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Building adjustable control arms

xj92

xj92

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Junction City, KS
I've built arms before, but they were always fixed. This time I'm building uppers using 1.5" OD 1/8" wall DOM. Can I just get a johnny joint with a 1.25" threaded shaft and then tap the tube? Or is the 1.25" threaded rod measured on the outside of the threads and I would need to get a slightly larger size thread or thicker tube?
 
I would suggest a weld in bung with as large of a shaft as possible and Use 2" DOM. For the other end use the RE super flex bushings.
 
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If you have the appropriate tap then it is a good choice. When I made my own steering links/track-bar I bought weld-in bungs because it saved me a few dollars. Then when I made yet another link I was losing money over buying the taps. In retrospect I wish I had just bought the taps.

The diameter of the bolt is measured at the peak of the threads not in the valley. I think the 1/8" wall is too thin. I would go for 1/4" or thicker if I was going through the trouble of making my own. If that was the case I would be looking for 1.75" OD or thicker.
 
You may want to build the arms like RE'S,they have all the separate peices available,get the bushing shells from JKS or Rocklogic!
324.jpg
 
MGrobe said:
If you have the appropriate tap then it is a good choice. When I made my own steering links/track-bar I bought weld-in bungs because it saved me a few dollars. Then when I made yet another link I was losing money over buying the taps. In retrospect I wish I had just bought the taps.

The diameter of the bolt is measured at the peak of the threads not in the valley. I think the 1/8" wall is too thin. I would go for 1/4" or thicker if I was going through the trouble of making my own. If that was the case I would be looking for 1.75" OD or thicker.
Click to expand...

You have fun when you mess up the threads in your small DOM.
 
lowrange2 said:
You have fun when you mess up the threads in your small DOM.
Click to expand...

Sure that is a potential problem as well. Of course when welding a bung on one of the links being made, the rod end got seized inside forcing us to ruin both the bung and the rod end. Fortunately the link was still long enough after cutting it down so the loss wasn't the DOM tubing, 2 bungs and a rod end. So for me that is a catch 22 situation.
 
Weld in bungs are pretty easy, and you can have them shipped with the johnny joints. The bungs for 1" thread have an od of 1.25. I think some jj's with 1" thread, the appropriate bungs and some 1.5 od dom would be a good combo. 1/8" thick DOM is stronger than stock uca's any day of the week.
 
I was hoping for more thread engagement than just the threaded bung, hence my desire to tap it. Since I already have the 1.5" .120 wall tube, I've come up with a new plan. It will involve Johnny Joints with 1.25" shanks. I'm going to get some 1.75" .120 wall tube, sleeve over the 1.5", insert the tube adapter in the end of the 1.75" that will protrude out from the 1.5" just enough for the adapter. That'll give me a thicker wall on the arms, make it easy with the use of the adapter, and the shank that threads in past the adapter will have a snug fit inside the 1.5" .120 wall tube. Sounds good in my head. Am I missing anything?

ps: I like the RE Superflex joints, but I don't care for the way they make them adjustable with the threaded rod piece you can weld on to the end of the tube. I'd rather just have a 1.25" shank directly off of the joint, preferably forged that way from the beginning.
 
DirtyMJ said:
For uppers, 1.5x.120 DOM is plenty. My rear uppers are only that.

I'd buy weld in bungs... A lot easier, and plenty strong. Cheap enough too.
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Whoops. I didn't notice he said uppers. I just saw control arms (assuming lower) and saw he was in Arizona where there is a ton of rocks to bash them off of.
 
I built my lowers myself out of 2" .250 wall DOM. Made them fixed though cause I was broke and cause there's nothing to damage when I slide over rocks with them that way. I ordered the JJ's, tube adapters, & jam nuts from poly performance today. Thanks for letting me bounce my ideas off you guys.
 
Tell me this is a joke, and your not serious. :scared:
 
MGrobe said:
Sure that is a potential problem as well. Of course when welding a bung on one of the links being made, the rod end got seized inside forcing us to ruin both the bung and the rod end. Fortunately the link was still long enough after cutting it down so the loss wasn't the DOM tubing, 2 bungs and a rod end. So for me that is a catch 22 situation.
Click to expand...

I would think you wouldnt want to leave the TRE in the bung when you weld it. I didnt. Mine were a lot tighter to thread back in but with some grease and a wrench they went back in ok.
 
lowrange2 said:
I would think you wouldnt want to leave the TRE in the bung when you weld it. I didnt. Mine were a lot tighter to thread back in but with some grease and a wrench they went back in ok.
Click to expand...
Had a local welding shop do the work. They TIGged it and that was the owners own technique to have something threaded into it. Unfortunately he had a part-time guy do the work and he didn't follow the owners instructions fully and that was the end result. Not horrendous, 1 dud out of eight. Had a big conversation with the owner as to why they do it that way. His reasons came from a big rush order from a customer and they found it dramatically cut down the screw ups. After words all of mine threaded just as smoothly as they had prior to welding.

Glad we didn't MIG it ourselves as I am sure I would have been ordering more due to deforming them.
 
MGrobe said:
Had a local welding shop do the work. They TIGged it and that was the owners own technique to have something threaded into it. Unfortunately he had a part-time guy do the work and he didn't follow the owners instructions fully and that was the end result. Not horrendous, 1 dud out of eight. Had a big conversation with the owner as to why they do it that way. His reasons came from a big rush order from a customer and they found it dramatically cut down the screw ups. After words all of mine threaded just as smoothly as they had prior to welding.

Glad we didn't MIG it ourselves as I am sure I would have been ordering more due to deforming them.
Click to expand...

Yeah I MIGed mine and they got a lil too hot which made things difficult but it panned out in the end.
 
1996cc said:
I built mine like this, to keep that OEM look:
adjustablearms.jpg
Click to expand...
Just when I thought I'd seen everything!Save a Life,most likely your own!!!
 
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