Radius Armed rear?

CW · Oct 18, 2004

I am really happy with my radius arms in the front, but I'm not so happy with my leafs. I am considering running a set of radius arms in the rear with superflex joints on the end just like my front ones. I would cut the brackets off of a front 44 and weld them to my 9" rear. How would radius arms work in the rear? I don't have a good enough grasp of anit squat, roll axis and ect. to figure out what they would be on the radius arms. Also is it ideal to have a long flat trackbar or what? I have an RE adjustable I would like to put to use if it is feasable, or would I be better off using a zj rear trackbar?

BrettM · Oct 18, 2004

Radius arms can work in the rear also, the main concern is getting control of your anti-squat. You will want the arms as long as reasonably possible to accomplish this. Yes, a long and flat panhard (trackbar) is ideal, keep it high as possible is a good rule to get the best roll axis.

I really like the "one-link" rear suspension that are becoming more well-known. They function as a radius arm in terms of anti-squat. Do a little reading here: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235977

jbzj · Oct 18, 2004

There are a quite a few ZJ's with this setup on NAGCA, I would go there if I were you

Economos · Oct 18, 2004

I'd like to see somebody do this and eliminate the need for a panhard; could you incorporate a bit of triangulation to accomplish this?

Like this, but in a rear application.

jbzj · Oct 18, 2004

^ Thats interesting. WHat is that? those look like Rover style control arms. That setup makes sense, but I dont know how good it would be for any kind of street use

BrettM · Oct 18, 2004

Economos said:
I'd like to see somebody do this and eliminate the need for a panhard; could you incorporate a bit of triangulation to accomplish this?

Like this, but in a rear application.

that would provide lateral control of the axle, probably enough for the rear, but I wouldn't do it up front unless I had full-hydro steering. One thing I don't like about it though is where is the roll-axis? I think it would follow the plane of the arms, which is very low and would make it very "floppy". A panhard (or Watts, or other) can give you a lot more control over where the roll-axis is at.

CW · Oct 18, 2004

I don't understand all of the panhard bar haters around here. It doesn't limit my articulation in the front at all, my brake lines do before anything but I max out my highlift before a front tire will come off the ground. Is there any advantage to doing a "wishbone" intead of a track bar. Plus with an almost centered differential in the rear it could be tricky to do that. As for the one link, I like the idea, especialy the driveshaft protection it gives but the price of a joint that big would kill me, and the ball hitch idea scares me, and this is my dd, and I make frequent 90 mile trips home from school. I am familiar with radius arms and can get them for dirt cheap. How long would I want to make the arms? I lengthened my front ones to around 35".

Economos · Oct 18, 2004

It's not about hating, it's about thinking "outside the box" so-to-speak.

BrettM · Oct 18, 2004

CW said:
I don't understand all of the panhard bar haters around here. It doesn't limit my articulation in the front at all, my brake lines do before anything but I max out my highlift before a front tire will come off the ground. Is there any advantage to doing a "wishbone" intead of a track bar. Plus with an almost centered differential in the rear it could be tricky to do that. As for the one link, I like the idea, especialy the driveshaft protection it gives but the price of a joint that big would kill me, and the ball hitch idea scares me, and this is my dd, and I make frequent 90 mile trips home from school. I am familiar with radius arms and can get them for dirt cheap. How long would I want to make the arms? I lengthened my front ones to around 35".

I would just make them as long as you reasonably can. If you want to actually run the anti-squat numbers you can use the 4-link calculator found on the Pirate site

CW · Oct 19, 2004

How do I run a raius arm in the calc? Do I just say the uppers and lowers the same length and say they go to the same spot?

BrettM · Oct 19, 2004

as long as they terminat at the same spot (side profile) you will have a radius arm. you can put the axle ends where ever you want, just put the frame ends at the same point.

Radius Armed rear?

CW

NAXJA Forum User

BrettM

NAXJA Forum User

jbzj

NAXJA Forum User

Economos

NAXJA Forum User

jbzj

NAXJA Forum User

BrettM

NAXJA Forum User

CW

NAXJA Forum User

Economos

NAXJA Forum User

BrettM

NAXJA Forum User

CW

NAXJA Forum User

BrettM

NAXJA Forum User

Similar threads