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- Thread starter Lil'John
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I'm not an expert .. but I've read gobs about links .. still underestand 1/4 of everything or less .. did you already measure the front of your pg to know how much it weight ?
you wanna keep the same stance as if have now .. ?
are you considering 4 link in fron without panhard . ? I would recomend a panhard in all cases .. and a 3 link for front ..
you wanna keep the same stance as if have now .. ?
are you considering 4 link in fron without panhard . ? I would recomend a panhard in all cases .. and a 3 link for front ..
From a space standpoint, the panhard helps...no upper link on the drivers side to mess with. The panhard can be somewhat ahead of the axle too, helping with clearances.
Having the drag link and the panhard working together will make it handle very well on the road, and be easiest to eliminate bump steer. A 4-link (no panhard) makes that trickier, since any slop is accentuated by the angles present. Doable, but tougher. The 4-link will make exhaust routing that much trickier, as well as space for other stuff...
Having the drag link and the panhard working together will make it handle very well on the road, and be easiest to eliminate bump steer. A 4-link (no panhard) makes that trickier, since any slop is accentuated by the angles present. Doable, but tougher. The 4-link will make exhaust routing that much trickier, as well as space for other stuff...
I was very surprised when I weighed my pig. csb/TH400/NP203/cruiser case w/ 21 inches cut out of the body. Still weighs well over 5000#. I weighed it on my trailer and it was 6910#
I went with 3 link and a pan hard, but on-road manners were not an issue.
I went with 3 link and a pan hard, but on-road manners were not an issue.
LC_Hamma
The Anti-Leafer
John - I'm all for links & coils, but why is it impossible to run what you already have setup? I find it hard to believe you can't get a dshaft to fit 
You'll be the judge as to how much room (uptravel space) you have available for a D60 link bridge. Find the space on either side of the engine to have the longest possible link location for your central diff mount. If you only have one side available, go w/ a 3 link. If it's cramped both sides, go w/ the 4 link or wishbone (short uppers could mount inside frame). If you don't have space for the D60 link bridge, you can run a y-link. Lowers can go below the frame. I prefer my links inside the frame, but if you ain't got the room, gotta refigure. If you can, plan for the track bar to be parallel w/ the drag link. I went with a prebent track bar on both of my designs ('73 40 &
) due to space limitations. I also had to plan for hydro-assist cylinder space. Plenty of options, just depends on which you can get to fit the *best 
You'll be the judge as to how much room (uptravel space) you have available for a D60 link bridge. Find the space on either side of the engine to have the longest possible link location for your central diff mount. If you only have one side available, go w/ a 3 link. If it's cramped both sides, go w/ the 4 link or wishbone (short uppers could mount inside frame). If you don't have space for the D60 link bridge, you can run a y-link. Lowers can go below the frame. I prefer my links inside the frame, but if you ain't got the room, gotta refigure. If you can, plan for the track bar to be parallel w/ the drag link. I went with a prebent track bar on both of my designs ('73 40 &
) due to space limitations. I also had to plan for hydro-assist cylinder space. Plenty of options, just depends on which you can get to fit the *best 
Sounds to me like you made a major error when you installed your drivetrain. I'd remount it to make the tcase output vertical.
You are creating lots of extra work to get around a basic fabrication issue. I drove my SOA 55 for years on the road and never had any issues and it wheeled beyond my pucker factor.
You are creating lots of extra work to get around a basic fabrication issue. I drove my SOA 55 for years on the road and never had any issues and it wheeled beyond my pucker factor.
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what driveshafts are you running?
my front shaft is a 2-piece, and the initial section off the t-case points upwards to clear the tranny pan...I've had zero clearance issues running the yokes provided by High Angle with the minitruck joints. They ARE deeper than OEM however...
my front shaft is a 2-piece, and the initial section off the t-case points upwards to clear the tranny pan...I've had zero clearance issues running the yokes provided by High Angle with the minitruck joints. They ARE deeper than OEM however...
