4wheel underground 3Link Build (1 Viewer)

[4WheelUnderground]

**EDIT** Nevermind, I saw the warning on the 4wheelUG website, so on-road is a NO-NO... Oh well, I will keep researching and see what I can come up with.

NO no, I have to put that kind of warning there because you can not legally have a DOT approved suspension that "WELDS ON". It must bolt on. I've done years of reasearch to get this to handle both on and off road. It's extremely road worth. But try building something like this that is a bolt on, it wont happen you have to weld and because the gov can't regulate Joe Blow buying this kit and their welding skills, they wont give it a DOT approval.

 

[toy4xfun]

don't all lifts have an off road only disclaimer with them?

i think mine did, and it was just springs.

 

[sparticus]

I see 4 to5 inches of uptravel is good youreally are looking for lots of droop. I see why the bracket has to be so far in front, have to make everything fit and that can be very hard

 

[4WheelUnderground]

I see 4 to5 inches of uptravel is good youreally are looking for lots of droop. I see why the bracket has to be so far in front, have to make everything fit and that can be very hard

At the moment the way the brackets are now, a 5" lift will net you 6.5" up uptravel at the shock and I may or may not work on adjusting some things to get another inch.

 

[curious1]

Looks good so far. I will be watching.

 

[Noahrob]

Hope everybody had a nice Christmas...I made some progress today, I got all the brackets tacked into place, the axle back under the truck and all the links mounted. First, the tolerances for the link brackets are so close I used my hi tech spreader to get the joints in. I built my upper lin as well today and with all the links on, my axle is forward 1/2" of where it was when I started, which swas ~2.5" ahead of stock anyway. That is fine by me, the further forward, the better. If there is any rubbing when I cycle, I will move the lower link brackets at the frame back accordingly.

Also, I discovered that my joints are 9/16 through bolt and I need 5/8...yet another order to spydertraxx for high misalignment spacers.

Here are some pictures where you can see the links mounted and the pinion angle as well as what the clearances are...tight

 

[Noahrob]

Here is the hi tech spreader...

Also, I only have the frame brackets attached via a "C" clap so that I can adjust if need be. The bad news is lifting that bracket, with two links attached with one hand so the other hand can tighten the "c" clap is hard work.

Last pictures show where I have fuel and brake lines in the way on one side and only the smallest gap on the other before I hit the exhaust.

 

[sparticus]

Looking good i like it alot, if it is a tight fit in my mind that means your keeping it as small and low as possible which is very good for crawling

 

[Noahrob]

Thanks for all the feedback, helps keep me motivatede to get er done! Well, made some progress today, got the real tires on and was able to cycle the suspension. Clearly, Brian spent a lot of time working on and tweaking these brackets as there is very little room to work with and things fit pretty darn well. Anyway, I have a lot more measuring and head scratching to go, but this should give you an idea.

Obviously, there are a ton of things that I am learning, so if you (proverbial you) end up going this route, I would be happy to share what I have learned thus far (to be fair, most people probably know a lot more than I do, but my offer stands)

Shots of the truck at ride height, the tire stuffed, clearance on the lower link and the upper link

 

[Noahrob]

More pictures. I want to try and keep the truck as low as possible and am thinking in the neighboorhood of 5-6 inches of up travel and 9-10 inches of droop. The FOA shocks are 20.3 inches fully collapsed and 34.3 fully extended.

I need to build my panhard bar so that I can get the links and everything as close as possible to whatever they might touch.

 

[sparticus]

yeah things are really tight but as long as you set all your bumps up right you should be in good shape. I know it took me a few times of wheeling o dial in my shock length and bump stop height

 

[Noahrob]

What a productive day. Unfortunately, I won't have pics until tomorrow as it is dark and windy out (not that the windy impacts the pics, just the sissy taking them).
After 723 calls to Brian, the last one of which indicated something was amiss, he drove up here to help get everything straightened out. First and foremost, Brian, thank you for taking time out of your day to drive up here. Anyone reading this should know that Brian has built an awesome kit and after seeing how it is going to work, I am excited. Anybody who has enough conviction to stand by what they've sold enough to drive up to make sure it is working as designed is top notch in my book.

Basically, today saw me going from a hopeful skeptic to drinking the Kool Aid, I am a believer! After resolving a couple bugs (introduced by yours truly) and seeing how it is going to work, I am fired up!

