3 Link Road Manners

I have a Waggy d44 front axle that I'm planning on installing under my 93 XJ. I daily drive this rig and see a lot of freeway miles and like to drive between 75-80 mph, because I can have commute of 80+ miles one way and anything slower just takes too long. I also live right next to a large mountain range that I wheel regularly on the weekends.

My plans are to long arm it with 4.5 to 5.5 lift and 33" to 35" tires.

I'm trying to decide on either a 3-link or 4-link.

So my question is: How are the road manners of a 3-link suspension at the speeds and setup listed above?

I can fab anything needed. That's what I do for a living, but I really don't like the idea of welding an upper control arm mount to the diff housing with it being cast, and I wasn't really wanting to truss it and put a mount on that. There's not a lot of room between the driver's side C and the diff housing. I can make a spring mount to fit in the space and be OK. If I add a truss, it will reduce my clearance between the housing and the oil pan and raise the spring mounts, although it may not be a problem.

Has anyone welded a mount directly to the housing and have any issues with it? I've welded a lot of cast and hate it every time I have to do it. Sometimes it's fine and sometimes it cracks, but I've never welded on a diff housing.

That's why I'm asking about the 3-link. Any comments are welcome. Thanks.:huh:

I run a 3 link on my Wagoneer 44. I used to daily drive it set-up like that and it handled just as well. I plan to but I haven't got around to putting the sway bar back on it. At those speeds I'd suggest you have one.

My 3 link upper is on the drivers side where you're having a hard time putting it figuring out to put it but mine is sitting on top of a truss. The heart of my truss is just the TNT (I think) plate truss and more of a UCA mount platform than anything.

It looked like this originally.


I made it look like this:


Either way if you used something like that (You could easily make it) you'd be able to run a 3 or 4 link. Which ever you're more comfortable with.

3 links are fine if you build it right.

i have a ton of miles on all sorts of surfaces at every speed and have no bad things to say about it.

I run a 3 link on my DD. And it handles just fine no problems at all. I did a custom bracket on my D30 when I had it on the pass side. Handled just fine. I just put in a HP44 and did the same bracket but its tied into the truss as well. It handles great, I think better then my drop brackets did.

This is exactly what my 30 bracket looked like. Looked just like this



If you want to do something like that let me know, as I have the same bracket brand new sitting in my garage that Ill sell ya for super cheap!

I've been looking at something like that. It looks like the truss is welded all the way around the housing? I've seen a few trusses welded like that. Have you had any issues with it cracking?

Is the type of cast in a housing different than the cast from say an engine block? Welding the cast from a block is about the worst I've ever had to do. Preheating, keeping the temp up, maintaining small welds, using nickel rod, peening the weld, and post heating with slow controlled cooldown gives the best results, but sometimes it cracks anyway. I just don't want to junk a housing needlessly.

I was planning on a passenger side upper control arm if I do a 3 link, but if I truss it, it will be a 4 link.

It's welded all the way across. I used plain ole flux welding wire with preheat and post heat then slow cooldown. No cracks yet.

No problem with the 3-link on the passenger side tho.

Only problem with the Driver side is worrying about the DS Nothing to worry about on pass side. I would mutch rather run a 3 link then a 4 link.

Heres my new 44 with the truss and link bracket

That's good to know. The cast in the diff housing must be a little more forgiving than some others.

jeepfreak1020, your setup looks good. Thanks for the offer on the bracket, but I fab everything I can. Things usually get tweaked to my needs easier at that time than trying to modify something to make it work.