a-arm conversion

[Skullver]

anyone ever try to convert xj from straight axle to a-arm IFS? I am very curious about this concept and want to see if anybody has thought about or tried this in the past. It would be for baja 1000 type desert racing.

 

[RKBA]

heresy!

 

[Jes]

anyone ever try to convert xj from straight axle to a-arm IFS? I am very curious about this concept and want to see if anybody has thought about or tried this in the past. It would be for baja 1000 type desert racing.

For desert racing that would be awsome. I've never seen it done on an XJ but know first hand that IFS blows away a solid front axle in the hi speed stuff.
These two Toyotas totally smoked me earlier this year out in Nevada...

 

["Wolz"]

Where are the springs in the setup on the second Toy?

 

[Jes]

Where are the springs in the setup on the second Toy?

The top one is 4WD with King coilovers and triple bypass shocks. The lower one is 2WD, has torsion bars, and dual King triple bypasses.

 

[BrettM]

I think you could make an XJ IFS fairly easily if you're willing to leave it 2wd (which is totally fine for desert stuff), but I think going 4wd would make it very difficult. I would start by basically making a whole subframe under the front frame and motor and keep the arms as long as possible, almost touching in the middle. I would use coilovers rather than torsion bars. you could also consider something TTB like...

 

["Wolz"]

The top one is 4WD with King coilovers and triple bypass shocks. The lower one is 2WD, has torsion bars, and dual King triple bypasses.

I see that now, thanks.

 

[Skullver]

I saw at least one of those trucks in Tonapah for BITD Nevada 1000 this last june. 2wd with locked rear for the xj a-arm idea, that would be fun to play with in the desert.

 

[ColoCherokees]

I'd look into the above mentioned front subframe for sure. Actually reinforcing the whole uniframe would probably be in order for race-level speeds/bumps. What type of IFS truck has the most aftermarket support/has the best rep for Baja type racing? Whatever truck that is, build the subframe to accomodate that suspension. As in, if Toyota (for example) is the best front sus. system for going fast in the desert, set up the XJ to accept Toyota parts - avoid having to make one-off custom pieces that may or may not work well. I'd also second the idea of going 2wd w/ rear locker, the IFS swap will be complex enough without having to work in a front driveline.

An IFS, 2wd XJ (with appropriate speed/motor mods), would be a hell of a lot of fun to see in a race.

 

[CheapXJ]

use liberty parts

the ENTIRE front suspension is a giant box made of box tube that bolts to the "framerails"

basically like 10 big bolts hold the whole mess on

 

[langer1]

Look under a Ford 4wd Ranger.

 

[xjcrawlr]

I've daydreamed many times of a 5.9 ZJ with a full-boggie TTB and a rear four link, with coilovers all around.

 

[Lawn Cher']

You could probably use chevy truck parts for doing a 4wd IFS conversion. The subframe would be fun to design.

 

[IdahoEagle]

If you want to keep it 4wd and keep it Jeep, use Eagle stuff. They are an upper A-arm with a lower setup similar to the older Ford car stuff. They were a left hand front diff with a D30. If you want long travel 2wd stuff, look at doing a Ford I-beam setup. The Ford stuff has an excellent off-road support for very long travel systems. All you would have to do is make a mounting system for the radius arms and I-beams.