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So My 4 Link Became A 3 Link....

M

MrShoeBoy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cincinnati, OH
I was out wheeling at Uwharrie with Ghost and 2offroad and broke a upper control arm mount on the axle. I was sort of stuck and backed up a few inches and gave it a hard bump and the front end jumped off the ground and bounced a few times which is when the bracket popped off. The piece of tube that holds the bushing tore appart. Its no big deal to fix, just some time with a welder and some scrap metal. The new alloy front axle shafts and Yukon super 44 joints held up fine :D

I currently run a radius style long arms up front with a HP Dana 44 cut down to Waggy width and have 35x12.50R15 BFG M/Ts. I want to get rid of the radius arm setup due to the high anti-dive numbers which lead to the unloading on steep climbs as well as lots of nose dive when braking hard. I have been happy with the radius arms in the last 4 years I have been running them, but now its time for something better. Who here runs a true 3 link with a long upper? I have seen the URF hidden 3 link but would like to see some others. How and where did you mount your brackets. Anything you would do differently given the chance to rebuild it?

Thanks,

AARON
 
Last edited:
Search Advanced Tech for Goatman's hidden 3 link. It's not easy, but it works good.
 
sgtmack said:
Search Advanced Tech for Goatman's hidden 3 link. It's not easy, but it works good.
Click to expand...


That would be CRASH's hidden 3-link, you can also search under urf 3-link.

-Mike
 
Sorry, it's been a long time since I read it. My apologies to Crash.:sunshine:
 
sgtmack said:
Sorry, it's been a long time since I read it. My apologies to Crash.:sunshine:
Click to expand...

No worries, I was just giving the guy the correct search terms. :confused1

-Mike
 
I have searched the forum but didnt see exactly what I was looking for. I read all the posts about the URF hidden 3 link in my search but want to see more. I have seen Crash's 3 link and think its a very good setup but I dont have an atlas which frees up space on the driver side for the long UCA. I was hoping others have done a 3 link or 4 link with the stock NP231 in place or put the UCA on the passenger side. Also how much vertical seperation did you have at the frame end between the upper and lower links?

Thanks

AARON
 
"was out wheeling at Uwharrie with Ghost and 2offroad and broke a upper control arm mount on the axle.

LOL lemme guess. You guys slept through reading comprehension class?
 
I did notice he called his radius arm setup a 4-link and when he broke it, it became a 3-link.
Does that make up for my boo boo?:D
 
OT said:
I did notice he called his radius arm setup a 4-link and when he broke it, it became a 3-link.
Does that make up for my boo boo?:D
Click to expand...

LOL Yes I know radius arms are really a 2 link since its only two points on the axle...bla bla bla :D Its all technical details since there are 4 points holding the axle housing. Plus it sounded amusing right?

The radius arms are a custom job I did about 5 years ago. I did all the narrowing and brackets when I swapped in the HP Dana 44. In the last 5 years I have never had a suspension part bend, break, or fail in any mannor so I really cant complain about the breakage now since its held up under lots of abuse for so long. There is nothing Rustys on my XJ.

AARON
 
Yes, they are in in a sort CRSU long arms. I work part time for Andy helping out when I am not in school. The arms I built where the first set of arms made but with some differences from the production arms. There whernt any long arm kits available for the XJ at the time so I pushed Andy to make his own. The production arms dont have a crossmember and the upper arms are different length than what I built. The upper control arm mount that broke was made out of .120 wall dom. The tube sheared appart. The failure had nothing to do with the work or design from Andy at the rock shop. The ledge that I bounced on was big and I bumped throttle pretty hard. I am surprized that nothing else broke. I should have sleeved it or used thicker tubing. Once something breaks, its time to upgrade, hence why I want to get rid of the radius arms.

AARON
 
Last edited:
OT said:
Pictures or ban!
Click to expand...

Workin on it. My camera died last semester and I gotta borrow somebodys to take pics.

AARON
 
MrShoeBoy said:
LOL Yes I know radius arms are really a 2 link since its only two points on the axle...bla bla bla :D Its all technical details since there are 4 points holding the axle housing. Plus it sounded amusing right?

The radius arms are a custom job I did about 5 years ago. I did all the narrowing and brackets when I swapped in the HP Dana 44. In the last 5 years I have never had a suspension part bend, break, or fail in any mannor so I really cant complain about the breakage now since its held up under lots of abuse for so long. There is nothing Rustys on my XJ.

AARON
Click to expand...
well if you wanna get all technical about it.....TECHNICALLY your 5 link became a 4 link. a radius arm design would be a 3 link. (dont forget about the trackbar)
 
Well, if YOU want to get technical, the RA setup is a 2-link plus TB makes 3.
You do know that you don't count every single atatchment point, only the links.
He doesn't have seperate links.
 
MrShoeBoy said:
I have searched the forum but didnt see exactly what I was looking for. I read all the posts about the URF hidden 3 link in my search but want to see more. I have seen Crash's 3 link and think its a very good setup but I dont have an atlas which frees up space on the driver side for the long UCA. I was hoping others have done a 3 link or 4 link with the stock NP231 in place or put the UCA on the passenger side. Also how much vertical seperation did you have at the frame end between the upper and lower links?

Thanks

AARON
Click to expand...


Actually, you lose space with the Atlas. Much easier to fit as link mount between a 231 and the trans due to the planetary housing length on the 231. On the passenger side, the starter is in the way, unless you drop the LCA's to help vertical seperation. Trust me, I really wanted a passenger side UCA, but couldn't make it work with a flat belly.
 
Thanks Crash. Looking at the photos of your suspension, it seemed like the shift linkage from the NP 231 would get in the way. I will have to go back out and look at that again under mine.

I will try and get pics up tonight of the busted mount.

AARON
 
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