latest build. long arm 3-link, steering, buggyleaf

I have been building custom lifts for friends and other customers in the area ever since I was a junior in highschool. This is my latest build for a customer in Yakima. Alright. So first I would like to state a couple of complications me and this customer, Jeff ran into. Originally the plan was to use the stock front axle with the disco. Because of this I designed the crossmember with the uca mount close as possible to the tranny on the passenger side in order to keep the uca as parallel as possible while avoiding the disco hardware. Because of this, the exhaust needs to be rerouted and I couldn't use my normal means of the axle side track bar mount. The following pictures will help explain.

Drew this up later in autocad and laser cut it, on to the press break for bending, then welded up on the bench.






These are my original 3d designs we used to mockup the new suspension setup. We also decided to build a 1 inch drop into the crossmember because Jeff didnt feel the extra money for a sye was not worth it right now.



The lca mounts are barely below the frame rail because in order to raise them the uca mount would come through the floor and this is a daily driver so it was not an option although he did not really lose any needed clearance.



The crossmember complete and bolted up. You can see where the uca mount is pushed over to the drivers side. After I designed and built the crossmember Jeff finally dropped a little money and decided to pick up a non disco d30. Because of the change in plans we still welded the uca mount in the planned place on the axle and fabbed up a more unconvential track bar mount off the coil perch that you can see a little of in this picture.



This is how I normally mount up my uca and track bar using the same mount welded right next to the coil perch.



This next picture is just a fun picture. the ground thawed and refroze so we literally had to chain it up and get a run at it with another jeep to pull it out. :idea: You can see one of the lca's there. I use 1 1/4 solid stock stress proof hex to give it a unique look and great strength. The heims are 7/8s chromoly with high misalignment spacers purchased from ruffstuff.



A view from the side before tires.



A little underneath. Need to cut off the stock lca mounts.



K. Now for the steering. drilled out the knuckles and pitman arm to 5/8s and used 3/4 heims with misalighment spacers.



No need for spacers on the tie rod so I purchased 3/4 to 5/8 bushings found at any local hardware store.



I chose to run the tie rod itself under the knuckle for better draglink-track bar geometry. The tie rod is still well above center axle and shouldn't be an issue with clearance or rocks. I have landed on my tie rod pretty hard a couple times and this material doesnt bend!



Here's a side shot of the whole setup working together.

And finally some shots of the completed front with tires.







Now the back isn't completed yet but we do plan on a bolt on buggy leaf setup using the original shackle and tow hitch mounts. These are some early screen shots of the design in progress.







I finished these and bolted them up today and I will be taking some pictures soon. They installed flawlessly, function as predicted, and look great on the cherokee. I'm going to be building me a set as well.

Ask as many questions as you'd like and if you have any input and ideas let me know. thanks for reading.

Kris Froehlich

damn looks real good

are your control arms the same size as the steering arms?

nice design and work.

i am thinking of doing the same steering setup as you but i was wondering why you didnt put the tie rod on top of the knuckle? i know you said below was better for the goemetry but i dont understand why? isnt the idea that the closer the tie rod and drag link are to parralell the better?

looks good besides the gnarly pinion angle. hopefully that was fixed.

Raising that pinion angle will also bring the tie rod down (closer to, or below axle centerline).


IMO, you need to get the angles closer. Get a pitman with less drop.



XJ[4x4]77 ..... if he puts the tie rod above ... his drag link angle changes even more drastically. It's all a compromise based on your mounts and available parts.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Yes its the same size material. I would've gone an 1/8 smaller on the steering but you can only find this stuff in 1/4 incriments.

Its better for the geometry becuase the track bar and drag link need to work together throughout the cycling of the suspension or else you get bump steer or dead spots.

The back wasn't on the ground and finished when we completed the front. Therefor I havent done any alignment. That includes the caster (pinion angle), toe in, or center steering. I did take some time later and it did correct the pinion angles, and the geometry of the track bar and drag link.

And that is actually the stock pitman arm. When it comes time to fine tune the alignment I will experiment with running the draglink above the pitman arm or the tie rod above the knuckles also.

Since I had to fab up a rather unconventional track bar mount. I think if I run the tie rod otk then i might end up hitting the front of the bracket.

thanks guys.

XJ[4x4]77 said:

i know you said below was better for the goemetry but i dont understand why? isnt the idea that the closer the tie rod and drag link are to parralell the better?

