latest build. long arm 3-link, steering, buggyleaf

[Goatman]

3/4" heim joints are fine on steering, though 7/8" would last longer. Many, many hard core rigs and buggies are built using 3/4" heims on the steering. 3/4's are usually too weak for lower control arms, though. They can work on upper arms, but bigger is better.



On the buggy leaf, I'd recommend using an additional shorter leaf. Right now you have a stress riser and weak point on the single buggy leaf at the first mounting bolt. If you added a second, shorter, leaf that went a little ways past that bolt, it would eliminate that stress point and the probability that the buggy leaf will eventually break.

 

[BenDiesel]

i herd about that trail. aint it almost required to have 38's? i know some 4 linked toyota guys who do that trail who almost always winch there lol

 

[redrider2911]

Yea, it was probably one of the most difficult trails i've ran. It is suggested to have atleast 35s and both ends locked in the winter. You will see from the pictures how sloppy it really was. Most of the guys were in linked toyotas or buggys with 38s and 40s and locked in both ends. Even though i ran the trail on only 33s and a front locker i only had to winch 3 times up some steep hills. Couple of big ledges you had to step down on an angle and we almost had two toys roll. I went down it and made it look like cake, didnt even feel tipsy. You will notice the body damage from the pics. i really should've taken the time to build some rock sliders for the trees you have to pivot around.

http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k113/redrider2911/the%20busy%20wild/

 

[BenDiesel]

nice. looks like that tree root ball really did a number on your doors lol. i prob wont do that trail till i have a exo cage lol

 

[themangeraaad]

Now that it has some run time how does she seem to be doing? How are the street manners for the rear springs (i.e. do you notice them at all)?

I am still debating between doing something like this to relocate my shackles and just using my shackle relocation brackets. Starting to lean towards this. My issue is that I would need it to be OK on the street since I will be driving my rig to the trail. I don't foresee there being any critical issues with this setup... but I have been wrong before :laugh3:. I feel like it should behave very similar to a stock rig with a relocated shackle... only difference that I could see posing an issue is unloading under heavy braking or cornering; are the retaining pins your using working well to keep that under control pretty well?

 

[redrider2911]

Well first off i dont run any sway bars on my jeep and its lifted 8 inches. On occasion before the buggy spring if i missed a turn and hit the brakes while turning i could actually flex out my jeep to the point where a back tire would come off the ground. Then again, all my friends say im the craziest driver they know and im in the wrong hobby. lol they all say i should to rally racing or build trophy turcks instead. With the buggy leaf the front acts exactly the same. before I made the pins for the back and i took it for a drive i did some pretty harsh street driving. no slapping over bumps or unloading around corners. The back tires did hop a little if i really slammed on the brakes. I later put in the locking pins and now i can stop as hard as i want with no issues. Not to brag, but definetely one of my best ideas ever. lol I live in yakima and i actually drove my rig 130 miles over white pass which had about an inch of snow on the road and didnt have a single problem and i wasnt using the pins. I wheeled the eight mile trail and a few others. I really pushed my jeep pretty hard. While everyone else trailered there toyotas and other vehicles, i gased my jeep up and drove it 130 miles back over the pass doing about 80 the whole way. I took corners with dips in them that were marked for 45 doing about 60. For any lifted vehicle i would say it handled great. Oh, and i was also only running one shock in the back cuase i bent the other one pretty bad. I little bouncy but nothing i couldnt handle. I really believe what helps is that I always use heims for everything, the long arms, steering, and track bar. Because of this you can really feel the road and how your vehicle is reacting. Though you do feel every crack, but you get used to it.

 

[themangeraaad]

Great to hear. I used to get similar comments on my driving but I like to think I have calmed down a bit in recent years (at least wile driving the jeep.. the car still get tossed around all the time). I think I may try and do something like that now. I am already planning on re-doing my steering and either buying or building a track bar, quite possibly with heims as well. I was just a bit concerned with the unloading of the rear under heavy braking/steering. I'm hoping to be sitting at ~4.5" lift tops so yeah... sounds good Now I just have to motivate myself to go buy some steel and get to work and give it a shot. I figure worst comes to worst it seems pretty cheap to build and I can just swap the stock shackles back in if I don't like the handling.

 

[redrider2911]

Alright guys. Finally got some decent clear flex pictures. Dont make fun of my mall Crawling! lol I switched to 35s so my new tires downt tuck as well. I have found that the buggy leaf does help reduce binding in the rear shackle quite a bit. but it actually wont fully drop unless in a true twisted situation where the front and back are flexed out. With just the front on the wall it pushes all the wait to the back...

Oh, this wall is about 45 inches high.

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

thats some serious rear flex steer going on