New 3-door Prado Landcruiser

[ZEUS]

Well, isn't there a way to make IFS stronger? I mean, yeah, a solid front end is going to be better for serious rock crawling, but don't we have the technology these days to make an offroad vehicle with IFS & IRS that is as stout as a solid axle?

Bart

Well, the issues are lack of travel, loss of ground clearance during travel, as well as the strength and maintenance issues. When a solid axle rig flexes out, the tire on the high side forces the tire on the low side into the ground. On an IS rig the tire on the high side does nothing for the opposing side and instead the rig lifts away from the low side tire making it less stable and also causes a decrease in traciton. Lockers on an indy suspendy offer greater gains in traction versus a "beam" style because of that. The result of the locker is the same but the gains are different. During compression on an IFS rig the center of the vehicle drops, reducing ground clearance whereas on a solid axle the ground clearance remains the same or increases depending on degrees of twist.

Gotta go, hope that drivel made sense...