• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

wristed radius arms and big boobs

I run a kinda wristed radius arm setup.

Two long arms off a custom cross member. Each long arm also has a shorter arm (long arms are +/- 33" and the short arms 15") that controls pinion angle. All ends were initially heim jointed. I remove the upper arm on the passenger side for offroading.

With both uppers connected flex was about 30", and the bind created by the heims acted like a swaybar (not exactly, but kinda). With one upper link disconnected I could not find the amount of flex. I had my John Deere loader maxed out with the passenger wheel lifted about 8' off the ground, and the other three wheels were still on the ground. I have full width axles though not stock.

After some testing I replaced the heims on the rear of the long arms with poly bushings. This has limited the amount of suspension travel, but in a good way. I had too much flex before, I actually run pretty stiff coils but the flex was just mad!!

I am thinking about replacing the heims on the rear of the upper links with bushings as well. I am still getting so much flex I can exceed the limits of travel for the heims, even with high misalignment washers.

Scott at Rockstomper ran a wristed radius arm setup in his Yota when he still had the 44 front. His upper arms were fixed, but one side had a removable pin that allowed the upper arm to rotate within a sleeve. It improved flex a whole lot.

What else you need to know? My long arms are made from 1.5" DOM .250 wall sleeved inside 2" DOm .250 wall. The weak point is probably the shank of the heim. They need to be beefy though, you slide on them quite a bit - search for long arm vs short arm!!!!
 
You promised me boobies!
I want to see some boobies!
I want to see some boobies NOW!
I'm gonna :banghead: until SOMEONE shows me some boobies!
Preferably woman boobies!
Hmmm.....boobies.....hmmmmmmm.........:spin1:
 
The reason a lot of the ford dudes go with the wristed arm on one side is to gain travel which is restricted by the short length arms. This is a lot easier for them than to rework mounts & build new arms. This works in gaining flexibility, but eliminates the swaybar action or (bind) that the stock ford frontend gives you. In other words the stable feeling of a controlled limited front end is gone. This can be made up for with stiffer front coils & or an adjustable swaybar such as curries setup. Suspension balance front to rear is subjective & a hard thing to achieve. What may feel way to loose & unstable to me & my driving style may be exactly what you're looking for. The only examples I can give are with my own rig. I made a point of keeping the front suspension "loose" by retaining the stock rubber "C" bushings & adding caster into the arms I built (there is no caster built into the stock "C" bushings so with the lift caster needed to be added somewhere so the rig could track straight down the road). I went with extended arms because without them the mounts would have to be very low to clear the front drive shaft & I wanted the extra flex they provided. I didn't go with a wristed arm because I didn't think it was needed with the extended arms & I didn't like the idea of one arm (ford style) controlling the front end. The end result was the front end flexed like mad & the rear not nearly as much. This was the case even using the stiffer RE ZJ coils. I've since changed out the rubber "C" bushings for stiffer poly ones & the rear reacted greatly to the change. The rig feels a whole lot more stable on off camber stuff due to the sway bar effect this setup gives you on the trail & on the street. I can actually get furthar up a ramp before a rear tire comes off the ground also. AS for travel, it wasn't limited in the least. I'm running 14" travel shocks in the front & they are still the limiting factor in the front. The travel isn't limited, just more controlled. The point to this long winded ramblings is that you can build a suspension that goes too far & you may end up having to back track to solve quirks that you would have never had to experience. Adjustible swaybars seem all the rage these days & there's a reason for this. The nice thing about the bars is that they offer a lot more adjustibility than I have, but I'm happy with the way mine drives & reacts with the poly bushings.

Matt
 
Scott at Rockstomper still runs wristed radius arms front and rear on his green yota. It flexes okay, I guess. =)

I run a wristed radius arm and I agree with FarmerMatt to a degree. The Cherokee is too tippy and not balanced flex-wise enough to take advantage of gobs of front flex. I was maxing out 14.5" shocks (even broke one once and the axle flexed another foot and a half or so) and found absolutely no increase in offroad ability. I now run 13" shocks and it works pretty damn well.

Unlike FarmerMatt, however, I run a true wristed radius arm that I lock for the street. I find the normal long radius arms to be a compromise. Get 'em to flex on the trail and it'll be too loose on the street and vice versa. With the locking wristed arm style, it's completely unhindered when unlocked and super tight on the street. Despite being a good 2" higher, it's now much more stable in turns on the street than it was when I had the factory four link and no sway bars (I still don't use sway bars). Best of both worlds.
 
Georgia Mike said:
You promised me boobies!
I want to see some boobies!
I want to see some boobies NOW!
I'm gonna :banghead: until SOMEONE shows me some boobies!
Preferably man boobies!
Hmmm.....boobies.....hmmmmmmm.........:spin1:
Click to expand...
images
 
those boobs were sick.

the problem that I 'think' I'm having is that with my radius arm set up is the lack of flex. I'm running 7* polly bushings and I don't seem to flex that well, maybe it's a lack of shock, which I can see would really limit it. I guess I need to see for sure how long my front shocks are to really determine if that's my problem.

I still feel that my sorta new Alcans need to be broke in in the rear as well, which will affect the over all flex. I think that flex is over rated in whole, but I feel in Tellico the lack of flex didn't do me any good. I ramp only in the 400's, which I know that ramp flex and trail flex are different but still I'm pretty stiff where I'm at and maybe I need to break in my C bushings too.

I dunno, gonna check my shock length to be sure that's not where I'm limiting flex, if it is, then that's alot easier/cheaper than wristed arms.
 
okay, here's the scoop...

springs are Rustys 6", with a 2.5" spacer, of course setting on top of the radius arm, I need to measure the shocks, I'll do that tonight.

The arms are extended, I believe 39" or so, again I'll measure. I do know that the bushings are real stiff, I had to use longer bolts w/nuts to draw the cap up close enough to use the stock bolts.

I'll do some measurements tonight, or at lunch.

this is a pic that Vug sent me, is this what I need to be doing??

815wristedarm-med.jpg
 
Yes that's one way to do it. Having to use a longer bolt to pull the cap up is typical with all new "C" bushings. If you take them off again you shouldn't have to do that. So you're still using the stock style strut bushing at the ends of the arms? This could be your problem. Especially with the amount of lift you have those bushings will be almost maxed out sitting on level ground. If you hinge the one arm you most likely will start blowing out the straight arm side bushing pretty regular. I would think about switching to a heim or johnny joint before doing anything else.

Matt
 
no, these aren't pics of mine, just an idea of how to do them. I do have the heims at the end of the extension. My alxe would swing back under the Jeep if the shocks/steering/track bar/ds were all removed, that's not the problem.

I think what I need to do is unbolt my shocks and see how much of an improvement that makes, or flex it with the shocks on and see it the droop end is maxing out on the shock.

I still need to take measurements tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
1 Ton steering clearance issues
Replies
9
Views
941
XJChang
X
L
Manual to Auto transmission swap
Replies
9
Views
305
lvcanyoneer1
L
D
Changed to 4 hole 0280155784 everything was fine until I hit a pothhole.
Replies
7
Views
165
Da XJ nut
Da XJ nut
A
Rubber components
Replies
6
Views
190
75SV1
7
Root Moose
Mild Lifting with OEM Parts
Replies
12
Views
1K
Tim_MN
Tim_MN
Back
Top