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The working area of my new CAs

XJguy

NAXJA Forum User
I designed these things about 3years ago, but never had a lifted XJ to implement them on. Well, things have changed and rather than use a prefab long arm kit I went ahead and made my own. The arms are all 4130, they are adjustable on the vehicle, they use Timken tapered roller bearings that are rated stronger (thrust and radial) and more wear resistant (K factor) than those found in a Dana 35. The bolts are custom ground grade 8 studs. The bearings are retained by heavy duty double retaining rings, I may change this should they prove to not be strong enough. The bearings are also completely sealed from the elements. The swollen area was neccessary in order to fit the bearings that had the properties I wanted. The bushings are OEM Dana units. The bearings allow for unlimited twisting and adjustability as well as taking torque loads away from the rest of the system. They weigh a ton (4130 is stronger not lighter)...I went a bit overboard with the strength, in the future I may have them machined down a bit for weight savings and aesthetics. The whole assemblies are TIG welded for optimal weld penetration and strength. The non mechanical end of the arms are currently at the machine shop getting some last minute modifications, but they are nothing special other than being very heavy walled 4130. The paint is industrial stainless steel coating.
P1010067.JPG

XJguy
 
XJguy said:
The bolts are custom ground grade 8 studs.
P1010067.JPG
:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:
Grade 8 or not, how long do you expect those little things to last?
The diameter and length of those "grade 8 studs" sure makes them look awfully weak. :dunno:
Just an observation. Good luck!!!
Dan.
 
If those are tig welded, then that guy needs to stop welding for ever!

Scary sheit rich, hope your insurance is paid up!

P1010067.jpg


hinkley
 
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and more wear resistant (K factor)

spobi

dude, "k factor" relates to the bearing cup angle, the smaller the number, the bigger the cup angle, its a relationship between radial and thrust specs.....not wear resistance
 
Mark the welds are beautiful! Maybe the the picture doesnt illustrate this well.

Dan, in order for the studs to have been larger the bearing barrel would have had to have been huge! The lower stud is 1" diameter. The upper is 3/4"...this admitedly was a mistake, it was supposed to have been 7/8" but a mistype in the order sheet to the machine shop resulted in me having to use 3/4"...if it bends, Ill have to address it then.


BJ, you're right K factor is not the wear, my mistake got the terms mixed up, wear life is actually the C factor at least in the case of a Timken.

K factor is the first contraint I mentioned, the thrust / radial ratio.

XJguy
 
hope those things don't hang you on a parking block. Seriously, with the size of that edge on the bearing retainers, they could easily hang you on those speed bumps
 
TRL WGN 1 said:
hope those things don't hang you on a parking block. Seriously, with the size of that edge on the bearing retainers, they could easily hang you on those speed bumps

Thanks for your concern, Ill be extra careful around any killer speed bumps or cracks in the pavement.

XJguy
 
Replace the threaded ends with DOM the same size as the jointed end & these guys will be buying them from you like mad.

They look interesting, R&D will reveal more I'm sure.
 
vintagespeed said:
Replace the threaded ends with DOM the same size as the jointed end & these guys will be buying them from you like mad.

I highly doubt it.

the key in any jeep mod is reliability.

its too bad we can't have a critical discussion without xjguy reading our responces as attatcks...Truly, theres not alot you can say about these things that are positive...xjguy will not absorb the content because of it, and thats unfortunate for him. Hes been on these boards for almost a decade, and he hasn't learned a thing.

They simply do not offer any benefits that other tried-and-true versions can give, and be nearly as reliable.

You want articulation?

heims, j-joints, sperical bearings

You want vibe absorbtion?

rubber on one end

what you want in the middle is a tube that you can slide on!

You DO NOT want anything that will hang you up!

You want simplicity, and assuredness that the connection will not fail.

XJguy, compare your bearing load specs with 1.75 or 2.oo diameter .250 and .312 wall DOM.....I can tell without looking them up, that the tube will exceed the load ratings of the bearing....not so much the bearing, but the area that houses the bearing.....In the worst case senarios, offroaders dent-deform-bend-pretzel those tubing sizes....Your arms flat out will NOT perform.

they will hang up, that will wear out, and they WILL fail....

If you want to try to reinvent the wheel, great. Those can be interesting adventures, but goddamn, get some EXPERIENCE first! Those arms are an embarrasement! especially from a guy trying to sell stuff (where are the cages?) You think anyone is gonna wanna buy stuff from someone who produces so much untested garbage? Save whatever credibility you have left and be more secretive about your "inventions"
 
I you could wipe the hatred you have out of you mind for a little while and answer anything objectively I would actually care what you have to say.

But I will indulge you.

The bearing cups are 4130 as is the rest of the construction, not only that, but those areas are tucked up out of the way, it is highly unlikely that they will get hung up any more than the Xmember. In the case of the UCAs its a non issue. The strength of these arms are stronger than anything else I have ever seen home built or company built. The cups although thinnest where the bearings are, are still 3/8" for the upper and 1/4" thick for the lower...Ill bend the Jeep in half before these pretzel as you have stated. The bearings are rated as strong or stonger than what youll find on your axle, so if they do fall apart, I think Ill have bigger worries to deal with before that...like broken wheel bearings.

I did not make these things to sell...I made them for myself.
I do not like spherical rod ends nor do I like "JJ joints". They leave much to desire for a daily driven vehicle. The dual rubber ends will hopefully retain a stockish ride and will take away much of the shock loads from the bearings and any other areas that might be able to be damaged.

Talk about untested garbage???? I could retaliate personally on this but I wont, parabolaguy. How am I to test it if I dont make it first? There are refinements that I will make eventually but the overall design is sound further more I would not put this out as a sellable product until it is perfected...so once again get off my back youre talking BS. Criticism is welcome, its why I put them here, but personal attacks are not. Until then youre just a hater in my eyes and no good comes from you. "You think anyone is gonna wanna buy stuff from someone who produces so much untested garbage? Save whatever credibility you have left and be more secretive about your "inventions" ", "Hes been on these boards for almost a decade, and he hasn't learned a thing." :nono:


XJguy
 
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Ding!!!Ding!!!!

Thats the end of round one folks. I have Beezil ahead on my score card 9 to 8. XJguy seems to be starting into his head in the sand delusional everybody is picking on me routine instead of having a conversation about the control arms in question. I predict a KO from Beezil late in round 2 or early in round 3. That is if the thread doesn't end up in the Den before then.


Comon XJguy lets talk about these Control arms or whatever they are. It is good to see you are thinking outside of the box, but the comments I have seen so far are pretty much right on in my opinion (good thing about opinions we are entitled to our own). In any event lets keep this discussion out of the den, it could be interesting, and something good may come from those "arms" you have created.
 
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