• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • 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.

long arm fabrication

deke

NAXJA Forum User
well i've done my homework and a few of you on here have made your own long arm set-up. from what i've researched the arms themselves are pretty easy in themselves. the crossmember is where my concern is. any of you with production crossmemebers or made your own have anything you'd like to tell someone making their own? hints, tips ideas are greatly appriciated
 
well we are getting ready to put a new xmember on my new rig, pc of 6"x1/2" thick plate steel and two pcs of 3x3x1/2" angle. weld the angle to the "frame" and tap and drill the holes for the plate steel, then just drill the holes for teh tranny mount and botl it all up. i'll try and get some pics of my friends longarm setup that we did this on already.
 
check out claytons set up
 
deke said:
well i've done my homework and a few of you on here have made your own long arm set-up. from what i've researched the arms themselves are pretty easy in themselves. the crossmember is where my concern is. any of you with production crossmemebers or made your own have anything you'd like to tell someone making their own? hints, tips ideas are greatly appriciated


My crossmember was way easier than the arms. My unibody rails are sleeved with c channel under the doors, so I just used some angle iron and 2x4 box tubing. Drilled the holes in the crossmember for the tranny mounts, and that's it. Here's an unfinished picture.
xmember.jpg

Billy
 
is the c channel on the inside of the frame rails themselves? or just inboard on the rails?
any more pictures of it?
 
deke said:
is the c channel on the inside of the frame rails themselves? or just inboard on the rails?
any more pictures of it?

The c channel is cupped around the unibody rails, the angle only attaches to the outside edge of it. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. I got a battery for my camera... what do you want pictures of?
Billy
 
can i get more pictures looking at the whole setup. some pictures of how the arms attach to the cross member?
if you need to email them, i can pm you my email. thanks
 
ohhh, I thought you had found C-channel that was the right spec (I was trying to avoid having to cut the box tube in halfish :dunce:
 
Heres my pics!Still havent finished some mods(other projects these days).
Long arm pics
 
Here's mine.
I bought the brackets for the frame end from Rockkrawler. No crossmember needed.
122645025JxyIVj_ph.jpg


Rick
 
Too short to be efffective as a long arm,better off with Goatman's mid-arm setup!
 
so im in autocad drafting my crossmember up. should i make it a bolt on only, or should i make it a combination of bolt on, plug weld and perminiter weld? i know its overkill but looking for the best combination of strength. if i spend another hour welding, so be it.
another question i have is how long does the long arm itself have to be to be effective?
 
another question i have is how long does the long arm itself have to be to be effective?

Well, according to RCP Phx, 28" arms are too short to be effective. I'm not sure where he gets his information, but it's bogus, IMO. My home built arms are 28", the same as Rockkrawlers. They work great. I've tested them on some of the hardest trails in the Southwest with no problems.

Rick
 
right now, the effective long arm length is 32.5-33.5 i got a little room it play with. i dont see how 5 inches can make a big differance, but it may - heres the cadd drawing i got so far. following the design in the pictures -
untitled.sized.jpg
 
Rick XTRM XJ said:
Well, according to RCP Phx, 28" arms are too short to be effective. I'm not sure where he gets his information, but it's bogus, IMO. My home built arms are 28", the same as Rockkrawlers. They work great. I've tested them on some of the hardest trails in the Southwest with no problems.

Rick


There are no hard trails in the southwest. :laugh:
Billy
 
Back
Top