Inboarded radius arms.

[Lucas]

About to get to the stage of mocking up my ford radius arms. I saw farmer Matt's arms were inboard, but I think it was a EB44 which already had narrower mounts.
I have the fullsize 44, and when I bought it I saw that the radius arms were angled inward at a really acute angle. I planned to extend the arms out with tube until the reached a point between the rails where I could put a crossmember, but now i'm not sure after looking at this pic:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/199780484/199780484IgBaFM#

Though I'm not sure this was the natural resting position for the arms,
it looks like they angle in less and I would have to extend the arms waaaaaay out. How far out is too far? Assuming no clearance issues, what would be the problem with extending the arms out to the gas tank (hypothetical situation, obviously).

[Lucas]

well the pic isn't working but it basically has the radius arms mounted on the bottom of the frame rails in front of the stock x-member.

[crazy4mopar]

check out what I did
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45949

[FarmerMatt]

Basically the longer the arms means that you'll have less of a severe angle. This translates to better ride. At the same time longer arm will give leverage over the "C" bushings netting you more flex & lessening the swaybar effect of the "C" bushings.

The fullsize 44 arms will reach inboard of the frame rails if extended back to the tranny cross member. There is a lot of give to the "C" bushings that will allow them to be pulled together or apart at the ends of the arms so actual placement of the mounts isn't extremely important, but if you get them too far out of wack you "C" bushing will wear prematurely & funny.

Matt

[Lucas]

Lee, I saw your build thread as you made it, but I don't want to keep the stock ford mounting bushings of the frame end. I'm extending the arms out with 1"id .25"wall tube that will end in adjustable RE joints.

Farmer Matt, do you use rubber or poly c-bushings? Also, from the pics I can find of your rig, I can't tell if your arm mounts are paralell to each other, or are in line with the inward angle of the radius arms.
If I had time I would mess around with adjustable mounts that I could move in/out relative to the frame. That way I could fine tune the flex to balance out the rear.
Thanks for the replies.

[FarmerMatt]

I have used both rubber & poly. In fact, the ones on my JD are rubber & the ones on my CAT are poly. The rubber ones will last longer, but won't offer as much "sway" control. The poly will offer more sway control, but will wear & split faster. The arms on the JD are straight with the angle of the arms & mount inboard at the cross member I built for the tranny. The CAT's arms start off at the angle, but once inboard of the frame they're bent to run parallel with the frame. The CAT's radius arm mounts are welded to the inside of the frame rails.

I would caution you about just extending the arms without reinforcing the rest of the arm. At stock length they tend to bend if you rub them on rocks. Extending the arms would increase the leverage that the arms would have to endure.

Matt
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epigie/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bentradiusarm.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epigie/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/catradiusarmmount.jpg

[Joe]

I would caution you about just extending the arms without reinforcing the rest of the arm. At stock length they tend to bend if you rub them on rocks. Extending the arms would increase the leverage that the arms would have to endure.

Matt
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epigie/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bentradiusarm.jpg


Can you post a picture of the front of the radius arm 'c'?

[Beej]

Can you post a picture of the front of the radius arm 'c'?This one is from his picture index...
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epigie/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/image006.jpg

[sarvermr]

i think you've already seen mine, but here are some pics. I'm using stock radius arms with a 5" sleve (7/8" id, 1 3/8" od) and a custom crossmember. they are mounted slightly inside the frame rails.

matthew

8" of lift
poly bushings
fullwidth HP d44
38's

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/242000-242999/242380_398_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/242000-242999/242380_399_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/242000-242999/242380_401_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/242000-242999/242380_418_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/242000-242999/242380_423_full.jpg

[David Taylor]

This one is from his picture index...
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Epigie/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/image006.jpg

That pic is way old. All new mounts now

[Fore Wheeler]

when I did mine I extended my arms by using rec tubing over the length of the arm, I also used poly bushings to get the correct pinion angle that I was looking for (couldn't find rubber degreed bushings), my arms are tucked under the rig more than what's shown in FM's old pic (I believe he's got his tucked way up too now). I don't like the restriction that the poly creates, however as time goes on and they break down I'm getting alot more flex out of the front.

I'd post pics of mine, but they look alot like FM's, as he is the ford R-arm god.

tootle loo
dan

[OlyWaXJ]

Thought I would throw in a couple shots of mine,

http://home.comcast.net/~woookie/Picture_015.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~woookie/Picture_005.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~woookie/Picture.jpg

They are 2x3x.250 with RE bearings on the frame end.As I recall the bend is 7deg.

OlyWa

[FarmerMatt]

Can you post a picture of the front of the radius arm 'c'?
The front "C" cap is completely stock, unmodified. This is the best I could find quickly that shows the front end somewhat.

Matt
http://farmboydesigns.com/gallery/FBD_015.jpg

[FarmerMatt]

That pic is way old. All new mounts now
The cross member is the same except I just flush mounted the arms up even with it instead of them hanging down. I find it extremely funny that I spent all that time machining the holes for the bottom frame rail bolts so that they would sit flush without the bolt heads sticking out & than go ahead & build mounts that hung that low...:wierd: