rear 4 link help

So im really looking into the idea of 4 linking the rear of the xj. I built my own front 3 link, so I have no problems doing it.

My plan is to weld my lower brackets straight to the unibody even with the unibody rails. I already frame stiffs. SO Ill wled those brackets straight to the unibody, maybe pointhing them out 10 degrees to give the lowers a little triangle outwards. Then for my upper link brackets, Im going to plate the unibody a good foot and a half on the inside of the unibody, then weld the brackets straight to that. (Exactly how I did my front 3 link with the brackets) So weld both brackets to the inside of the unibody. Then uppers will triangle to a full truss im going to build on my 44. Ill build my own coil buckets. So that pretty much takes care of all the pieces.

Ill be using trail gear creeper joints on my lowers 2" .250 wall DOM, and 7/8th heims on my uppers 1.5" .250 wall DOM.

Will that work out ok how I plan to do it? Should I keep the lowers straight instead of pointing them outward a little. Will the uppers have enouh triangle being on the inside of the unibody rails?

Do I want the lowers to be longer, or the uppers to be longer? And by how much should I make which ever link longer?

uppers a bit longer. straight or out lowers is personal prefrance. you should be able to get more then enough triangulation inside the frame rails. do yours first then i will do mine.

uppers 75% of lowers

mount the lower brackets close to the inside of the frame rail, angled out as far on the axle as possible. any angle you can get on the lowers will aid against rear steer.

uppers, against the frame rail like you mentioned, and here's a kick as bracket from RuffStuff which would work great on a simple 3/8" plate truss.

have a look see at this page, some good reading.
you can also mock everything up, and run your numbers through the 4-link calculator (found at bottom of above linked page). but don't worry too much about what it has to say, with our rigs we are somewhat limited to where we can place everything in regards to frame rails, floors, body, etc.

Ok one says longer upper, one says longer lower? WTF!!! lol

David you said rear link were over rated

I think they are. I am waiting for someone to prove me wrong!

Lol fine I guess ill spend the coin and do it. Better help me build it then

Building a 3 link is alot easier than building a triangulated 4 link.... well if you wanna do it right.

I'm not getting into numbers there are plenty of posts and threads on that already.
I would triangulate the lowers as well, it'll sure help with the stress of trying to keep the axle center on those brackets frame side upper.

I wouldn't use 2" .250" wall DOM. At least step it up to 0.375" wall or up in diameter to 2.25". Make sure you weld more than a few braces into the brackets so they can take a hit vertically if you drop your Jeep down on a link.

I think you are describing similar to what I did.

Mocked up (obviously yet to box in mounts in this photo)


Plated inside & outside of unirail:


Dropped cage supports on top of the lower mounts:


Braced backside and underneath:

that is sexytime.