Im running 1310 joints in my slee sourced front driveshaft and have yet to break it. i beat my 80 fairly hard. minitruck joints should do fine for you if you dont overflex them.
it is too bad your tcase points so "high" but if you can have selectable 4wd and hubs and can leave the front dshaft disconnected on the street WHO CARES. if the joints dont bind up its all good. sounds like you should run the hubs vs the flanges and get a good high angle driveline and be done-perhaps even a dual cv. even make it yourself. ive seen "slickrock" make some ass ugly dhsafts in his garage that work great. I have seen "megolfer" build dshafts on the trail from varius missmatched spares that work great too. BUT they were for only slow speed stuff (selectable 4wd).
start building. this aint rocket science.
it is too bad your tcase points so "high" but if you can have selectable 4wd and hubs and can leave the front dshaft disconnected on the street WHO CARES. if the joints dont bind up its all good. sounds like you should run the hubs vs the flanges and get a good high angle driveline and be done-perhaps even a dual cv. even make it yourself. ive seen "slickrock" make some ass ugly dhsafts in his garage that work great. I have seen "megolfer" build dshafts on the trail from varius missmatched spares that work great too. BUT they were for only slow speed stuff (selectable 4wd).
start building. this aint rocket science.
Unfortunately, I would need a suck down winch to solve this issue... it binds just sitting there
Ahh. Mine only bound a high amounts of droop.
LC_Hamma
The Anti-Leafer
a 35 spline external hub doesn't exist. So it would be custom broaching a 30 spline hub gear.
John - you're not being very resourceful ;p
All these are 35 spline external style:
Summers Bros., stock Dana 70 front, & (as you mentioned) rebroached Dana 60:
I did do some crawling around under the cruiser and found that upper links inside the frame rails will not work
I had a feeling that wouldn't fit
I've seen a few 3 link setups w/ the central upper link mounted outside the frame or have you though about a y-link?
John - you're not being very resourceful ;p
All these are 35 spline external style:
Summers Bros., stock Dana 70 front, & (as you mentioned) rebroached Dana 60:
I did do some crawling around under the cruiser and found that upper links inside the frame rails will not work
I had a feeling that wouldn't fit
I've seen a few 3 link setups w/ the central upper link mounted outside the frame or have you though about a y-link?
Basicaly the same setup as my 40 has.
Except my upper link is on the outside of the frame as well.
I am very pleased with the mannerisms.
maybe I miss it .. but if you are looking for comfort and on road maners, why not just go the 80 series control arms and panhard route .? easy, cheap to source and easy to do ..
I have not had any problems with my lower links bending. I would go stronger on the next set tho.
my upper and the lowers are in the same vertical plane yes.
70 ish and yes, it was just fine.
I have not done that yet. The quirky issues are the amount of lateral movement during articulation, and the ability of the axle to actually move the steering wheel at max articulation.
my upper and the lowers are in the same vertical plane yes.
70 ish and yes, it was just fine.
I have not done that yet. The quirky issues are the amount of lateral movement during articulation, and the ability of the axle to actually move the steering wheel at max articulation.
Now that I'm firmly entrenched on doing a three link, I'm going to look into the various types. So far, not ruling out anything. I've even considered a bronco style radius arm setup (glad I've got a set of new cast wedges)
One that has crossed my mind is doing lower links as wide as possible at the axle and at the frame mounted to the outside of the frame. The upper link would be be on the passenger side of the axle and "high" on the inner frame.
That's how mine is as well.
John.....I have not seen where you really addressed Woody's suggestion for a two-piece drive shaft. If your fundamental reason for considering all of this change is the drive shaft issue, you should spend some time seeing if you can solve the problem with a two-piece, pillow-block drive shaft. Seems to me like it would be a cheap and easy solution.
If you do decide to link the front of your 55 (what I would do). Here are some terms I would address...
High roll center vs low roll center ( neither is particulaly wrong) if you are doing 70 down the freeway and hit a bump with a high roll center the entire chassis will move with hit. Same bump with a low roll center will allow the suspension to move freely acting much less upon the chassis.
Down side to low roll center is out of the box it has more body roll, it will need either a sway bar or be sprung a little stiffer.
You also want to shoot for some roll understeer -2*'ish... Keep the antidive under 80 ( preferably under 70 but above 50), almost equal length links in the front so that your caster is good throughout the arch of travel.
Also I would do a 3link with panhard in the front... Double triangulated 4 links don't play well with non full hydraulic steering non triangulated 4 links are a waist in my opinion...
High roll center vs low roll center ( neither is particulaly wrong) if you are doing 70 down the freeway and hit a bump with a high roll center the entire chassis will move with hit. Same bump with a low roll center will allow the suspension to move freely acting much less upon the chassis.
Down side to low roll center is out of the box it has more body roll, it will need either a sway bar or be sprung a little stiffer.
You also want to shoot for some roll understeer -2*'ish... Keep the antidive under 80 ( preferably under 70 but above 50), almost equal length links in the front so that your caster is good throughout the arch of travel.
Also I would do a 3link with panhard in the front... Double triangulated 4 links don't play well with non full hydraulic steering non triangulated 4 links are a waist in my opinion...
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