i have wondered if dropping a 4wd toy n utilizing the 4wd on the street would be a good idea?? i have a 91 chassis with 4wd on it and was wondering how low can you go with it??
not sure about the front, it's torsions though, so it shouldn't be too hard. the rear you should be able to drop a bunch. if you flip to spring-under-axle and use a leaf or block to lower it more, that's like anywhere from 3 or 4 just from the axle flip, and then however many inches of leaf or block you use. not sure how much you could drop the front and still have functional 4wd though.
I've never seen it done but i've always had that idea in the back of my head. I think it would be hella cool. Not to mention if you threw a big beefy motor in there you'd have a good way of getting power to the ground.
It would be even more badass if you did that and then did an irs set up and a 2j or a 1uz or maybe even a ls1... I'd bow down to you.
real issue is the 4wd 4wd is not the same as awd. awd has a center diff, so when you go around a corner the front and rear wheels can turn at different rates. on a 4wd there is no center diff, only a transfer case, so one of the first corners you go around will blow up the Tcase. other hurdles would be the tcase hanging down, and the front diff carrier. imho using 4wd for the street is a bad idea. ive been looking into a awd tranny that may work for a 2Xr, best bet so far is a subaru tranny. a buddie of mine runs a subie shop, and he's promised to save the next tranny he replaces so i can see how close they are, or what it would take.
didn't mean keep it in 4wd at all times. i know the difference between 4wd and awd. i only meant if you got some power and you wanna race somebody, throw it in 4high and then you will get the power to all 4.
I just read your post and remembered this feature in last months issue of Mini Truckin' April 2010thought you would appreciate the info and the motivation this should bring to you knowing that it can be done. Good luck with your project http://www.minitruckinweb.com/features/chevy/1004mt_1999_chevy_s10_4x4/index.html
lol i have that magazine sitting on my counter. i knew i had just heard/read about lowering a 4x4 and thought it was a lowering kit on one of the performance websites or a magazine, but couldn't remember. and it was sitting there in front of my face. lol
I forgot who told me, but a 4WD has been lowered. It's been done. But It's slow as balls, lol. Like the others have said, you'll encounter your CV angles (you can try to tackle that). and then finding a center differential that would fit in place of the transfer case. I myself have thought about this on a 4WD toyota, V8 and AWD.... hehehehe
wow thats alot of feedback! thanks every1 for that! i forgot about cv angles... the purpose of me wanting to try 4wd was to see if my launches would be quicker.. was wondering if the drivetrain and weight would affect acceleration n ****.. a subaru drivetrain would be sick as hell on a mini, but i wanted to try n keep it all toyota. oh i was also wondering about using the front end drivetrain for a rear would be a good option, since you can lock and unlock it! i loooove making trucks go sideways! i know these ideas are pretty radical, but im just looking for sumthing a lil out of the ordinary!
those cars are 50 lbs of crap in a 5lb bag... look under the hood of one. my buddy owned a 88 I think. Seems like a cool idea, I like the subaru idea except how to make that work with a frame? I think the engine would have to sit wayyyy forward for it to work because the axles come out probable like 10inchs back out of the trans. The flat 4s arnt long, they are like a inline 2 in length but really wide. My buddy has a wrx and his brother has a sti. Id just set up the rear end really good and get slicks, a guy I know said he could do wheelies in a 383 s10 with mostly stock rear suspension when it hooked up, the other 99% that it didnt hook up it just spun awd v8 goodness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQjXsvEhLyQ
lol the celica all trac is not crap.......yes it is more difficult to work on, it's a awd turbo coupe what do you expect? The drivetrain is robust, and the awd system is excellent for the year along with the suspension.
