1:1 Ifs
 

Ive seen alotta people lock the A-arms on their RC making a solid axle with alot more clearance. My ? is does aneyone do this with 1:1 crawlers?? If not why not ?

no because:
1. ifs is weak
2. They would have to 4 link it or something

I've wondered the same thing myself. My best thoughts would be the axle assembly of a locked IFS setup in 1:1 would weigh too much, the CV joints are weaker (?), and tractor axles would probably be just as costly and more robust.

If you're going to the trouble of a 3 link why not just put a stronger lighter solid axel in, if you want more center clearance have the axel built with the pumpkin to one side. It'd be weaker, heavier and more complex than a solid axel.

Why? because in the 1:1 world there is such thing as a unimog axle. i thought and looked into building a soid indi 1:! crawler a while ago and the hole thing would have to be built custom. Which means $$$$.

Yeah thats why they make unimog axles.

1:1 Ifs
 

Yeah but lotsa parts for crawlers are custom made at any scale. Im sure it has Its drawbacks but Its got to have advantages too !

'Cause on 1:1 rigs, most IFS setups have the center section hard mounted to the frame. If you locked the control arms, you'd get NO articulation. Not that you get a lot anyway with the swaybar connected. But I just don't see any benefit.

Keith

as said before, it'd be much easier and stronger to get a beef front axle (d60) 4 link it, or 3 link. w/e you prefer. You could go mog, or rockwell too.. but if i was gonna build something "realistic" i'd go HP60..

The fab would be way cheaper than trying to get the ifs to work, and would more than likely be more reliable.

Maybe he doesn't want to run what every truck out there is running. ;-)

You lock the A-Arms then 3 or 4 link it like a solid axel. Check out some Maxx crawlers and you'll get the idea.

this has actually been done with H1 hummer axles,i'll see if i can get some pics of the vehicle,i believe its 3 link F/R not sure though.

Ya, I think I saw it on pirate once.

there was one for sale on auto trader a few months back I saw when I was looking to buy a hummer. the axles were on a custom tube chassis. it looked pretty good but you gotta wonder why he was selling it.:|

hmmmm.......so, you "lock" the a-arms, which are directly hinged to the chassis and you somehow "lock" these together seperate from the frame so that they can move as a single unit........................but a-arms are attached completely differently than the pumpkin, which is mounted directly to the chassis via a crossmember or crossmembers. For your theory to work, you would have to rig some form of attachment tubes, or arms, from the (now seperated) pumpkin to the (now seperated) a-arms, so that they can now become "one" unit acting together. You are, essentially, building axle tubes. At this point, you would have to extend your brakelines, probably your driveshaft, and throw away the rack-n-pinion steering found on most IFS vehicles, and fab up a steering-box setup with custom drag link and tie-rod.

Why go through the trouble?

For the trouble, you would have to make most the same modifications you would have to make to SAS the rig. As since most IFS setups are < or = to 1/2 ton rigs with SFAs, why not just swap over to a SFA setup? For the strength comparison factor, grab yourself a D44 sa out of a bone yard, and forget all the fab crap that you would have to do to "solidify" an IFS setup.

thats a good point. but if you could do it and not worry about money and just work on it and see what the strong points and weak points were I think that would be kinda cool. I don't know about anybody els but I kinda like working on things to see if they can work better.

You could also do a set up like how Walker Evens did his IFS & IRS rig but lock it out kinda like the custom maxx axle set ups w/o the stock arms.

:Walker Evens used a D60 center section w/ flanges on the axle sides and used CV half shafts. all the way up he had 30 inches of ground clearance on 40 MT/Rs

True, but if you are realistically going into a project like this, you are looking at $$$$$ no matter which route you go. Fabbed steering, fabbed suspension/shocks, shaft/bearing/outer upgrades, locker, lower ring & pinion + install, etc...........the only real money difference should be found in the actual cost of a front solid axle as compared to time spent fabbing the pumpkin and a-arms to act like a SFA. Of course, if you wanna go Rockwell, Unimog, D60, etc this cost becomes very important, but if comparing a normal IFS setup to a SFA setup, strength wise, you would be comparing it to a LP D44 or HP D30.........both of which can be purchased very cheaply. The cost of the axle, as compared to the cost of the build, becomes VERY small. Heck, pick up a HP D44 for $200, which is minor compared to the build cost, and you can shorten it as wanted/needed.

my buddy just blew up his ttb on his f-150 and thats how much he is getting his 44 for.

I don't have to worry about all that ifs crap anyways I have a D60 and S10.5. I wouldn't trade a SA for ifs set up ever they suck @ss. but I still think that if some one tried it. that would be really cool.

and yes $ is always an issue (I don't even have enough $ to replace my bald @ss tsl's) and most likely anyone who would even want to try doing this wouldn't have enough money. If I got the big bucks in rockcrawling (maybe when Im older) and could just build a rig and do some R&D on it like WE did on his rig I would probably try doing it. but then again isn't that how most parts that you buy now come into the market.

ifs
 

No one said it would be easy but it is possible. I still say that if your building a crawler your gunna be fabbing alotta stuff aneyway. Where theirs a welder theirs a way ! Chevy uses upper and lower control arms but ford has the split axle , that might be alot easier and better being Ford

I like that "if theirs a welder theirs a way" very true.

the ford ttb is what it is called and I wouldn't trust them crawling, My buddy just blew his up and he only has a 4" and 33s. anyway it would be like making a real SFA into a locked out IFS (realy hard).