Stock IFS suspension travel distance? Up vs down travel ratio.

[fredygump]

Has anyone measured the maximum up travel and down travel of the front suspension with springs removed? I haven't found any numbers online, and I haven't torn my truck apart yet...

I'd like to know if stock ride height is 50/50 up/down travel?

On my SR5, the control arms and CV shafts are angled down a few degrees at stock ride height. It looks to me like a small factory lift, about 1"? Given the angle of the control arm and CV shaft, my gut says the suspension has potentially more up travel than down travel. I don't see any hard limit to suspension travel, so I'm guessing the shock absorber is the limiting factor?

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[stuckinsocal]

This is the TRD Off Road, but it should give you some idea of what the front travel is (with both the front sway bar connected and disconnected).

(5 min 45 sec if the time stamped link doesn't work... however I would encourage you to watch the whole video since it is quite nice and some of the info relates to your SR5 as well despite him testing on the Off Road trim.)

 

[fredygump]

This is the TRD Off Road, but it should give you some idea of what the front travel is (with both the front sway bar connected and disconnected).

(5 min 45 sec if the time stamped link doesn't work... however I would encourage you to watch the whole video since it is quite nice and some of the info relates to your SR5 as well despite him testing on the Off Road trim.)

I've watched most of his videos! It's good stuff.

Kai says that the total static articulation on the front is 8" with sway bar disconnected. But that doesn't give us the ratio of up travel to down travel.

I suppose I could estimate that at full flex, the top of the tire is ~1" from the bottom edge of the wheel well, and it's a 32" tire on that trim? Then I can estimate how much up travel he saw in his test. But he didn't say if the control arm hit the bump stop or not when the sway bar was disconnected. The front spring may be strong enough to hold the vehicle up off the bump stop even in that situation.

To get the number I'm looking for, the spring needs to be removed, and the travel of one wheel needs to be isolated.

 

[fredygump]

Today I noticed a Nissan Frontier. It has IFS, and control arms were flat. But I also noticed the diff and subframe extend down below the frame to create a lower mounting point for the control arms.

So Nisssan "fixed" the CV axle angle by reducing ground clearance. For comparision, Toyota went the other direction, choosing a less than ideal CV axle angle because they prioritize a flat bottom.

It helped me realize this is an engineering compromise. It doesn't matter what the front suspension is doing, because the limitation is the rear live axle, not the front suspension. I guess it is obvious...the front control arms are mounted to the frame, and the live axle is below the frame...

I still like the idea of having a level stance, while being slightly lower than stock. But to make that work I'd have to do some severe modifications to the frame. I'm not prepared to do that right now!

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