Click to expand...

The tie-rod doesnt matter,its the relationship of the trackbar to the draglink!

K guys, finally got some more pictures off my phone. Mostly of the buggy leaf bolted up. Its on the tires now and the shackle angle looks pretty good but dont have any more pics yet.









I'll have some more pictures soon. Keep going with the thoughts and comments. Haven't seen a buggy leaf setup like this on a cherokee so I was pretty much shooting in the dark.

That doesn't look like a true buggy system because the the top leaf is supposed to bend down with the leaf. Right?
This looks more like an odd shackle relocation. How securely is that attached to the body?

You gotta remember. This is a daily driver. We still wanted to maintain the stability of leaf springs. 3 extra inches of drop will be plenty. the buggy leaf will ride flat on the plate where it can be pinned in place for road driving. it bolts to 3 of the original mounting holes of the hitch on each side as well as the original shackle bolt. Plenty of strength since the shackle mount will take most of the weight.

really liked what you did with the front end. crossmember, arms, and steering (minus the little angle issue) all worked out very well, and looks stout.

the rear though....not so much. I think I would have fun with that on a trail. But would i trust it going 70MPH down the highway....not a chance. and fixing that as a break on the trail wouldn't make a pretty compicated repair.

if it still wants it really high. run some treks UBEs for a couple inches of lift, some 1.5 inch shackles, and then 3-4 inch springs. keep the least amount of arc in the springs as possible, and he will keep some good flex, while not running a weird set up

What's with the shackle angle on that leaf spring? Looks like it's a little... tilted the wrong way. How's it look at ride height?

Also, I might be wrong but those look a lot like grade 5 bolts holding the upper leaf/shackle mount to the plate...

EDIT: I'm not familiar with buggy stuff at all, maybe it's just me. But it looks pretty strange compared to what I'm used to.

couple questions. how wide are the control arm mounts on the x member? im planning on using a 2" JJ in my links

would you be willing to build me just an x member, i already have all the stuff for the links just no time to fab up an x member.

pm me if your interested

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k113/redrider2911/jeep/0121000805a.jpg

whats the point of using the spring as a mount when you welded it with the tab to keep it from flexing?

89xj said:

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k113/redrider2911/jeep/0121000805a.jpg

whats the point of using the spring as a mount when you welded it with the tab to keep it from flexing?

Click to expand...

Tab helps guide the spring I think, they're not welded to the spring just the plate above it.

MoparManiac said:

Tab helps guide the spring I think, they're not welded to the spring just the plate above it.

Click to expand...

if thats the case, it needs a stop on top of the spring/shackle to keep it from bottoming out and slamming into the bottom of the stock shackle box.

I THINK that the plan is for the buggy spring to ride flat up against the plate that it is bolted to (at the bottom of the shackle box). In that pic the axle is dropping so it is pulling that spring down. There appers to be tabs on either side of the spring. As the OP stated it is designed so the buggy spring can be "pinned" in place for street driving. I think those tabs w/ holes are there to accommodate said pin and hold the buggy spring from unloading while on the street.

That could also explain the shackle angle... the axle is completely unloaded in the pic so the shackle will be pulled forward. Depending on how stiff the leaf is i would think that the shackle angle would sit at around 70* to the ground when carrying the weight of the vehicle... but thats just a VERY rough guess. All depends on how much the leaf will flatten out. based on a 2nd look at the pics it may be more vertical than 70*...

wishihad1 said:

really liked what you did with the front end. crossmember, arms, and steering (minus the little angle issue) all worked out very well, and looks stout.

the rear though....not so much. I think I would have fun with that on a trail. But would i trust it going 70MPH down the highway....not a chance. and fixing that as a break on the trail wouldn't make a pretty compicated repair.

if it still wants it really high. run some treks UBEs for a couple inches of lift, some 1.5 inch shackles, and then 3-4 inch springs. keep the least amount of arc in the springs as possible, and he will keep some good flex, while not running a weird set up

Click to expand...

Fixed the angle issue after the back tires got on the ground. The purpose of the tabs are to pin the leaf in place so it will act like a regular leaf spring setup while on the road so its perfectly fine at 80 mph, i've driven it. We didnt do the setup for the lift but for the flex and the buggyleaf really adds some drop to the leafs which is where they fall short. Its not really a wierd setup, just not really done on a cherokee.