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Progress on my attempt at a hidden LA 3-link

Missiletech said:
still need to figure out wall thickness, if I'm GMAW the trusses on... and I used some 1/4" would I just set met welder to 1/4" material? Or do you have another idea in mind? Thanks.

-SteVe
Click to expand...
:huh:
 
Had a good weekend. Clocked my TC to get the DS clearence and set everything in place.
It all seems right and ready to clean up and paint.
Scary.
I had clearence issues with the X-member upper mount (the crux of this buildup).
I'm using a 1" heim on the upper rear and the 1" locking nut I welded on the mount would hit the trans when removing/installing the x-member.
To alleviate this I made the upper mount tower separate from the x-member, drilling/tapping two 5/8" holes to bolt it together.
This will allow me to bolt the upper rear mount tower to the UCA before bolting the whole assembly to the x-member.
Far easier to get everything in place and two 5/8 grade 8 bolts should be plenty.
 
The good kharma was nice while it lasted.
Today, pulling the shift arm lever on the AW4 and snapped off the threaded stud.
Virtually no indication. Just snap.
Can the shift arm be replaced without dropping the trans?
I pulled the pan and the shift arm isn't visible (lotsa valving in the way).
Does anyone have an AW4 service manual?
 
I did the exact same thing to a friends Jeep while "testing" something on mine a long time ago. Man did that piss me off! I don't recall all the details, but I do know I dropped the valve body and lost a couple springs and had to find a friendly knowledgeable dealer to help me get the springs back in their correct location. I know I got a new shaft from the dealer and was able to get things back together. The rig is still being driven, so I guess I didn't screw it up too bad. :) Good luck. Jeff
 
UPDATE:
Well, it's on the road. Very happy.
Even while way out of alignment and very unbalanced, heavy-ass tires (Maxxis Creepy Crawlers) this thing rides far better than it has in a long time. I did have to replace the front swaybar. Without it the rear four link was slightly loose :wow: .
No more death wobble (anyone behind me at BOTW can appreciate that) and even able to take my hands off the wheel at 60mph.

Jeff, what's the word on yours?
 
I've been driving mine for awhile now and haven't noticed anything bad. I'm still using a sway bar too. I took it down to lower Michigan towing a pop up camper and it worked out fine. While wheeling the dunes I experienced some noticeable banging noises from underneath, but couldn't find anything really hitting bad or anything else wrong and it drove fine on the street. I believe the stock tranny mount is allowing the tranny/t-case to move around a bit and the rear cv joint is hitting a bracket every now and then when the whole rig is slamming up and down over whoops type bumps, but it hasn't happened during daily driving. Also, I think the t-case is hitting the floor boards during the same violent movements. I'm pretty sure the front springs are a bit soft for sand dunes combined with the weight of my rig. Also, the bilstien shocks from Rusty's are pretty soft. I haven't done any ROCK trails though because as you know, we don't have any in the midwest!! :) I did remove the lower control arms once and tighten the joints as well as found a semi loose control arm bolt. It's been tight and quiet since I put the lower arms back in and tightened the mounting bolts. I also swapped back to a XJ pitman arm from the TJ arm for a slightly flatter drag link angle. That's about it. Jeff
 
Hey Jeff, how close are your LCA frame end mounts to the frame? And how close do the lower links get to the frame in compression, especially passenger side since I see your trackbars got some angle to it. Thanks. _nicko_
 
The axle mounts are in the same location as stock other than being raised about 2". The frame mounts are 8" in from the inside edge of the frame. Looking straight up from the ground there is about 1" of distance between the control arm and the frame where the front of the old lower control arm mount would have been. I'm restricted to about 4" of compression with my bump stops and I think I could go more without having problems with the lower arms contacting the frame. I don't remember the separation with the axle fully stuffed, but I do recall that there wasn't an issue. I think Jes and Crash have their frame mounts inboarded an inch or maybe two from mine and I'm not sure on their compression distance. HTH, Jeff
 
I went the other way (SOP for me. Can't do it the easy way) and put my lower frame mounts just inside (about 2") the frame rails.
The DS is just inboard of the mounts while drooped.
 
thanks, I'm kinda mocking up my lower arms now, and the most I can move the links is 5" away from the frame...and almsot 6" if I do some exhaust work, and that's the furthest inner tab...so the center of the RE joint will maybe be about about 3.5" to 4" from the frame.

This is only becasue I refuse to mount the arms to my crossmember, and I need them to not hang below my frame. I will be cutting my stock control arm mounts off soon so I can better mock it up, but I have a feeling it's not going to work with straight links, anybody bend 1.75" 3/8" wall without breaking their bender?

kid, can I get some pictures of yours only 2" from the inside...how high up or down low are they mounted? seems low if you're talking about the DS being close when drooped. where did you mount the links on your axle to make them fit? and what the hell is SOP? :)

Thanks for the numbers _nicko_
 
gearwhine said:
anybody bend 1.75" 3/8" wall without breaking their bender?

_
Click to expand...

Use a torch to heat it up. Not glowing red, but darn close. You may or may not score the tube. I wouldn't consider it an issue though. Why so thick? I've been using 1.75 .25 wall on several severely beaten rock buggies without problems.
 
gearwhine said:
thanks, I'm kinda mocking up my lower arms now, and the most I can move the links is 5" away from the frame...and almsot 6" if I do some exhaust work, and that's the furthest inner tab...so the center of the RE joint will maybe be about about 3.5" to 4" from the frame.

This is only becasue I refuse to mount the arms to my crossmember, and I need them to not hang below my frame. I will be cutting my stock control arm mounts off soon so I can better mock it up, but I have a feeling it's not going to work with straight links, anybody bend 1.75" 3/8" wall without breaking their bender?

kid, can I get some pictures of yours only 2" from the inside...how high up or down low are they mounted? seems low if you're talking about the DS being close when drooped. where did you mount the links on your axle to make them fit? and what the hell is SOP? :)

Thanks for the numbers _nicko_
Click to expand...
Here's a link to the picture thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61509&highlight=kid4lyf
Why don't you want to use the X-member for mounting the arms?
I don't know what else you can use for longarm mounting without going below the frame rails.
My x-member is more the traditional OEM shape, hanging below the frame rails. Definately not WCGID approved.
I lose some clearance this way but it made the build a lot easier (plus, I was able to start with my existing x-member..
 
Thought about heat, don't know what heat will do to the cold drawn process though.

What I have is 1.5" .25 wall and 1.75" .120 wall, figure that the 1.5 isn't enough for ~28" length, I'd rather overbuild it a bit.

I am not a fan of mounting on the crossmember becasue you can't easily take it off. Trail purposes mostly if some t-case or tranny problems occur. Plus the convenience of working on it at home easily.

The mounts wil be supported by the crossmember, but not fixed to them.

and shit kid....you got enough steel on that thing? :) it looks good though, thanks for the link...I missed it when it was around.

_nicko_
 
gearwhine said:
and shit kid....you got enough steel on that thing? :)
Click to expand...
My business relies on the steel industry.
Just doing my part to keep it healthy.
 
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