Why does everyone put down Indipendent suspension or IRS?

Everyone says solid axle is the best but I have a hard time thinking it is.

Wouldn't a Indepindent suspension ranger front and rear be better then a strait axle front and rear?

This is what I think:

With indipendent you get more ground clearance, the drive shaft should be higher. Smoother ride, it should articulate (sp?) more.

Only con I can think off is fast off pace driving. Which would make it want to lean more in the corners. but that could be solved with a sway bar.

Opinions please

 

haha its funny because basically you are 100% backwards wrong.

First off, I don't understand how the hell you think it is going to have more articulation.
Also, more ground clearance? Why? It should be about the same exact height as a solid axle i believe.
On top of that. The solid axle should be much more protected than IFS/IRS. Higher driveshaft? Umm no, they should be about the same, altho solid axles you have choices such as high pinion/low pinion.

And then, you think that maybe solid axle may be better in high speed off pace driving? i'm going to guess you mean like all the desert racing guys do. Dont you realize they all have IFS in the front? IFS allows each side to operate independantly. On a solid axle if your left side suspension dipped down a foot, the right side would have a reaction. On IFS, they aren't linked nearly as much.


and IRS? For the rear? I just think people dont do it because it is stupid and doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

By the way,

IFS = Independent Front Suspension
IRS = Independent Rear Suspension

I don't really understand how u make the mistake, but it doesnt matter. Just to correct you on your acronym(is that the right word?)

 

it all depends on what you want he truck to do..

dune, prerunnin-IFS softer ride..i think..from what ive seen on the forums on here
hard mud-sfa-strength
crawlin-sfa-strength

it all depends on what you wanna do with the truck..

 

I knew IRS ment rear I wasnt sure what front was thanks for the info.

I look at it this way. I am bringing my Quad knowledge over here so I may be completly wrong.

Anyways look at my pics. Look how much lower a solid axle would be. Now alot depends on angle on the a arms of the I.S. set up. But you should be able to get the diff higher on a IS set up.

 

I think you missed understood me. I didn't mean strait axle in the front would be good for racing.

IFS for the front and solid axle for the rear is great race set-up

 

ok here is what made me think of it. Here is 2 pics of the same quad. One with IRS and one with a strait axle. The IRS raised it up a hair which makes more ground clearance.

 

Something like the rear of this quad it what I think would do great on a truck.

If you can mount the diff high. You can keep the drive shaft high.

Lets say the left wheel is on a huge rock, the right wheel will not be affected and should stay flat on the ground.

 

Problem with that on a fullsize is CV angles.

-TJ

 

Ya that is a big problem. In order to get the CV angle down it would have to be extra wide, which isnt always good. BUt i have seen CVs with a extra joint in the middle.

 

Load capacity I would imagine would be a factor as well. While it may not be true, in my mind a Leaf-sprung solid axle could handle more weight than its counter-part the Independent suspension.

 

before I leave for the day, and the bashers start going nuts let me say this.


This is true for quads! IRS = High clearance, but more body roll. And is better offroad. But quad only weighs 700lbs at most and is not nearly as big.

So it may not be able to adapt to truck likings.

just a idea.

 

a good IFS or IRS cost alot of money.

SFA trucks can be built for less and accomplish more.

The front end on a stock ranger or lifted ranger cannot articulate much at all, my current setup can articulate much more.

SFA trucks take alot of limits away that IFS trucks have.

 

you can get more articulation/flex out of a solid axle than you can a IFS.

when off roading, a SA is better, but when you hit the pavement the IFS has better road manners......

 

zabeard gets this one again... IFS is so expensive to have the "higher" set-up offering better articulation and more clearance that you speak of with the quads... with the weight/width of full size vehicles its soo much harder to generate a quality system, for sure not anywhere near the price of an SAS system.. that is why (depending on the off-roading you do) most ppl on here use the SAS because they tend to stand on the rocks and in the mud

 

a SA also has the extra strength over a IFS.....no matter how much money you put into an IFS, a SA is always going to be stronger...

 

All you guys know hes talking about independent REAR suspension right? You keep mentioning Front for some reason...

 

i was talking about solid axles in general....front or rear...

 

no he mentions front and rear in his first post.

 

^^that is what i thought also...

 

A solid axle in a quad has one shock and spring. Therefore there is no articulation. Thats why quads have switched to the independent rear.

 

yes swamper you are right. they have no articulation.

What gave me a good idea was I saw some prototype IRS and IFS trucks. All new frames and what not.

Guess what it comes down to. If you want a GREAT offroading IRS/IFS truck your going to need lots and lots of mula to make it great.

IMO IRS/IFS would be better for the higher ground clearance, if built right would keep all the drive train higher as well. But liek others stated would take alot of MULA.

I understand that IFS on the ranger sucks. But if you build a new front end it could be just as good if not better then a strait axle. At least thatis my thoughts

 

The quads with a SA dont flex from left to right they only go up and down. FYI

 

Yes I am aware of it. I was just using it as a ground clearance example

 

actually i think it is known that the IFS on a ranger is actually pretty dang strong stock.

look at the DBR truck for instance. its just all on how you wheel and what type of setup you want.

I didnt want something that wore balljoints left and right. I also wanted to run big tires on a DD.