilux pickup with a Marlin Crawler 511:1 Triple Transfer Case setup and 37" tires. I am highly experienced with it and trucks like it on trails of all types and terrain.In 2016 I purchased my first IFS truck, the then all-new 3rd generation Toyota Tacoma ( build thread ), and stepped into a new world. After owning the Tacoma for a year, I did my first IFS modification which was an Upper Control Arm (UCA) kit to properly lift the truck 2.5-inches and fit 33" tires (285/70R17, 32.7") with part of each body mount frame bracket cut off. I referred to this as "" and here is a pic of it with the World Famous 1980 Crawler Truck:In this picture I had an aftermarket UCA, factory LCA, Fox 2.0 Shocks, and factory steering, as well as a Marlin Crawler Dual Case TacoBox resulting in a 235:1 Crawl Ratio. For what I am used to these tires were small, but combined with the TacoBox it was a nice introduction to learning how to Rock Crawl with IFS. Here I am in a slow & controlled descent without brakes, Flat Iron Mesa Trail, Moab, UT, May 5, 2017One of the most common IFS questions I see is, "Can I fit X-tires without trimming?". A UCA kit enables more lift but even with just 32.7" tires I had to cut off part of my body mount frame brackets behind both tires in order to turn without tire-to-frame interference. For me this was an acceptable modification but there are reasons why one wouldn't want to cut their frame...If we're already having to modify the frame to fit 32.7" tires, how much more cutting will be needed to fit 35s, 37s, ...or dare I say, 40s?In Marlin Crawler's opinion and by extension that of the Rock Crawling industry, if you want to be taken serious as a Rock Crawler then you should have 35" or taller tires. While it's true you could take hard lines on the Rubicon with 33s and a lot of rock stacking, you simply cannot run many trails at the Hammers (SoCal) with 33s due to a lack of ground clearance, traction, and inability to stack rocks due to how steep the trails are.So I set my sights on improving the Toyota IFS specifically for use with tires no smaller than 35", and as you'll see this has a trickle-down benefit for smaller setups as well.In early 2017 while my truck was only 9 months old and still rock'n factory 265/65R17 (30.6") tires, I was working on something that had never been done before which was designing an IFS kit specifically for the Rock Crawler. Based on decades of Rock Crawling experience, I initially came up with six ideas to improve existing Long Travel (LT) designs. Here is an early quote from my build thread:My local wheel'n buddies thought I was joking when I told them I won't be doing a Solid Axle Swap to the Tacoma and even more laughter when I said I will make an IFS comparable to a mild SAS. Within the first year of wheel'n the new truck I was on my way to improving late-model Toyota Rock Crawling ability when I completed what I called "".Using the first of my specific Rock Crawling designs, I modified an existing +2 LT kit creating a one-of-a-kind IFS setup unlike any before it. Here is my Tacoma during the Summer of 2017 on 37x12.50x17 BFG KRAWLER T/A tires undergoing R&D for what would become the FirstGoing from 32.7" to 37" is a huge jump yet the new tires only just lightly rubbed the body mounts at full steering lock... How... How was this possible....?For almost two decades the aftermarket has had 4WD Long Travel IFS kits that improve stability & suspension travel, yet none of these can Rock Crawl 35" tires with a full range of steering without requiring frame modifications for late model Toyotas.I only planned to run this first prototype for a few months but the project was put on hold last winter requiring a full reboot. What came out of this was my full-on no-holds-barred Rock Crawling IFS kit, pouring years of experience and trail testing into what I believe has become a truly remarkable setup!