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my buddy wants me to build him a cheap MID arm setup using junk yard arms...

E

ericfx1984

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Kansas City Area
my buddy wants me to build him a cheap MID arm setup using junk yard arms...

I found some that should work... Pathfinder rear arms 26.5" or Rodeo rear arms, 23.5"

they are around 1.5" tubes and both have beefy looking rubbers...

(on another note: the Geo Tracker has rear arms that are 18.5" and they could be shortened to use on a lifted XJ)
 
how thick are these arms?

are the bushing widths the same as the dana30 brackets?

same size bolts?


and the big issue i see here is you will need to either make the frame side mounts where the link wants to sit after bolted to the front axle. or make new link mounts on the axle.

making links allows you to offset the bushing on the arm, or use cartridge joints or heim joints which can take up a certain degree of misalignment.

you dont want to be putting a side load, stressing the bushings constantly. would be a pain in the ass to line up under there and would eat bushings pretty quick.
 
You know, I have no idea what a "MID" arm is. There is either relocating the stock brackets down, or going Long Arm. But here are my thoughts.

When you hit a bump, there are two vector for the force. One is up, the other is straight back.

On the front axle, the rearward force is transfered though the axle and up the arms in compression. As anyone can tell you who has folded a UCA, even the stock stuff isn't good enough on the trail given the right angle of forces.

Trailing arms don't take that abuse. The rearward shock is transmitted as a pull on the trailing arms.

I would have some doubts considering what some MFGs use for materials.
 
Zuki-Ron said:
You know, I have no idea what a "MID" arm is. There is either relocating the stock brackets down, or going Long Arm. But here are my thoughts.
Click to expand...

good advice on the trailing arm thing...

MID arms are like longer than your typical short arm, but shorter than your typical long arm... :greensmok
 
As soon as I read the title, I was thinking Pathfinder arms..lol
I saw one up on blocks at the local yard and crawled under there thinking the same thing. I'd definitely cut one open to check the material thickness, but didn't they had a funky bend to them? Their bushings looked like a pretty tough design, the few I saw in the yard looked good, even though the rest of the truck was thrashed.
 
Ronbo said:
As soon as I read the title, I was thinking Pathfinder arms..lol
I saw one up on blocks at the local yard and crawled under there thinking the same thing. I'd definitely cut one open to check the material thickness, but didn't they had a funky bend to them? Their bushings looked like a pretty tough design, the few I saw in the yard looked good, even though the rest of the truck was thrashed.
Click to expand...

yeah the bend might be a good thing...
 
You can use JK lower arms for a Mid Arm as well and can find them anywhere on the net or at your local off road shop's trash can. Most are brand new with less than 500 miles on them. They also have a nice bend to them to help clear tires using wheels that are closer to stock back-spacing. The question is what to do for the uppers....?

This guy ran both JK upper and lower front arms on his XJ and said that he loved it. Drove perfect on teh street with only mild nose dive under braking and did great off-road. He sold the XJ to a friend of his and has hurd no complaints.
100_3204%20(Medium).jpg
 
Using mis-matched lengths of arms is fine. Is does cause pinion angle changes. Does it matter? Probably not, as long as your d-shaft u-joint can take it up.

My problem with the above picture is the poor geometry.
 
I'm no suspension guy but I am curious. If the UCA and LCA are designed by jeep to work togther and are unmodified I would think they should be fine or what step am I missing??
 
KingCopa said:
I'm no suspension guy but I am curious. If the UCA and LCA are designed by jeep to work togther and are unmodified I would think they should be fine or what step am I missing??
Click to expand...

When people get a lift it angles the control arms further downward which causes control arms to compress against the body instead of moving up and down as originally designed. That is why there on long arms and drop brackets to correct the angles so the axle can natually move up and down.
 
Maybe the part where he mentions they're from another vehicle and those aren't the placement/angles that jeep engineered?


Sent from tapatalk on iJunk
 
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