The purpose of this is to toughen up a a good existing platform - after all the Datsun 620, on which the D21 IFS was developed, was the first 4x4-specific IFS system. Its designed to take a beating, do jumps and high speed desert stuff but is very sensitive to lifting.
All the work is done myself, I bought all the parts in the US and brought them back with me. So I'm also trying to show that this can be done on a budget. Much much less than a solid axle swap. But in saying that its still IFS, and I'm not gonna try and make it something its not. Looking for durability.
The goal here is to reliably run 33x10.5s MTs, and almost 3" of suspension lift. Strength wise, the benchmark is Pajero Gen 2. I dont have tonnes of weight and not planning on making tonnes of horsepower.
So I'm hitting it in three areas; suspension, steering, final drive. Today I'll talk about suspension, CVs and hubs. A lot of research was done so I'll try to be accurate with recalling dates etc.
First thing I wanted to do was upgrade to 28 spline CVs. These were used in all V6 Pathfinders and 1993 onwards TD27Ts. Easiest way to identify these is the 5-bolt pattern on the axle/cv flange.
If you have an R180 diff, your flanges will be a 6 bolt pattern and you will need to find some stub axles that are the correct stud pattern. Below are the R180 type axles.
The V6 CVs outer shafts are fatter than the old ones, so to make this work, you have to use V6 steering knuckles. The knuckle (on the left) is physically larger, and has the benefit of bigger brake discs/calipers. Note tie rod taper changed in 1992 (slightly larger).
CVs/knuckles were from a parts truck I sold the engine from to pay for. I got Moog/555 heavy duty greasable balljoints for around $30US each at cost.
I have 4-door torsion bars installed, which give quite a stiff spring rate which complements my super soft rear Jeep coils. Here you can see new tension rod/sway bar bushings - $10US a side. The bumpstops bolt onto the frame, meaning they wont be spat out, keeping CV angles safe ($10US)
Lower Control Arm Bushings - one of the most annoying jobs I've ever done to any vehicle, period. But it all helps in keeping things nice and tight and keeping play to a minimum.
The key to lifting the front of these things reliably is the upper control arms. These are designed to restore alignment/balljoint/bumpstop geometry to factory settings after the torsions have been cranked. These are Rough Country brand (discontinued Superlift stock) and were $200 after a discount through Automotive Customizers in Florida. Note how at almost 3" of torsion crank, the upper balljoint is nice and flat.
Warn breakable hubs - got these off the parts truck, major score. They have breakable rings inside designed to act as a fuse and let go before the hub or CV does. They make an audible crunching noise at a predefined torque rating, depending on ring size/weight. Rings take 5 minutes on the trail to replace (hub 20-30mins?) Quite a feature to let you know when you're giving it too much hammer. Note Warn hubs have a reputation for destroying factory studs and then grenading, easy fix is extra long HT studs.
Heres one of the corners all back together and bled. I have a couple of OME front shocks to install (parts truck), if I didnt have them sitting here, I wouldn't bother. Extended shocks not necessary.
Next area to address is the infamous Terrano steering... this involves the '2wd mod,' which consists of a whole new steering system, visually it looks exactly like a Toyota or Mitsi IFS steering setup.