I will snap some pics in the AM, but the short version is that my panhard is built, 36.5" eye to eye is the magic number, slightly shorter than the draglink, but perfectly parallel. One note on that is that it would probably be easier if I had a dropped pitman arm. Because I have the straight arm, the panhard mounts kind of high in the frame side bracket, which will require some trimming to avoid binding at full stuff.

Another note is that in the designed location, the frame side link brackets clear the exhaust. On the other side, I still may need to move some lines, but I will try to avoid that at all costs because of how much I hate doing that.

Bumpcans...turns out that FOA bump cans are about 2 1/6th", which means the Brian supplied cans had to be pried open a tad as they are dead on 2".

Because I want my truck to sit as low as possible and be able to stuff the tire as high as possible, I decided to take an inch out of the frame so that panhard and draglink can go up even further. I might even move the battery box so the 37" Iroks can go even higher, not sure yet.
I already cut out the frame, but didn't take a picture, will work on cleaning it up and bracing it tomorrow. Probably going to fil the gap with .120 wall square tube and try to find some 1/4 or even 3/8 to brace the top of the frame.

I also started mocking up my shock hoops and of course, the stupid AC line is right where the shock wants to live...

 

[Combat Chuck]

cool stuff, Noah! I'm glad things are working out, and I eagerly await some pictures.

and 4Wheelunderground: rockin' hardware, man! I ogled your product page earlier, you make a pretty link bracket. Speaking for the community, we appreciate your taking the time to engineer and market such hardware, and take a role here on 'Mud to field support to anyone who may need it.
There are few people who would drop a day to help a customer in need. That's a Downey trait, sir!

 

[4WheelUnderground]

cool stuff, Noah! I'm glad things are working out, and I eagerly await some pictures.

and 4Wheelunderground: rockin' hardware, man! I ogled your product page earlier, you make a pretty link bracket. Speaking for the community, we appreciate your taking the time to engineer and market such hardware, and take a role here on 'Mud to field support to anyone who may need it.
There are few people who would drop a day to help a customer in need. That's a Downey trait, sir!

Thank you so very very much Chuck. I really do appreicate comments like yours and customers like Noah that are willing to recieve help and not bash verndors. In the end all of the fitment issue we had were based on the fact that I've yet to put together a instructions sheet for the product.

P.S. Chuck, I still "DON'T" want a deisel.

 

[Combat Chuck]

...
P.S. Chuck, I still "DON'T" want a deisel.

DAMN!

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

Looks good! Can't wait to see pics of it articulating

 

[Noahrob]

Hi all...

Here are few pics from today...funny, I had a list of like 10 things I was going to get done, but I only made it through about half. Sitting here reflecting, I know why. I pretty much cycled the suspension after each and every change, which takes a fair amount of time with just one guy. My advice, get a buddy to man the other jack if you can.

Ok, well, I got the eBrack bracket cut apart and re-welded. Basically, if you are running an Allpro offroad after market driveline brake, you can just turn the caliper around to fit with a FROR rear mount cross member. However, if you are running a sky cross member, you need to cut the bracket apart and re-weld it.

I also got the panhard built and mounted. Gotta watch yourself with that damn half inch Milwaukee...it will break your wrist when a 5/8" bit binds up.

Finally, I finished the notch in the frame. Unfortunately, I didn't have the metal I wanted to cap the frame, so I ended up chopping up a 2x3 .120 tube, which worked ok. I will either go get more metal to brace the top of the frame, or use some solid 1.5" square stock I have and make it into little triangles.

As far as flex goes, dang! The lower link hits the frame at about the same time the tire hits the battery box!

 

[Noahrob]

Here are a few flex shots, without the tire so you can get a better idea of where things are...

 

[Noahrob]

and a few more..

 

[4WheelUnderground]

For those that have never seen a solid axle frame next to an IFS frame, here is a little comparison for you.

The other photo shows the real culprit for the frame cutting is the HY Steer. This kit is designed to work for those that have already purchased Hy Steer. Which is most of us. If you want to drive this down the road when you are done with it the panhard and draglink must be parallel to each other. If they are not you get lots of bump steer = not fun to drive.

Also remember one thing, Noah has a 1" body lift, so in order to get his tires touching the battery box, he had to cut the frame.