Convert your Jeep to IFS and IRS!

[JeepnGreg]

not something i would ever do..... but i give them a gold star for engineering efforts.

Welcome to Creative Motor Sports - Fun in the Countryside!


at least it opens up the door for jeeps to get into high speed desert racing?

[RRich]

He He - I think we are now going full circle plus 1/2 circle!?

Years ago - 70-'s? solid front axles were "out" - the kit makers started making conversions to go from solid to IFS. The magazines all touted changing to IFS as the best thing since 4 wheel drive. Of course their motivation was the kit maker's advertising money.

Then eventually some of the OEM's came out with IFS because it was "so much better." It rode better, but broke too easy.

After awhile folks stopped buying the kits, they just bought new trucks with it already on.

Then - you could see it coming - kit makers started building conversions to get rid of the IFS back to solid axles - full circle!
Different variations are offered now, short arms, long arms, triangulated, 4 point, 3 point, 2 point, etc have been the dominant "kits." They currently spend lots of money on advertising - just look at any mag. Full page or multiple page ads aren't cheap.

Now we are back again!

The next innovative idea would be put zippers on your suspension, convert it right on the trail to use the best one at that moment. I'm sure someone will think of how to do that soon.

I've actually built and tested a hybrid independent/semi-solid suspension as a test on a 4x4 buggy - it worked great. It had 20+" of travel and handled like a dream at speed, worked awesome in the big rocks too. But I broke it at about 160 MPH - it obviously needed to be much stronger (me too!) I think we'll see something like it soon.

That was almost 10 years ago, since then my health won't take that kind of excitement.

I had a sponsor for the first one, but they got squirrelly and wanted to dictate too much - by their "engineers?" that didn't have a clue.

Last time we met, they told me how their "engineers" wanted it - I gave them back their check for $12,000 - that was the initial payment to get started on the 2nd generation. They weren't in the suspension business (industrial drive systems,) but they thought they could be. So far they haven't done anything since.

In my opinion, IFS makes the most sense - each wheel can do what it needs to at the moment. The opposite wheel has little or no influence on each wheel. Much lower unspring weight helps it ride better too.

But - unfortunately the axles are limited in how much they can flex/bend by the CV joint's limitations. Someday someone will figure that one out - then IFS will be viable again.

Some young enterprising guy will have a brainstorm - he'll solve it - and hopefully he'll become very rich!
Could it be one of you?

[Caver Dave]

History will ALWAYS repeat itself! what comes around goes around... sometimes 20-30 years later!

Recall in the 70s when "bell bottoms" & "hip huggers" were the rage? What are the young chicks wearing these days?

[Jim_Lou]

Recall in the 70s when "bell bottoms" & "hip huggers" were the rage? What are the young chicks wearing these days?

Bell bottoms and hip huggers, and I still love 'em!

[RRich]

Micro minis, crop tops, and "Nancy" boots!

[barrelroll]

It's a cool idea, not exactly my style. One of these days depending on where I end up I want to build a go fast offroad truck. Probably something with 4x4.

If you are looking for go fast jeep info look into jeep speed, they can get some pretty decent speed out of the straight axled jeeps. Also some of the race/ desert guys have converted jeeps to 2wd I-beams and other methods to gain more speed in the desert.