I thought about a rear cross member on the ifs but not sure of the best way to do it, obviously it cant interfere with the a-arm when it droops and also the big nut on the end where the a-arm pivots... anybody here made one?

I would suggest installing some ball joint spacers and uncranking the t-bars. The suspension needs to move to absorb impacts to reduce the shock on the components, cranked t-bars reduce the suspensions upward movement, therebye reducing its ability to absorb impacts. You will get a much smoother ride w/BJ spacers, and a lot more movement out of the suspension.

Downet sells a rear truss, runs about $40, and bolts in(need to drill holes), and doesn't interfere with the lower A-arm movement. Downet uses round tube w/a bend and welded on brackets, I made my own out of some square stock. I will post a pic later this week.

40 bucks?? holy!! cheap!...i guess it is only a peice of tube though. BJ spacers...ugh im just not totally sold on em, a nicer ride and a bit more flex would be nice, but is the truck gonna be steer-able after install? Alignment needed? How much abuse can they take?

Thanks again guys/gals.

I am not sure if that is what they still list for or not, but it was what they were listed for a few years ago in the Downey Catalog.

I made this one for less than $5(including the grade 8 nuts/bolts).



They do change the geometry a little, but not enough to cause any problems. The change in geometry comes from leveling out the upper A-arm, similar to that of the lower, this leveling out of the upper arm is what improves the amount of travel.

There aren't any alignment issues, other than those associated w/larger than oem tires, should be less than those required to align with the tightened t-bars. You will have to have the truck realigned, if you haven't had the steering relay rod recall work done on your truck, you should swap the BJ spacers than get it aligned for free after the recall is done, that is what I did.

My '91 steers almost the sam as my '90(4"IFS lift), it isn't as tight, butthat has more to do with the MT's(the '90 has AT's), than the spacers, the MT's also have a poor wear pattern on them from the previous owner.

As far as a durability issue, there shouldn't be one, I wheeled both the Rubicon and Fordyce this summer and had no issue, other than a broken tie-rod on Fordyce after losing my rear ARB. The truck did steer a little off after the Rubicon but that was from a bent idler Arm. Others here have been runnig the spacers for several years now w/o any issues. I was a bit leary when I bough them, but after seeing them in person and after seeing them installed, any worries I had are gone. The spacers are made from solid aluminum, and shoudl take all the abuse that the IFS system can handle. If you haven't seen them, check them out here4crawler

I've always thought that these rear braces looked pretty stout.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Has anyone looked at bolting a second stock, front brace in the rear position? Might be able to get one cheap from a boneyard or from a solid axle swap.

Not sure if they bolt up, just thought of it. Time to crawl under the rig tonight to see if that would work.

Mike

Holy...wow...i got one question...where do i mail the check? that thing is BAD <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$100 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />, seems a bit pricy, considering I made the same thing for less than $5, granted mine isn't as tall, or as pretty, but then again it doesn't need to be.

Snowtoy, did you make that out of a single peice of square tubing?
I think i know what i'm going to work in during next week's con ed welding class...

No, I used a piece of 2" .250 square tube, and cut some 1/8 daimond plate strips and welded them to the ends to over lap the lower A-arms. I notched the tube to clear the diff, and then welded .250 plate to retain the strength of the tube. The one for $100 looks cleaner w/round notch to clear the diff, and if you were going to make one as tall as his it would be a cleaner way to go than the way I did. However you don't need that much steel back there, the brace that comes w/lift kits is only about 1/2 the size of the one I made, and is only channel not tube.